Cool stuff your instructor did in your Advanced course

[sandiegoaes]

I am conducting some research on Advanced courses (or the NAUI Master Diver course) and what activities an instructor can do to spice the class up a bit. Was there anything that your instructor did during the class that you thought was really cool?

A few examples:

During the Navigation exercises, we typically have envelopes sealed in plastic zip lock bags. A small fishing weight is put inside the bag. Inside the envelope is a playing card. The envelope prevents the person from knowing which card is inside.

A navigation course is layed out ahead of time on the bottom, usually a triangle and rectangle pattern for the Adv course. For each leg of the course that a student gets correct, they get to pick up an envelope. At the end of the dive, usually students would get 5-6 cards sealed in envelopes, again still not knowing what cards they picked up.

During the debrief, you play poker. Whoever gets the highest card wins. The instructor gives a prize (usually a Scuba tool or save a dive kit) to the winner.

I have used pirate treasure boxes in the past for search and recovery. Had the students rescue plastic skeletons in dive gear for Public Safety Diver / Rescue programs.

What things have your instructors done in the past to zazz up your courses????

 

[sandiegoaes]

I also do a big emphasis on sustainability and ecology. Almost every session is a "leave it better than you found it" exercise. I bring trash bags and we walk the area during or after debrief, picking up trash to keep the area cleaner than before.

 

[sandiegoaes]

Bump

 

[grantmac]

Teaching good buoyancy, team coordination and how to setup a BP&W correctly.

Basically make it as close to a DIR course as possible.

 

[brsnow]

Mine was also teaching a rescue class, so would check in and ask if we did the exercise.

 

[sena_akutsa]

we dive mostly on Saturdays.
After FFESSM/CMAS 2 star class completion, our dive center Director allowed us diving for free 'till the end of the seazon (that ended yesterday).
Those who didn't want to take class and opted to remain "N1/1 Star" and pay individually for each explore dive, continued that way.

On top of that, my buddy and I were sometimes invited to dive when a group of foreigners booked on week days

 

[sandiegoaes]

Basically make it as close to a DIR course as possible.

I'm not exactly sure why someone would sign up for an advanced course and expect a "DIR course". They are two completely different courses.

Wouldn't they be better off signing up for GUE Fundamentals instead?

 

[landphil]

My NAUI advanced in 2001 was a lot different than the current course. It was all about diving the advanced sites around Monterey. We’d learn the skills required to do things like rock or rough surf entries, then go do them. Navigation was at a site the required several different nav skills to complete the dive. So, you’d learn all of the advanced skills, but also learn how to dive many of the advanced sites. It was a super challenging course, that would occasionally have people drop out when the diving went beyond their comfort level.

Once you’d completed your certification you were invited to join future classes on any of their training dives- cause they were really just going diving at some fun local sites.

Everyone who had the opportunity to take that AOW has some great memories of being challenged while doing their first dives at what are now some of their favorite sites. And instructors loved teaching it, because it turned beginner divers into confident independent divers.

 

[grantmac]

I'm not exactly sure why someone would sign up for an advanced course and expect a "DIR course". They are two completely different courses.

Wouldn't they be better off signing up for GUE Fundamentals instead?

Because those DIR skills make better divers.

 

[happy-diver]

No, dir skills make you better at doing dir skills, just like our advanced instructor bringing along
his jet boat and plonking it in a volcano to collect lost anchors made us better anchor collectors