Diver Training, Has It Really Been Watered Down???

[kelemvor]

I think it would solve a lot of problems with scuba instruction if dive instructors were required to first obtain a degree in education. Think how the world would be if your college chemistry professor obtained his credentials by taking a chemistry instructor course over a few months in a tropical paradise.

 

[boulderjohn]

Think how the world would be if your college chemistry professor obtained his credentials by taking a chemistry instructor course over a few months in a tropical paradise.

Your college chemistry professor probably had far less training in education than a scuba instructor. Most colleges have no requirement that professors have any sort of training in education.

A long time friend of mine is currently a dean at a major university. I met him when he first started teaching there. He told me that when he entered the department, he was embarrassed because he had only taken 2 education courses in his life. He soon discovered that he had taken 2 more education courses than the rest of the department combined.

 

[Colliam7]

Just about every class period was the same--the instructor sat on the desk in the front of the room and read from his notes while we in the class hastily scribbled down what he said. . . .
It occurred to me in one of my classes that what we students were doing was trying to transcribe the contents of his notebook into our notebook.

John, your post (unfortunately) resurrects vivid memories of one of my Medicinal Chemistry teachers in undergraduate school. He read his notes, including his punctuation. And, we were truly transcriptionists. The only questions EVER asked were, 'Could you repeat that last sentience?', or something along those lines.

The best part - if you memorized his notes, you aced his examinations. You did not necessarily learn anything. He was a genuinely nice man on a personal level, just an absolutely God-awful instructor.

I joined the faculty of a health professional school in a major state university with absolutely NO - nada / zip / zilch - formal training in education. I was good in my scientific discipline, that's what got me a faculty position. Over time (26 years), I worked hard to improve my teaching skills. And, I learned to learn from others, by observation, imitation, etc.. And, I did participate in teaching workshops, all of which helped me understand the teaching / learning process.

I believe I am a far better scuba instructor because of that background, than I otherwise could be.

 

[RainPilot]

I spent six months learning how to teach before I got anywhere near applied instruction in the Air Force. I am thankful daily for that background, especially in diving instruction. I honestly find it hard to believe how little “theory of teaching “ actually gets taught to OWSI.

For those reading, have a look at the FAA Instructors Handbook. Disregard all the flying parts, it is an amazing resource in learning theory as applied to practical instruction.

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_pol..._instructors_handbook/media/FAA-H-8083-9A.pdf

 

[kelemvor]

Your college chemistry professor probably had far less training in education than a scuba instructor. Most colleges have no requirement that professors have any sort of training in education.

A long time friend of mine is currently a dean at a major university. I met him when he first started teaching there. He told me that when he entered the department, he was embarrassed because he had only taken 2 education courses in his life. He soon discovered that he had taken 2 more education courses than the rest of the department combined.

Fine fine. Change it to High School Chemistry teacher.

 

[TMHeimer]

I think it would solve a lot of problems with scuba instruction if dive instructors were required to first obtain a degree in education. Think how the world would be if your college chemistry professor obtained his credentials by taking a chemistry instructor course over a few months in a tropical paradise.

Good idea, but you're not gunna go through all the time and money to get a 4 year degree in education just to be able to teach scuba courses and work for peanuts doing so.
I was just lucky for having been a teacher 19 years. That experience certainly helped to curtail frustration with less than ideal students. Well, except for that ONE GUY.................what a tool.

 

[AfterDark]

I've not read or followed this thread before posting. IMO dive training has indeed been watered down or dumbed downed more accurately put. Back in the olden days when/where I was certified. There weren't DM's to hold your hand while diving after certification. We were on our own after certification. As I recall there were no advanced classes or "tech" certifications. There was one course to make divers out newbies, the one I took was 12 weeks long 2 nights a week. At the start it was mostly classroom time, than as we progressed it became more pool time than classroom. We made 3 open water dives to complete the course.

Today a newbie learns enough not to kill themselves but not quite enough to feel confident in their abilities so they need a "guide". Another course a little more knowledge, than another, and another, and another...........
I won't even get into nitrox cert. that's a another joke.

 

[USdiver1]

I agree completely on the AOW as a newer diver. It was useless outside of going on some more dives with an instructor nearby. I did it solely to check the box for being able to go on trips/boats that required it.

I know I'm late to the party, but this post struck a chord (A-minor) with me. In the good old days of learning to dive with The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving [prior to there being proprietary agency textbooks] we students were subject to the collective wisdom of the Council for National Cooperation in Aquatics [a nonprofit group of many stakeholders in water sports] who deemed it necessary for a competent student of scuba to learn lots of physics and physiology of diving, and made we students endure [or enjoy] having our masks pulled off, air shut off, doffing and donning our equipment underwater, etc., all to earn a C-Card.

Once we had earned our certification, and it was EARNED, we were certified divers, trained to be somewhat self-sufficient in dealing with the common rigors of the underwater world, capable of showing our C-cards to the hardware store clerks who sold equipment, and filled our steel cylinders, and the old captains who would deliver us to dive sites aboard rickety boats that would never pass today's Coast Guard safety inspections.

We dove without benefit of BCDs, computers were evil as seen in Sci-Fi movies, diving was a dangerous past time and most of us used spear guns to protect ourselves from dangerous marine life as well as harvesting a meal or two. We dove everywhere: oceans, lakes, rivers, quarries, rarely traveling beyond the borders of our nation. Bad air was a real hazard, and smelling/tasting your air to make sure there wasn't copper, or other hazardous vapors from a faulty or non-existent filter was something we all did.

We all learned the Navy dive tables, and could recite NDLs and many repetitive dive table remaining no decompression times per specific depth for any given letter. Dive watches were necessary tools, not collector time pieces. Equipment was just as God intended - BLACK in color and made from RUBBER, or chrome plated brass.

Divers from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s are all due a bit of respect from those who came after, so if you see someone pull out that old paper or laminated card, that just says SCUBA DIVER, believe me, it was/is a badge of accomplishment.

End of Rant

 

[AfterDark]

As one of those divers trained in 1968 I could not agree more. I marvel at the need for DMs to escort divers, holding hands sometimes even. I imagine those divers in the "harassment" phase at the end of pool training that we passed and chuckle. IMO 8 out of 10 of todays AOW divers could not successfully pass that phase. It what separated a panic prone diver from one that isn't. A useful thing to know about one's self. Still got my diploma! Blanked out my name on the image not the original.

 

[tkaelin]

YMCA in the 70s. Hours in the pool. Every class had a pool session which started with laps and more laps with equipment and without. Ditch and don an so forth. There was an emphasis on having strong swimming skills and physical fitness.

Recreational diving in the late 70s in GCM involved dives to 125' with deco stops all on tables, depth gauge and a watch. We had bcds but we called them bcs back then. You were responsible for yourself and your buddy and your buddy was responsible for you.

Times have changed.