New Divers Beware: Sketchy dive shop in Cozumel puts profits over safety

[Quero]

I see this all of the time in my classroom. Many students can demonstrate understanding when they know exactly the skill or problem solving strategy they need to use. When they are required to make decisions regarding which strategy to use, their proficiency level decreases, even when they have seemingly mastered that skill in a different context. These are often the same students who struggle to apply previously learned skills to a new context or synthesize their skills into new understandings. For example, a student can add and subtract fractions with regular success. If they are engaged in a contextual problem where they must decide if addition or subtraction will solve the problem, (rather than just being presented with numbers) I will sometimes see this very same student's ability to add and subtract fractions decrease. They will make errors in their computation that they would never make if the problem was just numbers on a page. This is why I always try to teach skills in context, rather than as pure algorithm. Then the skill is learned with the greater flexibility to use it in more applications.

It is the nature of learning as well as the nature of teaching.

In a way it is the nature of teaching and learning, but there's more to it because not all of teaching and learning has to do with the specific content of the course or lesson. Rather, part of teaching and learning is the development of critical thinking skills.

While it's too much to go into here, for anyone really interested in educational theory it would be instructive to spend a couple of hours searching and reading about Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Essentially, this theory posits that learners progress through a series of stages in their development of thinking and reasoning skills and that these skills, when applied in a learning situation, facilitate learning. When critical thinking skills have not been developed, learners will be blocked from progressing in their ability to internalize the lesson or information they are presented with until those thinking skills have been developed.

Thus, in the example that Blair gives us of the young man he is mentoring, the learner appears to be "stuck" between the Understanding and the Applying stages, which are quite low on the ladder in terms of critical thinking. He will probably not be able to progress or function without direct supervision until he can perform higher level thinking.

Remembering: Recalls previous learned information. (Examples: Reciting a policy. Quoting prices from memory to a customer. Knowing the safety rules. Repeating the first rule of scuba diving: never hold your breath.)
Understanding: Comprehends the meaning, translation, interpolation, and interpretation of instructions and problems. States a problem in one's own words. (Examples: Explaining in one's own words the steps for performing a complex task. Summarizing the key points of a discussion. Explaining the cause and effect of pressure changes on gasses.)
Applying: Uses a concept in a new situation, or without prompting uses an abstraction. Applies what was learned in training situations in novel real-world situations. (Examples: Using an instruction manual with general information to solve an actual, specific problem. Using laws of gas physics to create a dive plan based on the diver's air consumption rate and the available gas in the cylinder.)
Analyzing: Separates information or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishes between facts and inferences. (Examples: Troubleshooting a piece of equipment by using logical deduction. Recognizing logical fallacies in reasoning. Reflecting on the events leading up to a pressure-related injury during scuba diving and selecting which are contributing factors and which are not, e.g., in the OP's story, the difference between a 60 foot max depth and and a 70+ foot max depth in relation to his ear injury.)
Evaluating: Makes judgments about the value of ideas or materials. (Examples: Considers a number of solutions to a problem and selects one. Finds the right dive center to work with based on an individual needs analysis. During a dive, when confronted with an issue, acts rationally and pro-actively rather than expecting another to solve the problem for him.)
Creating: Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure. (Examples: Integrating training from several sources to solve a problem. Using another diver's experience to revise one's own procedures in order to improve an outcome. Writing a post on ScubaBoard about techniques for effective ear clearing in response to a user's specific question.)
​

 

[nodakdive]

In a way it is the nature of teaching and learning, but there's more to it because not all of teaching and learning has to do with the specific content of the course or lesson. Rather, part of teaching and learning is the development of critical thinking skills.

While it's too much to go into here, for anyone really interested in educational theory it would be instructive to spend a couple of hours searching and reading about Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Essentially, this theory posits that learners progress through a series of stages in their development of thinking and reasoning skills and that these skills, when applied in a learning situation, facilitate learning. When critical thinking skills have not been developed, learners will be blocked from progressing in their ability to internalize the lesson or information they are presented with until those thinking skills have been developed.

Thus, in the example that Blair gives us of the young man he is mentoring, the learner appears to be "stuck" between the Understanding and the Applying stages, which are quite low on the ladder in terms of critical thinking. He will probably not be able to progress or function without direct supervision until he can perform higher level thinking.

Remembering: Recalls previous learned information. (Examples: Reciting a policy. Quoting prices from memory to a customer. Knowing the safety rules. Repeating the first rule of scuba diving: never hold your breath.)
Understanding: Comprehends the meaning, translation, interpolation, and interpretation of instructions and problems. States a problem in one's own words. (Examples: Explaining in one's own words the steps for performing a complex task. Summarizing the key points of a discussion. Explaining the cause and effect of pressure changes on gasses.)
Applying: Uses a concept in a new situation, or without unprompting uses an abstraction. Applies what was learned in training situations in novel real-world situations. (Examples: Using an instruction manual with general information to solve an actual, specific problem. Using laws of gas physics to create a dive plan based on the diver's air consumption rate and the available gas in the cylinder.)
Analyzing: Separates information or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishes between facts and inferences. (Examples: Troubleshooting a piece of equipment by using logical deduction. Recognizing logical fallacies in reasoning. Reflecting on the events leading up to a pressure-related injury during scuba diving and selecting which are contributing factors and which are not, e.g., in the OP's story, the difference between a 60 foot max depth and and a 70+ foot max depth in relation to his ear injury.)
Evaluating: Makes judgments about the value of ideas or materials. (Examples: Considers a number of solutions to a problem and selects one. Finds the right dive center to work with based on an individual needs analysis. During a dive, when confronted with an issue, acts rationally and pro-actively rather than expecting another to solve the problem for him.)
Creating: Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure. (Examples: Integrating training from several sources to solve a problem. Using another diver's experience to revise one's own procedures in order to improve an outcome. Writing a post on ScubaBoard about techniques for effective ear clearing in response to a user's specific question.)
​

Quero,
Thanks very much for this!! I'd just sent a couple pm's to people asking for a little help with this and to offer some more specific info. I didn't want to sidetrack anything in the thread or whatever.

I'll go look at the Bloom's stuff. When I read those 6 points it rang some old bell for me, but from who knows where. I'm not an educator nor in a line of work that would crossover. Not now anyhow.

Based on the above, I think you're right about where he's "stuck", at least right around in that Understanding/Applying/Analyzing ballpark. His abilities seem to fall in different areas depending on the specific task. For some tasks, he's able to apply, but can't do the analyzing. For some, he can analyze, but can't evaluate.

I'm a landman, and one facet of being a landman is "running title". You may already be familiar with this. Basically, we examine and report real-estate ownership. We look at all the deeds and other instruments which are put of record in a courthouse to determine ownership of the estates, specifically but not limited to the mineral estate. We also examine encumbrances associated with the land and minerals. Once we've made our determination of ownership/s and encumbrances, we create a report detailing this information and submit it, ultimately, to the end client, an oil producer. The oil producer uses this information to secure a lease with each mineral owner. The Oil & Gas Lease gives the producer permission (for a set period of time) to drill for oil.

(don't know if this is a better or worse explanation of the job than I sent in the pm's?)

That's what we're trying to learn and due to the nature of the industry the poor dude, as have all of us when we started, is put in a position of having to do all of this, nearly from day one. There are other factors, too, which I won't detail here, but the work environment isn't conducive, there's been a lack of consistency with his training and he's somewhat unwilling to express and resolve his frustrations among other things, if that's not enough. heh.

Anyhow, I really appreciate your help with this. I know all you Yodas are busy people with lots to do. I just wanna help the guy, and I'm all ears. (well, and more than a fair amount of mouth too, I guess.)

Thanks,
-Blair

 

[Quero]

Blair, see if you can find an educational psychologist with an interest in vocational/technical education. Strategies for the development of critical thinking and reasoning skills include learning what sorts of questions to ask that will lead the learner to develop a broader repertoire of learning and problem-solving techniques. Sounds to me like your guy needs more than just a job, and furthermore that the job he now has requires all of the levels of critical thinking I described, which are clearly impossible for him to use. It may be a recipe for failure in the short term unless you can change his job to that of your assistant while the development of his thinking skills is being nurtured. Another SB leader with a lot of insight into the practical application of educational theory is boulderjohn. He's in your time zone (or close), so he may have some suggestions for resources or experts who can help you.

 

[cruiser]

That's like saying that the contractor is not responsible for the quality of construction and the house that he builds. In my world (which is clearly different from yours) if the student has not learned, then by definition, I have not taught. My role is to do whatever it takes to assure that the learning objectives have been met, with some students who are self motivated and not phobic that can be very easy, with others it may take trying a number of different approaches, but in any case, the quality of students' performance at the end of the course is a reflection on me.

I bolded a few words above, and (erroneously) thought it was obvious that it was implied in what I said.

The distinction I was making is that a teacher can do everything within their power to "teach," but at some point, the student has to "receive" the information and process it. The teacher cannot do this for the student, no matter how well they've taught the subject.

 

[boulderjohn]

I bolded a few words above, and (erroneously) thought it was obvious that it was implied in what I said.

The distinction I was making is that a teacher can do everything within their power to "teach," but at some point, the student has to "receive" the information and process it. The teacher cannot do this for the student, no matter how well they've taught the subject.

Perhaps you are saying this already--I am not sure because I have have spent umpteen hours teaching education and found people mean very different things by this.

I once saw a cartoon that featured a boy saying he had taught his dog to talk. When another boy tries to engage the dog in conversation but fails, the boy clarifies: "I said I taught him to talk--I didn't say he had learned it."

I have heard teachers say something that translates to: "I gave a good, solid lecture on the topic--it's not my fault that they didn't learn it. Learning is up to them." When my son's chemistry teacher told me that only 4 students had passed an exam on a topic critical to future understanding of more complex issues, I asked if he was going to reteach and retest. He looked at me like I was crazy. "I would never do that," he said. "I taught it, and it isn't my fault that they didn't learn it."

In contrast, other people have the idea that teaching means a continuous process of monitoring student understanding and adjusting instructional approaches to ensure that all students who are actively engaged in the process will learn it.

There is a big difference, and I can't ell from how you wrote the above what you meant.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

When I was just starting school my mom taught me to read the last chapter first, so all school books I did and several times, by the time the class and teacher got there it was just a review for me.

The best time this came into play, english teacher handed out 1 sheet and said no ?'s and 5 mins to finish, the heading said, READ FIRST THEN ANSWER.

I read the bottom signed my name and handed it to the teacher, the whole class failed they began answering ?'s, on the bottom it said now that you read everything just sign and hand to teacher.

You do not have to be smart, just clever enough not to let teachers to fool you, info is out there and each individual has there own way of retaining it.

 

[ggunn]

When I was in college the first time, I had an English teacher who had taken a course taught by Robert Frost, and he told us this story:

Frost had a very interactive teaching method; his classes were discussions rather than lectures and he gave no exams. At the end of the semester the dean of the college told Frost that he had to give a final exam so that he could assign grades.

On the day of the exam, the students came in to find a single question on the board, which was "What did you learn in this class?". That was the exam.

Everyone in the class sat there for a while puzzling over how to answer the question, but after a couple of minutes, one guy wrote something down, handed in his paper, and left the room. Frost looked at what he had written, chuckled, and put the paper away. This was driving everyone nuts, so someone asked Frost what the guy had written. Frost picked up the guy's paper, and read from it, "'Not a damn thing'. Hmm. He misspelled 'damn', so I'm going to have to give him an A minus."

 

[Lorenzoid]

Regardless of the OP's particular experience--and I will defer to those with more insight and expertise--what struck me about this thread is the word "sketchy" that the OP included in the thread title. To call a dive shop "sketchy" based on a single negative experience is a bit of a broad characterization. I dove with Deep Blue for a few days and had a great experience. I chose them because they seemed to be a well-established shop with good reviews. I'm not bothered by the OP's opinion in the thread title that the shop put profit over safety in the instance he described, as everyone is entitled to an opinion, but to somehow include "sketchy" in the title based on that one instance seems ludicrous and unfair.

 

[marymac]

-Sketchy- HAHAHAAAA ever been to Durango? Beautiful place with more self medicated population than most.. sketchy is verb often heard there.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

bvana as far as deep blue and any shop, you are now introduced with the scuba world, you just try different ones and you will like some and hate some.