DIR- GUE Cave 1 course report

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Great report and thanks so much for sharing.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Thanks, everyone!

I don't understand why the course had to be this way? Couldn't it be more days with less hours on each day and less stress?

Sure it could be. But GUE instructors' time is valuable. Perhaps they decided on 6 days as the normal course length because that's what the market suggests is optimal? I might have paid for an extra day, but most students may not need more or want to pay for more.

I have heard people say Fundies is the hardest course. Maybe in the sense of EVERYTHING being new, yes. For me, C1 was definitely more demanding than Fundies in the sense that it took more concentration. It's possible I simply took C1 more seriously than Fundies.

I know she likes long days but I was hoping that since so much classroom is done via zoom that the dive days would be shorter. It doesn't sound like it though.

I believe some days might actually have been longer had we not done all the classroom stuff in advance. A 12-hour day would have sucked royally.

By the way, @Lorenzoid wrote that the course was around 10h per day (like mine), and he said that the end was in the late afternoon (at least on day 2) - so maybe it was a personal choice to wake up at 5/5.30am, just to have more time in the morning. Am I right, Lorenzo?

Yes, somewhat of a personal choice. I don't like to be rushed in the morning, and I like to eat something real--not an energy bar. I allot some time for packing gear in the car and, of course, travel time to the dive site. Mer had us meet up with her at the dive sites most days at 8 AM, and I like to leave a little time for unforeseen delays, like one morning there was a lot of fog on the road that slowed us down. Of the four dive sites we utilized, Blue Grotto, Peacock Springs, Madison Blue Spring, and Ginnie Spring, all but Ginnie are between about 45 minutes and 1hr 10 mins from High Springs. That's a significant amount of time just driving there and back.

 

[BoltSnap]

But GUE instructors' time is valuable.

Everyone's time is valuable but this isn't the point. The more important issue is student's retention and ability to "soak" all of the information in. Students won't actually learn and retain the information when they are very stressed and tired. Trying to cram everything in such short time under very stressful physical demands isn't helping anyone.

 

[ginti]

Thanks, everyone!
I have heard people say Fundies is the hardest course. Maybe in the sense of EVERYTHING being new, yes. For me, C1 was definitely more demanding than Fundies in the sense that it took more concentration. It's possible I simply took C1 more seriously than Fundies.

Ok, but you have to admit that it took 4 years to get a tec pass card, and only 6 days to get a cave1 one

Everyone's time is valuable but this isn't the point. The more important issue is student's retention and ability to "soak" all of the information in. Students won't actually learn and retain the information when they are very stress and tired. Trying to cram everything in such short time under very stressful physical demands isn't helping anyone.

I get your point, and I agree. At the end of my course, the instructor actually asked us how we were feeling. The course is designed to be very demanding, but in a way that students can still learn; basically, students should really enjoy the last dive (which is an experience-dive, with only few drills), but should not wish to dive the day after the course anymore. If they still want to dive, the course was not demanding enough; if they didn't enjoy the last dive, the course was too hard.

In my case, in fact, I didn't want to dive after the course, I have had enough. But guys, the experience-dive was by far the best dive of my life. The tec1 was more or less the same, but apparently I like more certain types of caves than wrecks.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Everyone's time is valuable but this isn't the point. The more important issue is student's retention and ability to "soak" all of the information in. Students won't actually learn and retain the information when they are very stress and tired. Trying to cram everything in such short time under very stressful physical demands isn't helping anyone.

What I meant was that training--and I suppose this applies more broadly than cave training--is surely a balancing act among several factors, and I wouldn't ignore cost/time as one of them. I'll leave it to the educators among us to ponder, as that is not a subject I understand well, but it seems to me that intensity--stressing a student a carefully applied amount is probably good--volume of material to cover, and how much time to cover it are all factors in the success of a course. Yes, I felt stressed and tired, but never to the point I could no longer function well.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Ok, but you have to admit that it took 4 years to get a tec pass card, and only 6 days to get a cave1 one

The rec pass was like training to run a 10k race. The tec pass was like then training for a marathon. Cave 1 was a sprint. All were difficult in their own way.

 

[kensuf]

Everyone's time is valuable but this isn't the point. The more important issue is student's retention and ability to "soak" all of the information in. Students won't actually learn and retain the information when they are very stressed and tired. Trying to cram everything in such short time under very stressful physical demands isn't helping anyone.

Cave diving is an unforgiving environment. I'm not a GUE instructor, but I typically run 10 hour days when teaching cave programs. The days are similar as others have said, meet at the dive site around 8:30, have a daily briefing, some lecture, then the morning dives. Lunch usually also includes some lecture, then afternoon dives. Wrap up at the fill station in the evening with a post-day debrief and discussion on the following days and maybe a homework assignment (I typically give a lot of accident analysis reports to discuss the following day).

Yes, it's exhausting for the students -- long days coupled with the physical stress of hours in the water and being pushed mentally. However, there's also some science behind it involving repetition, neuroplasticity, and skill development (re-wiring the brain). The biggest challenge is pushing them to a point to stimulate growth, but not pushing them to the point that they shut down. I find that one on one check-ins are important at the end of the day to see where they are and keep everyone on track -- remember, my job is to be part drill sergeant, part coach.

Usually around day 3 or 4 of a 5 day block I'll drop into an "easy" day - it's typically only going to be 8 hours, and their homework assignment that night is to get a good meal and rest.

BTW - it's also a hurdle for the instructor. Long hours for us too, but that's where "old man strength" comes into play (https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/whats-deal-old-man-strength/).

 

[ginti]

Usually around day 3 or 4 of a 5 day block I'll drop into an "easy" day - it's typically only going to be 8 hours, and their homework assignment that night is to get a good meal and rest.

I remember something like this about my courses...

 

[Lorenzoid]

Like Ken mentioned he does with his students, Mer did give us an "easy" day in the middle. I chose not to write my report in a day-by-day format so as not to bore y'all too badly, but .... The morning that day was what one might call "introduction to flow" day, at Madison Blue, and the afternoon was some field drills, after which Mer said to go home and get some sleep. We got home at 5:30. Plenty of time to clean gear, think over what we did in the field drills, watch videos on tips for diving Devil's Ear, eat dinner, and crash by 9 pm.

 

[gobuyastick]

Congrats on the cave 1 pass !! Makes me want to kickstart diving again, havent dove in 2 years !