PADI OW Final Exam Questions that are either wrong or just bad

[Lorenzoid]

Here's the WRSTC version from "Common Hand Signals for Scuba Diving" which is available (along with all their standards) at Standards Downloads - WRSTC

I suppose it's plausible that someone might interpret the hand and arrow together in that picture as being at chest level rather than throat level. The picture is useful as an introduction to the hand signal, but it doesn't tell the whole story. This is why I prefer in-person learning. In the real world, when a diver is horizontal and swimming frantically toward you while making a slashing motion, nobody will mistake that signal for anything else. On an exam where you're presented with that picture and never discussed it further in class, sure, I suppose it's possible to be uncertain.

It occurs to me that if a student's goal is to achieve a perfect exam score, the student might be better off tuning out information provided by well-meaning divers until they are done with the course. The student should read the material, and answer the questions based only on what they read and not any external information. That said, if a student wants to learn more that what is in the course materials, they might end up a more knowledgeable diver but they might also risk an imperfect score. It seems to me the goal should be to become a good diver, not necessarily to achieve a perfect exam score. It's valuable knowledge that there is also a "level off" sign that could be confused with the "out of air" sign" depending on the circumstances. It's valuable knowledge to know more factors that can affect visibility than only what is explained in the course materials. If the exam score is that important to you, don't over-think the question and base your answer only on what was in the course materials.

 

[scubaozy]

In my personal experience, some questions are missed more frequently than the others. But I am not sure whether this means they are wrong or designed badly; answers are in the manual and often in the same phrasing as they are being asked. An experienced instructor will know these and make sure special attention paid to them while doing theory.
If I am thinking how bad the illustrations on old paper version were, I can say at least images have gotten a little better.

 

[VikingDives]

I haven't given a PADI Open Water exam in a couple of years, but I recall that the question about the proper ascent hung on one word. If you really read the question, it was clear why the answer was the way it was. The full PADI Ow exam has a couple of questions like that.

The proper ascent question in the 50-question, in-person final, was frequently missed by my students.

 

[Centrals]

Another question came up on the Enriched Air Final Exam that I consider to be either worded poorly or the “correct” answer was not the best one.

Again please excuse my non-exact paraphrasing but it was along the lines of “After analyzing your EANx cylinder the next thing you do is___________?

My choice was to determine the maximum depth of the blend.

The supposedly correct answer was to compare the results with what is written on the sticker on the cylinder.

"After analyzing your EANx cylinder the next thing you do is _______?"
I label the tank first by MYSELF and then the MOD afterward. And there should not be anything written about the content in the tank!!!!! If there is one I will simply replace it with mine. My analytical result is the ONE that I trust.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Sure if it’s disturbed. But a competent diver won’t stir up the bottom. Or perhaps the substrate can somewhat affect the ambient light and indirectly improve or degrade the visibility as suggested by a previous poster. If the bottom consists of large rocks or a wreck that diverts or blocks the current- that would be a much greater effect as I see it.

Where do you dive?

Perhaps where you dive is what makes you answer in this way?

 

[Lorenzoid]

"After analyzing your EANx cylinder the next thing you do is _______?"
I label the tank first by MYSELF and then the MOD afterward. And there should not be anything written about the content in the tank!!!!! If there is one I will simply replace it with mine. My analytical result is the ONE that I trust.

I, too, don't understand why the question seems to assume there is already a label on the tank, but I have to believe it is supposed to be apparent from what the course materials said on the subject. Maybe the point of the question is that if you intend to dive with Nitrox and you analyze a tank for oxygen percentage, your next step is to see if there is a big green and yellow NITROX sticker on the tank? I have no idea. Because I don't have the course materials. When I dive Nitrox, my tanks generally don't have those NITROX stickers.

There may be lots of "good" answers. @gamon 's answer of checking the MOD first sounds reasonable to me, as does your practice of first labeling the tank--YOURSELF. For me, the next thing I do after analyzing a tank is ask myself whether the O2 percentage is APPROXIMATELY what I expect, regardless of any label that may be on the tank. But I'm not in the position of a student tanking an exam. The "correct" answer is whatever the course materials said.

 

[tursiops]

Another question came up on the Enriched Air Final Exam that I consider to be either worded poorly or the “correct” answer was not the best one.

Again please excuse my non-exact paraphrasing but it was along the lines of “After analyzing your EANx cylinder the next thing you do is___________?

My choice was to determine the maximum depth of the blend.

The supposedly correct answer was to compare the results with what is written on the sticker on the cylinder.

[Mod edit] You misremember the question, then criticize what you remember. The question asks, "After analyzing enriched air, you should compare your analysis with:" and then give 4 possible answers, 2 of which are obviously wrong, one is the sticker on the cylinder, and one is the maximum depth. How do you "compare" a percentage with a depth? You are over-thinking the question. The question and correct answer are almost a direct quote from the student manual.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I, too, don't understand why the question seems to assume there is already a label on the tank, but I have to believe it is supposed to be apparent from what the course materials said on the subject. Maybe the point of the question is that if you intend to dive with Nitrox and you analyze a tank for oxygen percentage, your next step is to see if there is a big green and yellow NITROX sticker on the tank? I have no idea. Because I don't have the course materials. When I dive Nitrox, my tanks generally don't have those NITROX stickers.

There may be lots of "good" answers. @gamon 's answer of checking the MOD first sounds reasonable to me, as does your practice of first labeling the tank--YOURSELF. For me, the next thing I do after analyzing a tank is ask myself whether the O2 percentage is APPROXIMATELY what I expect, regardless of any label that may be on the tank. But I'm not in the position of a student tanking an exam. The "correct" answer is whatever the course materials said.

One of the SE Asia places that I traveled to dive and I no longer recall which locale nor whether it was lob or land-based, the guide wanted us to give the low on air signal to show half tank left.

We had a discussion about it. Ultimately, I decided that since I never get low on air that I'd go with the signal that he wanted, rather than make a fuss. After a couple of dives, he never asked me for my tank status again anyway.

Now, because of this thread, I'm asking myself why i didn't chat with him privately a day or so of dives, and as diplomatically as possible suggest that he might want to review his course materials.

 

[Lorenzoid]

[Mod edit] You misremember the question, then criticize what you remember. The question asks, "After analyzing enriched air, you should compare your analysis with:" and then give 4 possible answers, 2 of which are obviously wrong, one is the sticker on the cylinder, and one is the maximum depth. How do you "compare" a percentage with a depth? You are over-thinking the question. The question and correct answer are almost a direct quote from the student manual.

Could you enlighten those of us who have not taken the course what they are assuming is "the sticker on the cylinder"?

 

[tursiops]

Could you enlighten those of us who have not taken the course what they are assuming is "the sticker on the cylinder"?

That is clearly explaioned earlier in the manual. It is the label on the tank that is put there by whoever filled it with Nitrox, saying what THEY thought the O2 percentage was.