The cost of Padi

[alcina]

Absolutely! Threads are organic and often wander off in great directions.

Sometimes the evolution is better served with independence You don't have to start a new thread and I'm sure there will still be people coming into this one with comments and ideas...

 

[TheRedHead]

My only comment was on price and I simply disagreed with the opinion that the price of the PADI crewpak is too high - at least in the United States. I don't really have an opinion of the Basic OW content because I did mine with SSI. The AOW book wasn't too bad. I see PADI as an educational materials publishing company with independent instructors/shops providing education. It also acts like a professional association/insurance company. I think if PADI is grossly deficient, then market forces will cause it to change. And the same thing for individual shops being grossly deficient will be replaced by more efficient ones.

 

[Quero]

1. I could be wrong as the process may be different with PADI in Australia, but why can't the independent instructor buy his materials direct from PADI? With PADI Americas I can simply call them, drop my credit card number, and the materials show up at my door. The price I charge for them is up to me.

2. You do have to purchase that paperwork as it is actual documentation that you were provided and completed the academic requirements of the course, although it stays with your instructor for five years. The photocopying of knowledge reviews has been discussed a ton on Scubaboard on other threads. I personally think the Adventures in Diving manual is a great resouce to have.

A Thailand-based instructor can just buy the materials from PADI Asia Pacific; it does take a while for things to get here though, and then there's the issue of customs/payment of duties(and in some cases "tea money"). For small-scale operations here, stocking a sufficient supply of whatever materials in whatever languages are needed for students who show up today and want a course in the next day or two (or even next week) ends up being prohibitively expensive. Therefore, many small/independent operators simply buy what they need as they need it from importers such as Dive Supply.

 

[abysmaldiver]

O.K., this is what we are gonna do. Boycott Padi as well as every other agency, have a giant book burning and burn every diving knowledge book ever published and start handing out tanks and regs to anyone who wants them, just stamp a sign on the tank that says "DONT HOLD YOUR BREATH".
Come on people, there are so many people in society today with different backgrounds that in order to wright a book that only the people in this board could understand(I know everyone here is of the highest mental caliber) 98% of the world would not be able to understand it. Im sorry if I dont think an open water student should be able to recite decompression theorys and tissue compartments.
Cant we all just get along, go get wet!

 

[Cacia]

same here in Hawaii, Quero. Being geographically isolated has some issues.

 

[Cacia]

O.K., this is what we are gonna do. Boycott Padi as well as every other agency, have a giant book burning and burn every diving knowledge book ever published and start handing out tanks and regs to anyone who wants them, just stamp a sign on the tank that says "DONT HOLD YOUR BREATH".
Come on people, there are so many people in society today with different backgrounds that in order to wright a book that only the people in this board could understand(I know everyone here is of the highest mental caliber) 98% of the world would not be able to understand it. Im sorry if I dont think an open water student should be able to recite decompression theorys and tissue compartments.
Cant we all just get along, go get wet!

I was suggesting that PADI DM's and Instructor's could gather some math problems, work out the steps, and supplement what IMO are insufficient materials for the physics in the advanced classes. I did not really want to burn books. But, I rest my case.

 

[countryboy]

When I went to college, I had to buy my books for each class. I had the option of buying cheaper, used, or more expensive, new....

But it seems the instructor changed the requirements each semester. This made it "necessary" to buy new "revisions" of the text.

The price of tuition did not include textbooks either.

PADI should look at giving student loans and start making money on interest.

 

[Quero]

I just e-mailed my friends to get clarification on, I would like to know also. They are very reliable people, so sit tight and I will find out. And no, they do not teach other agencies. So, I hope they will be willing to say what the caller stated..

As far as keeping the books for reference....I have had some excellent classes due to the Instructor but I have never looked up any information in a PADI manual. Personally, I don't think there is much in them at all. Please don't flog me, I just call it like I see it. I don't think the books are a good value for the money, from a content perspective. Honestly, I am trying to think of one single book, I have ever looked at more than once.....maybe the workbook with some math problems in it for the DM exam. Maybe Nitrox, to help someone with it.

I mean come on, the wreck diving book has like three facts in the entire book. And the videos make my mind drift. And I think they need a more reliable way to test math at the higher levels because the exams are "out there" and its important that the math is understood, not just passed on the exam.

Point taken, Catherine, on your own need to read/consult course manuals.

Different people learn in different ways, though (a concept from educational psychology called "Multiple Intelligences"). Some people get a lot out of watching the video (I never do); others need to take notes/write out KRs before the info gets into their heads; some have to have the classroom experience and undergo a lot of interaction with instructors/classmates; for others just reading does it; yet others never really get anything until they try to do it and then go back to the theory. Most people need some combination of the above.

Before becoming a PADI instructor, I had a long career in education. I have to say that if I had to select one thing that most impressed me about PADI during my IDC it was the underlying focus on educational psychology and curriculum development PADI espouses. There is simply no way for PADI, the dive school, the instructor, or anybody else to predict what any individual student (let alone group of students) might need to stimulate learning. PADI tries to cover all bases by making every student watch videos, write KRs, read manuals, take tests, participate in classroom sessions, and perform in the water. As instructors, we can't just go by what kind of educational experience we ourselves require in order to learn; we need to provide a broad spectrum of experiences, knowing that nearly every student will find some part of it unnecessary for him/herself as an individual.

To get back to the topic: that's why students need to buy manuals.

 

[alcina]

I was suggesting that PADI DM's and Instructor's could gather some math problems, work out the steps, and supplement what IMO are insufficient materials for the physics in the advanced classes.

Catherine - again, excellent suggestion. I'd pop this up in the Instructor's forum and get a list going.

We have additional knowledge reviews and study guides for our own IDC candidates, I'm sure other shops do, too. The more examples the better!

Again, the physics materials are guidelines they should not be the only materials, examples etc given to students. No manual that isn't dedicated to a topic could hope to have sufficient examples - and even then...I remember teacher putting more examples up on the board than were in the book back in high school! Again, this comes down the instructor.

 

[dlndavid]

People all too often have a misconception of cost, in an earlier post I made a comment referring to an Aeris download cable costing $100 for a $10 part. What people see is wow this costs a lot, I buy USB cables for $10 why does Aeris' cable cost so much? Well it is because this is to make back money invested into the software-hardware development. Same I would think for PADI when you look at the overall cost of getting students certified, this just works into the recipe for profit, and yes, they are in it for the profit, heck even so called non-profit organization are BIG money makers.
Just my $.02