What were the pool sessions like in your OW course?

[RJP]

A bunch of us were chatting at Beneath The Sea over the weekend about the best structure for OW pool sessions: how many sessions, how long, how many students, etc. We all decided that we were in agreement as to what WE thought would work best.

However, we also decided that we had no idea - nor had anyone ever specifically asked - what the students thought about the way the pool sessions were structured.

Thought it would be interesting to find out, so here's a quick survey that I hope folks will take:

Pool Sessions in Initial Scuba Training Survey

Will report full results out here when I get large enough response size.

If any shop, instructor, group (or dare I say agency) wants a separate link to share with their own mailing list/FB/twitter, etc PM me. Such a link will allow me to give you a separate data report for just your participants.

Thanks!

 

[tbone1004]

I'll be an outlier in your data points, but for the "or more" section it was about 12 weeks prior to OW training, 2 weeks after OW training, 2 sessions/week. Almost half was spent on skin diving skills, ditch/don, no mask breathing, etc etc, the rest was spend on buoyancy and propulsion techniques including removal and replacement of weight belts under water, back finning, flat turns, etc. Also not our program had an exemption for number of students in the pool at that time, but the legal beagles at the University have since decided we will no longer act on that exemption. I can't imagine doing an OW course in any less pool time than that and while it certainly felt too long when we got out of the course, once we got into the real world we realized it likely wasn't enough. That is the reason I don't actively teach, and choose not to participate as an AI/DM in classes outside of that program.

 

[JohnN]

And I'll be another outlier. All of my OW course was done in "confined" water (Jemeluk Bay, Bali). Many more interesting things to see than those black lines on the pool bottom

--------added-------
Sorry I can't complete your survery, you didn't allow a "0" for pool sessions

 

[Scott]

Shared with friends and students.
Looking forward to seeing the results.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RJP]

Shared with friends and students.
Looking forward to seeing the results.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! Let me know if you want a personal link... you'll be able to see info for your particular students if you like.

 

[Scott]

I was going to post on a local FB community and store page, but thanks for the offer.

 

[RJP]

If store wants their own link that's possible too.

 

[James R]

I took OW through YMCA as a college PE course in 1991, so my memory of this time is fairly limited. I recall going to the pool twice a week through the semester, and we had to do every skill without touching the bottom or floating to the surface. I don't know if that was the standard or if I had a great instructor. The pool was huge, with swim lanes and a quite large deep end (diving well) where the diving boards and platforms were. We were well prepared for checkouts.

 

[Mustard Dave]

My answers may be slightly skewed, as I did the PADI Scuba Diver course before OW. I did the SD course in Cyprus at the hotel I was staying at, which had been a spur of the moment decision. The course was done over two days and it was all one-on-one teaching. I don't think this was the norm though - I think they were just quiet as it was the end of season. I had a good few hours in the pool and with the one-on-one attention, I probably had more instructor attention than most.

I did the OW course with a dive school near where I live. I have done everything up to PADI RD with them. They don't teach tech though, so I went elsewhere for that. I have been an active member of their club since joining.

When I went to sign up for the OW course, I only had to do two more confined water dives and two OW dives. The normal OW course structure is to send you home with the DVD and OW manual. Then it is a weekend at the school and a weekend at the dive site.

The school sessions comprise four hours in the class room in the morning, then after lunch they head to the pool (at a local school) for another four hours, so it is 50/50 theory/pool each day. They then agree mutually convenient dates to do the OW dives, which is usually done over a weekend. Class sizes are typically three or four (four is the maximum).

As I went there with a head start, it is difficult to have a view whether it is right or wrong, but it seems to work for most people. Now and again there is someone who doesn't get it straight away. We hire the pool for two hours on a Monday evening for club members and try dives, so the instructors often use this time to give those that need it some extra practice.

 

[rhwestfall]

Like James R, I too had the semester long class @ 2x/week in 1988 under the YMCA for certification. By the end, we were doing black-out drills, running lines, rigging/lifting/salvage, gear swaps, under water gear retrieval/assembly, and much more... comfort in the water was superb..