The process you describe here is just a different name for what happens now. Under current processes for every agency I know, a student who is not meeting standards is supposed to keep working at it until the skills are performed satisfactorily.
Do you think computers encourage risky diving in new/ young divers?
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And do you think that process is adhered to in reality? (rhetorical question)
AfterDark
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Well, I went into AOW with more knowledge than the class covered, I did have 45 years of diving and 18?? dives at the time but my base of knowledge was from my original class and a very unique early diving experience that was more like a some kind of diving boot, where new club members had to plan dives for the club and were beaten over the head with their mistakes and if you didn't like it there's the door. We dove from a converted fishing boat, that was the bait!
A tough but very experienced group of divers, that are mostly gone now but not forgotten.
AfterDark
Contributor
I think he meant that is what is suppose to happen. I'm sure he does it with his classes, but I'm also certain other don't or "handicaps" the MIN somehow to get a pass.
OP
AOW was a waste of time and money except that I did nitrox for one of my specialties.
Oh yes, John knows better than me what happens. It was more directed at everyone. Meeting agency standards (with most agencies) is a problem. I have no idea how to address that as there are business/market pressures that dictate what happens. I'm referring to mills here. Plenty of independent instructors out there who do great jobs, but they serve a smaller percentage of the global market.
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Has EAN ever been part of AOW? I would think not. Back in the day, it was classroom and 2 dives for EAN. Then is became e-learning and analyze a couple of tanks.
I don't disagree at all, and I think some of this can be seen by examining why the United States is the defending Olympic rugby champion--since 1924. Here is a description of how it happened, but my summary is all you really need.
The USA had legitimately won the gold medal in 1920, but the sport had been abandoned in the country almost immediately. When 1924 rolled around, the country had no active rugby players. The games were to be held in France, and the French rugby team was confident they would win easily. Part of the reason, surprisingly, was the ugly rowdiness of their fans--the English team refused to play because of them. The French demanded that the USA produce a team so they could dethrone the defending champions, and the USA produced a team with a few of the people from the last team, people who had not played the game since. The rest of the team was made up of football players who had never played rugby.
After limited training, including in England where they learned the basics of the game, they went to Paris to play. As the game went on, the French (who clearly hated Americans) were winning, and they were playing dirty as well. The American football players decided to stop playing like rugby players and start playing like football players, using low, hard, driving tackles rather then the upper body wrestling tackles used in rugby. They injured the dirtiest of the French players this way, and they won the game and the gold medal.
The Americans are the reigning champions now because rugby was dropped from the olympics after that. Various reasons were given, but many sports historians were afraid that the tactics by which a group of football players who had barely ever seen a rugby match, let alone play in one, could win the Olympic gold medal would become the norm for the game.
It is not just the equipment. There is a gentleman's agreement as to how the game should be played, even if playing it differently might be more effective.
Another example, BTW, is shin guards in soccer. Before shin guards became the norm, there was a gentleman's agreement not to use tackling techniques that could potentially injure a player. With mandatory shin guards, that gentleman's agreement became a relic of the past.
At one time you were able to do one of the two EAN required dives in AOW as a try dive. Now no dives are required for EAN.
Nothing will ever be 100%. I worked for 2 years as a DM and AI assisting a variety of instructors, and in that time I never saw a student pass a class who did not deserve it. In all my years as an instructor I never did that. I saw many cases in which a student who was struggling was given additional class time or referred to a private session. In one memorable class on which I assisted, we were surprised by two special needs students in a group of 5. We ended up pulling them out and making two classes, we did the 3 regular students easily and had a separate session for the two special needs kids (brother and sister). Eventually the instructor did it all on his own without my help, and I don't remember how many sessions they had before it ended. He got the sister OW certified, but he decided that the brother had to stop at scuba diver because he should never dive without professional supervision.
That's my experience. In contrast....
My niece was certified by a NAUI instructor in Okinawa. She had one 2-hour pool session and one OW dive to a maximum depth of 10 feet.
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