another divemaster (almost)

[Frosty]

Got back Yesterday from doing as much of my Divemaster course as time permitted.
I don't really know what to say.
Did I work my a## off. Yep. Have I worked my a## off for the past few months. YEP. Did it pay off er um yea you could say that.
The written final exam is a two parter. Part one I got 100%-Part 2 I got four questions wrong and two were down to the way the questions were worded.
The 400m swim someone lit a rocket up my backside.--fastest time Ive covered 400m in the pool was was 9 minutes 45 and the actual sea swim I did in 6 minutes 45 for a 4 points from 5.
Snorkle again same rocket so 800 in 15 minutes something for four points.
Tired diver tow-four points.
Float/survival swim was 5 points.
I need a total of 15 points to pass so have 17 so far with the gear swap still to do.
I do need to do the gear swap for 3 or more points so that will be 20 of a possible 25
The 24 skill test caught me out in a few places.Mainly areas I stopped thinking about what I was doing years ago so I had to actually think through the skill and do it SLOWLY to emphasise the important points.. First run through and frankly I doubt if I got threes (out of five) second run through got it right. being able to DO something is a whole lot different from TEACHING the self same something.
Of all things my biggest fail was gear on/off on the surface. Ive used the arms crossed gear in front of you method for years so it took ages to go to the Padi method.
The boss seemed to be happy with my efforts and I hope all the instructors were happy with the (small) help I was giving them.
Two Highlights so far were a family group doing a DSD dive. The son was a bit slow with his learning. It was wonderfull watching him open up and enjoy the dive. The second was a Lovely Japanese couple. Husband had done his Open water course elsewhere recently wife went with the dive shop Im doing my DM with.She was genuinely terrified in the pool but was determined to succeed.Beeing even a bit involved as she relaxed and began to enjoy first the pool then later the open sea was just amazing. Ive realised I get genuine joy out of showing other people this wonderfull world I've almost taken for granted. A bit more work to do but the back of it is broken (I hope).
Some of it will be done at home based on local diving and some will be done in September/October.
So Not quite a DM YET but a lot closer than a few weeks ago.

 

[boulderjohn]

Of all things my biggest fail was gear on/off on the surface. Ive used the arms crossed gear in front of you method for years so it took ages to go to the Padi method.

I just had a serious discussion about this sort of thing both with the people involved with our current DM class and with the PADI instruction department.

It is important that the DM get a good score on demonstrating skills. Consequently, it is common for instructors in these programs to insist on a specified sequence of steps for each of the skills. If the students do it in that sequence, they are sure to get good scores. This leads to people assuming that the way they are being taught to do a skill is THE PADI method.

The problem is that there is no such thing as the PADI method.

Yes, if you do the skills the way you are taught, you will get a good score if you take those methods to an Instructor Examination (IE). You will also get a good score, though, if you do a good job using a different approach. Read the PADI description of the skill. Then look at the wording of the scoring criteria. See if there is any hint of a specified method.

When I tallked to PADI about this (just a few weeks ago), they said they were reluctant to make a video of the skills for that reason, although they finally did do so. They emphasized that there are a number of aceptable ways to do most of the skills, and a good DM should be able to do a skill in several ways, because the DM may some day assist an instructor who does it in a different but fully acceptable way.

Several years ago PADI published in their professional journal an article written by a group of instructors about a different approach to teaching the confined water sessions of the OW class, one in which no skills are ever demonstrated or performed on the knees. This was pretty revolutionary for most of the PADI reading audience. Today PADI has clearly said it is their preferred way of teaching skills, but I will bet that most people in DM and instructor classes are still being taught to perform the skills on the knees. (I don't know how you are being asked to do skills now.)

I was the primary author of that article, and it is I performing the skills in the pictures. After the article was published, I switched to a different shop, and I tried to get them to show the skills to the DM candidates the way I did them. Oh no! We had to do it the PADI way! Overweighted and firmly planted on the knees!

Well, we have gotten past that. If you move to this area and assist me as a DM, I will want you to be able to demonstrate the skills as I do them. If I have you work with a struggling student, I will want you to do the skills as I teach them. The way I do it is not THE PADI method, but it is definitely A PADI method.

 

[TSandM]

When I did my DM class, my instructor emphasized that there were various ways of doing skills and demonstrating them. I have ALWAYS had a miserable time with the gear remove on the bottom, on the knee with one knee out in front. On the other hand, I can do the gear removal in midwater (and replacement) without moving much at all. So I do it that way -- and amazingly, a lot of students can do it, too!

Some of the "usual" methods really do depend on you being significantly negative in order to remain stable while planted on the bottom. I don't dive or DM that way, so those methods are extremely difficult for me.

 

[Frosty]

hey thanks TS and M--I thought much the same thing at the time but figure that its best to do it the way the instructors were telling me then discuss it later.
That said here and now I see the issue with "my" way of putting on a BCD on the surface.
I use a WI BC so for me into it is easy. Face BC cross hands,slide hands into bc straps,Forcefully uncross hands and the BC is on my shoulders. Might not work so well with someone with or without their weightbelt on.

 

[Hawkwood]

As has been said, there is no "one " right way.

That being said, as a DM/Certified Assistant, you must be able to demonstrate the skill as the Instructor you are assisting briefs it. You should be able to do the skills any number of ways.

 

[Frosty]

As has been said, there is no "one " right way.

That being said, as a DM/Certified Assistant, you must be able to demonstrate the skill as the Instructor you are assisting briefs it. You should be able to do the skills any number of ways.

I think YOU say it so much better than I ever could.
Im sod all use as a DM if my methodology is at odds with the various instructors I work with/for regardless of the effectiveness of the method.
On that basis a uniform methodology makes sense I guess.
In another world we tend to deal in black or white until the student has sufficient experience/knowledge for us to be able to explain that actually there are various shades of grey.

 

[boulderjohn]

I think YOU say it so much better than I ever could.
Im sod all use as a DM if my methodology is at odds with the various instructors I work with/for regardless of the effectiveness of the method.
On that basis a uniform methodology makes sense I guess.
In another world we tend to deal in black or white until the student has sufficient experience/knowledge for us to be able to explain that actually there are various shades of grey.

When we teach new students, we usually teach them one way to perform a skill. If you want a unifom methodology, the question is whose methodology will be chosen for that uniformity? When I was a Dm assisting classes, the skill that made that the most clear to me was OOA. It took me a while to learn how each instructor differed in this, and as we demonstrated the skill to students, I had to remember to do what this specific instructor had taught as opposed to what the instructor previous had taught. Each was convinced he was doing the right thing.

I recently faced a situation in which a push was made for uniformity among instructors, uniformity that follwed a set of videos of skills as taught by one of those big scuba instructor schools. I thought a lot of what was being taught was downright silly and way over the top. One example was the pre-dive buddy check. When students got to the "A is for Air" part, divers were supposed to breathe off of their primaries while looking at their gauges, while at the same time their buddies were supposed to breathe off of their alternates. Then they were supposed to breathe off of their buddy's alternate while their buddies breathed off of their primaries. We were all supposed to demonstrate it that way for the same of uniformity. It works, but tell me you have ever seen it done that way anywhere in the world. I would much rather teach students to do things the way they will actually do it.

 

[Frosty]

Happy to say I have now passed everything I needed to and awaiting padi asia pacific to come back to me with my Divemaster number.

 

[boulderjohn]

Happy to say I have now passed everything I needed to and awaiting padi asia pacific to come back to me with my Divemaster number.

Congratulations!

 

[TMHeimer]

Congrats as well. You scored better than me on those swim tests. Thought this was a new thread--back a bit on Boulderjohn's post, I couldn't agree more. Instructors do vary a lot.