When is a skill "mastered"?

[TSandM]

I guess, at some level, I don't like the use of the word "mastery" in relation to open water classes. NOBODY masters anything in an open water class, at least not in any way I would use the word mastery in any other context. You have mastered multiplication when you can multiply any two numbers together without an error. You have mastered putting in central lines, when you can do it without assistance, smoothly and with no fuss, on a wide variety of patients. OW students have a working grasp of skills, but they are often slow, clumsy, and have difficult maintaining buoyancy, trim and position, let alone situational awareness, while performing tasks. As long as they get the job done in a calm fashion, and without a loss of the other things that would put them at risk in a "real" dive, they pass -- everyone knows it will take many, many repetitions of the skills before they are second nature.

One of the biggest problems is that I don't think instructors stress enough that the things the student has learned in OW need to be PRACTICED . . . We've had more than one student in Rescue class who hasn't done an air-share since OW. We shared our cavern class with a guy who hadn't had his mask off since his basic class -- he didn't do well. We ALL need to practice. Andy's statement that skills degrade faster than they are built is spot-on. I don't care if you were once the Yoda of buoyancy control while task-loaded -- if you haven't challenged that in a few months, you will not be as sharp as you were.

 

[redacted]

My impression is that when PADI (or any training agency) uses the term "mastery" they really mean that the student understands and can perform the skill well enough to go out and practice that outside of a supervised training situation.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I think a skill is mastered by a new diver when it can be done and replicated upon request, without notice, without anxiety or discomfort. It need not be perfect, but must be performed to effect the necessary outcome, and performed that way a lot more than a couple of times. That is why we do cumulative performace and repetition of skills, often in a "game" type setting after the original protocol are completed. I think a skill is truly mastered, however, when it can be replicasted to demonatration quality without error, while maintianing neutral buoyancy. That is a DM level of skill mastery, however.
DivemasterDennis

 

[chrpai]

I assume that since this question is being asked that the standards don't give criteria to judge mastery for each skill?

 

[ajduplessis]

Skills can never be mastered IMO. One can strive to try and master them. Mastering IMO implies perfection everytime and that's not going to happen 100% of the time.

Proficiency would be a better word. Tiger Woods as example will make mistakes. He has all the muscle mem in the world and can perform under pressure. Has he mastered the golf swing? No. Is he striving to master every swing. Yes!

 

[DCBC]

Interesting response from divers. You guys are harder on yourselves than I think that the training agencies would ever give the instructors time to provide. Yes, mastery implies that you can do a skill upside down, in a cave, in the dark, with sea monsters coiled tightly around your legs. That's cool, but it takes way more time than any OW class can properly provide to get to that level...

When you measure performance, I don't believe that time is a factor. To me mastery is obtained when a skill is comprehensive. As this term is subjective, I attempt to put this into perspective by establishing a reasonable skill level for the program level I'm teaching (what's expected in initial training is different than a more advanced or technical program).

Like you, skills are taught progressively in the teaching process. For evaluation, I expect the Diver to demonstrate all tasks adequately in the pool under stress before proceeding to OW.

 

[maniago]

I think a skill is truly mastered, however, when it can be replicasted to demonatration quality without error, while maintianing neutral buoyancy. That is a DM level of skill mastery, however.
DivemasterDennis

+1. Perhaps a skill is never truly understood until one has to teach it! That said, even the masters mess up... In aviation, we say a good pilot is always learning - probably a fair saying for any occupation/sport/recreation.

 

[DevonDiver]

I think a skill is mastered by a new diver when it can be done and replicated upon request, without notice, without anxiety or discomfort.

The only caveat I'd add to that description would be; "... and without causing deterioration to other core skills and situational awareness".

With a 'little' practice and sufficient focus, any diver can nail a skill (repeatedly). A higher level of skill acquisition would be replication of the skill without causing an increase in task-loading to the detriment of other necessary and simultaneous functions.

It need not be perfect,....

Agreed. If so, we could say the skill was 'perfected', not 'mastered'. 'Perfection' being a higher level of skill attainment than 'mastery'... one that we are unlikely to ever attain (if our standards are high enough).

 

[boulderjohn]

In education, the idea of mastery is slightly different from the way it is used by the general population. PADI's use of the term is consistent with that usage:

During confined and open water dives, mastery is defined as performing the skill so it meets the stated performance requirements in a reasonably comfortable, fluid, repeatable manner as would be expected of a diver at that certification level.​

In explaining this concept in education workshops, I often used baseball as an example. In describing what to look for in a skilled player, the words you would use would generally apply to a Little League player or a major league player. A 12 year who is a true expert Little League player has displayed mastery, yet cannot match the skill of a Major League player.

Writing is another example. A students who has displayed mastery in writing at the high school level is not ready for professional writing.

So how do you tell the difference if you can't truly describe it in words? It is done the same way in all performance assessments. The people who do the assessing have supposedly seen enough examples of mastery at that certification level to be able to know what to expect. That is supposed to be part of the instructor training process. In a way, it is similar to what a supreme court justice wrote in the critical decision on pornography--he said he could not define it in words, but he knows it when he sees it.

 

[Wookie]

In education, the idea of mastery is slightly different from the way it is used by the general population. PADI's use of the term is consistent with that usage:

During confined and open water dives, mastery is defined as performing the skill so it meets the stated performance requirements in a reasonably comfortable, fluid, repeatable manner as would be expected of a diver at that certification level.​

In explaining this concept in education workshops, I often used baseball as an example. In describing what to look for in a skilled player, the words you would use would generally apply to a Little League player or a major league player. A 12 year who is a true expert Little League player has displayed mastery, yet cannot match the skill of a Major League player.

Writing is another example. A students who has displayed mastery in writing at the high school level is not ready for professional writing.

So how do you tell the difference if you can't truly describe it in words? It is done the same way in all performance assessments. The people who do the assessing have supposedly seen enough examples of mastery at that certification level to be able to know what to expect. That is supposed to be part of the instructor training process. In a way, it is similar to what a supreme court justice wrote in the critical decision on pornography--he said he could not define it in words, but he knows it when he sees it.

Now, that's what I'm talking about! We can talk about repetition 1000's or millions or every week for a year times, but that isn't where most students are, and many never want to be, nor should they care. At the open water diver level, they need to be able to clear their mask "in a reasonably comfortable, fluid, and repeatable manner". Asking them to do it in a cave while shooting a bag is task loading and far beyond the scope of dive training.