The "Official" SB Scuba Course?

[kjack_1]

A typical course specifies skills that are to be taught in confined water dives, but it also allows time in each for just plain swimming around with scuba gear.

Unfortunately, I suspect that many instructors focus on the skills and minimize the just plain swimming around with scuba gear.

I find that the time I devote to this "random" activity pays off hugely in terms of the students' buoyancy, finning, and buddy protocol, assuming that I make sure they pay attention to these during this time.

It is similar to what I learned coaching soccer. Having players just play keep away in small teams during practice was a far superior learning experience for several key skills than just about any formal drill I had ever seen.

My wife certed a few years back. Once she had her card, let's go dive. She knew most of the skills, but she had a hard time putting it all together into a dive. I talked to her a week or so ago about this thread and asked her opinion about her training. She made the remark that if would have been useful if they had made some dives that weren't so focused on training. Give her time to put the whole diving attitude into perspective.

 

[Diver0001]

I find that the time I devote to this "random" activity pays off hugely in terms of the students' buoyancy, finning, and buddy protocol, assuming that I make sure they pay attention to these during this time.

That's exactly what I do too. Integrate the big-3 into "free" swimming time.

Interesting what you were saying about lecturing being ineffective. I like to do things interactively but I find myself constrained by the room I have to work with. There's a large table in it with not a lot of room to move around. Ideally, I'd like to have a 8 by 8 metre space of open floor with nothing except a smart-board, several sets of standard gear and several sets of "scuba" gear made from BCD's with plastic piping to represent the tank and modified regulators that the students could breathe through without a tank. I'd bet I could get them up to speed in 1/2 the time and with 1/2 as many "in water" mistakes if I could just work with them in a room where we could move around....

R..

 

[The Chairman]

Perhaps you are just use to having everyone agree with you.

Everyone is free to disagree with me, just as I am free to disagree with you.

Making a course longer does not make it better.

Making a course more relevant does.

Making a course more efficient does.

Making a course more fun does as well.

I hope this helps.

 

[The Chairman]

I had the sense that he was speaking generically. I did not see anyone singled out.

I had to thank you for this. Some take exception where ever they can. I still stand behind my statement.

 

[The Chairman]

I'll give you this: Taking a crappy instructor and lengthening the course will not yield better results than the short format.

I fully agree with you on this without reservation.

Most instructors know their skills inside and out, but some are simply TERRIBLE at imparting the skill. They have to spend a lot of personal time with several students during the duration of their course and their courses seem to last SOOOO long. Instructors who do not keep up with the art and science of teaching are quite prone to this. It's takes just as much effort to stay current as an instructor as it does as a diver, and actually more so. Just teaching MORE classes is not the answer either.

My NAUI ITC ingrained something into me that I hope I never lose: My best class will always be my next one! If you haven't evolved much as an instructor, then my bet is that your classes are boring and irrelevant. Teaching in the same way you were taught should be a HUGE red flag indicating that.

 

[sabbath999]

Speaking of which, you ever notice that no one ever seems to fail a PADI class? If you show up, fill out the worksheets and don't have a serious accident, you're pretty much guaranteed to pass.

That depends on who is teaching it.

I started in a class of 11 students, with one instructor, two other instructors who were acting as DM's and a DM doing the teaching. When the pool was done, only 6 had passed without need for remediation.

My OW checkout dives were done in a quarry, and of the 10 people who started them, only six finished without need for remediation.

Did the others eventually become certified? I have no idea. But they sure didn't get their cards when the rest of us did.

Where I did my OW, you had to repeatedly pass the skills and show that you KNEW them, not only "kinda sorta".

The guy who was watching over me was Ted. There was no getting around Ted, no cheating Ted... no half assed attempt being "good enough". You did it until you got it, and then you did it 10 times more to PROVE you had it.

Then Ted passed me off to the lead instructor, who made me prove I had it to HIM as well.

Yeah, you can't fit all that into one quickie "wham bam thank you mam" session, but not all PADI shops are like that.

Having said that, I have seen (recently) some horror stories in the water of people who have NO business carrying a c-card that were certed by PADI and NAUI shops (not, I might add, by shops that I get my training from... Capt Nemo's in Columbia and Y-Kiki in St. Louis).

 

[boulderjohn]

Speaking of which, you ever notice that no one ever seems to fail a PADI class? If you show up, fill out the worksheets and don't have a serious accident, you're pretty much guaranteed to pass.

PADI is a standards-based program, not a time based program. No one technically ever fails because they have as long as it takes to reach the standards. Although I have never had anyone "fail" my class, I have had quite a few who did not complete it.

So, no, you are not guaranteed to pass, and perhaps I can illustrate that by describing what I am going through at the moment.

Two weekends ago I conducted OW dives in a local reservoir. One of the students, perhaps bothered by the 59 degree water (he said he was), had a lot of trouble and was eventually unable to complete all the skill requirements satisfactorily. When we returned to the shop, we discussed next steps. He and I have scheduled a pool session to review and practice the skills he was struggling with. In the meantime, I contacted the instructor who did his classroom and confined water work for insights into why he might have had the problem. Concerned that a student he had worked with had been unsuccessful, he offered to join us in the pool for this remedial session.

Once the student has shown mastery of these skills in the remedial pool session, I will take him back out to the reservoir by myself to complete his certification. It is getting very late in the year for this, so we may alternatively give him a scuba Diver certification (he did complete the first 2 divers) so that he can dive with a professional on a vacation and then go back to work on it in the spring.

The student is not being charged a dime for this extra instruction, and I am not getting paid a dime for this extra work.

I have had some students decide during the class that scuba was not for them, and they voluntarily left, but not that many. I had a 13-year old who lied to his parents about having completed the independent learning and showed up in class without a clue. The parents and I decided he should wait until he was a little more mature before going on with the class.

Perhaps you can explain why this is so bad for diving.

 

[DCBC]

It takes longer for a specific instructor using a specific instructional strategy to cover more information.

In comparison to that instructor using that method, it may take another instructor using a different methodology much less time to teach much more.

IF an instructor was using antiquated methods I'd agree with you. Who are we talking about? The discussion that I was having was discussing duration of course times, nothing about antiquated methods at all. Are you saying that you can't teach more if given more time?

 

[elmer fudd]

Perhaps things are different elsewhere, but my own experience is that PADI classes somewhat resemble cram schools. They're too rushed, the classwork consists too much of copying sentences verbatim out of a book and so long as you make an effort and don't have an extremely bad attitude you're just about guaranteed to pass.

It's not that the curriculum is bad, just that it's covered too quickly without the time necessary to master skills and this seems to be systemic to the instruction.

I recently took my rescue diver course. The first evening was first aid, followed by two days both in the classroom and the pool and in the end I felt that it should have been much longer.

 

[DCBC]

Everyone is free to disagree with me, just as I am free to disagree with you.

Absolutely, but I'd appreciate it if your clear as to what you're disagreeing with and why.

Making a course longer does not make it better.

Well in my opinion you're not much of an Instructor, if you can't make the training program better, if you have more time to do so.