Course Format

[bostonian]

Hi All!

I'm a diver-to-be and am looking at different courses in and about my city (Boston). I notice that there seem to be two major course formats: weekly classes usually consisting of about 6 classes, and "intensive classes" which usually consist of one or two weekend nights plus two marathon sessions over the weekend.

What are people's experience teaching or taking either course, and what is your preference for course format?

I appreciate any advice and insights! Thanks!

 

[devolution365]

One's quicker, one's slower. But seriously...

They'll be exactly the same format, just spread out or not. Assuming this is PADI (I have no experience with other certs) -they'll give you a book and have you read chapters # through # (for the "weekend" course it may be half the book or even the whole thing), then you'll go to class and watch a video that re-hashes everything you read. Then the instructor will talk (mostly review), then you take a quiz. In the short courses, you'll then move onto the next chapter. It's repetitive, it's boring, but it's necessary that you absorb all the information, so if you choose the weekend course you have to have the attention span to match the length of the classes.

The pool work is similar. There's a set number of skills you need to do, so it's about how much time you are willing to spend in the pool.

It comes down to how well you'll absorb the information. If you can read the book and figure it out (for the most part), AND you're already comfortable in the water and think you'll pick up the skills quickly, the weekend course is fine. If you think you might have trouble with either, go with the longer one so you have more time to ask questions, get comfortable, etc.

My 2¢

 

[TheRedHead]

I think it depends on your personality. If you're anal and like to analyze things, then spread out works best because you have more time to ruminate on it. My class was spread out and also included extra pool time during store or class hours for any student who wanted to drop in and practice skills already taught. Again, this appeals to the anal personality.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

Your likely to get opinionated responses. My opinion, is that the instructor is more important than the format. You should try to get an idea which instructors are best. Others on the board may be able to recommend some in Boston. It is hard to tell how good a diving instructor is without knowing much about diving, but if you get along with them it is a start. You may want to find out how often they teach, and if you could talk to some former students.

I looked for a shop that also had professional instructor training classes since I figured if they can teach instructors, they probably have a good deal of experience with students. I also don't like instructors that try every minute to sell you something. I realize it's the way they stay in business, but that doesn't make money magically appear in my pocket.

 

[bostonian]

Thanks for the fast responses everyone

I guess I'll have to take into consideration my and my friend's personalities... we both will probably read our book cover to cover before the first class AND will still have a good deal of questions... So it will probably be a matter of balancing the desire for time to ask questions in a slower paced class with not getting impatient sitting through lecture aimed towards people who may not have perused the manual quite as thoroughly as us!

I'll put up another post in the regional board area about instructors in Boston. I have a friend who took a course a year ago, and absolutely raved about her instructor, so I have already talked with him, but I'm certainly open to other instructor suggestions as well.

Thanks all!

 

[PaulChristenson]

Hi All!

I'm a diver-to-be and am looking at different courses in and about my city (Boston). I notice that there seem to be two major course formats: weekly classes usually consisting of about 6 classes, and "intensive classes" which usually consist of one or two weekend nights plus two marathon sessions over the weekend.

What are people's experience teaching or taking either course, and what is your preference for course format?

I appreciate any advice and insights! Thanks!

Well whatever you do don't take your course on a cruiseship!!!

See following thread

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=127527

Paul in VT

 

[bostonian]

Ha! I'll cross the cruiseship certifications off my list *grin*

On a related note (after reading the comments after the article) just how demanding is the classroom portion of the instruction? I was homeschooled and did a lot of self study, then went on to get a BS and MS, and my friend and future scuba buddy ran the gamut through a PhD... so if nothing else, we know how to study on our own. Maybe we'd prefer doing an intensive class where you get all the classroom part "out of the way"? I just wonder if we'd have the time to truly get comfortable with the equipment... i.e. functioning, taking it on and off, adjusting, etc. I know there is a ton you can learn out of a book, but nothing that substitutes for hands on experience

 

[TheRedHead]

The principles are easy and don't require lecture. My instructor spent a lot of time answering questions and teaching additional material garnered from his experience as both a rec and a tech diver. He put a lot of emphasis on stress and rescue, which is not normally taught. I enjoyed the extra pool sessions to commit all the skills to muscle memory. The practical part of diving, for me, was more important. I often went to the pool and practiced clearing my mask and regulator recovery because these are critical skills for survival. I asked a lot of questions which sometimes spurred good discussions.

I didn't have a clue at the time, but I felt instinctively that something this important should take time to learn. Other people can commit something they've seen once and practiced once to muscle memory. I can't. I'm very quick academically, but slower learning physical skills.

You can't have too much training, but you can have too little.

The instructor is very important as well. Does his style of teaching match your style of learning? If you search the archives here, you'll find a wealth of information on how to choose an instructor. I think Walter has a faq of sorts on it.

Good luck!

 

[Bobbin-along]

If you have even been an advanced studies student then you will find the book learning a piece of cake actually. The objectives at the beginning of each chapter (in nearly all the courses) are very clear, the books are easy to read, have "practice" questions, and lots of pretty pictures. All our questions we had we were told were "good" but material for the advanced class and beyond the scope of the lecture. Then again that's what happens when you have a class with a RN, particle physicist, Bio-chemical physicist, and a civil engineer. So we didn't get as much out of the lectures as we all wanted to because our question level was AOW and specialty questions.

It's the hand-on learning that is more important. We did a NAUI class over 4 weeks (meeting 2x a week) where we would do 1/2-1 hour of lecture then hit the pool for 1.5-2.5 hours. Those were the most fun as for those who were very comfortable in the water could really work on buoyancy and body control while others who were struggling with basic skills such as mask replacement were given more time. We had 4open water practice dives over one weekend, and then the ow practicals and dives the following weekend. We got a bunch of water time compared to other LDS that's for sure. At the end of the class we had put in 10 ow dives and 4 weeks of pool time. Since i'm a water baby I loved all the pool and ow time. But I did tire of looking at the tiles on the bottom of the pool floor. Something else to look at while perfecting skills would have been nice, or get to play the games like the jr. scuba class was getting to do. One of these days someone will have to explain to me why adults don't get to play games to learn skills.....

 

[PaulChristenson]

Ha! I'll cross the cruiseship certifications off my list *grin*

On a related note (after reading the comments after the article) just how demanding is the classroom portion of the instruction? I was homeschooled and did a lot of self study, then went on to get a BS and MS, and my friend and future scuba buddy ran the gamut through a PhD... so if nothing else, we know how to study on our own. Maybe we'd prefer doing an intensive class where you get all the classroom part "out of the way"? I just wonder if we'd have the time to truly get comfortable with the equipment... i.e. functioning, taking it on and off, adjusting, etc. I know there is a ton you can learn out of a book, but nothing that substitutes for hands on experience

You'll cruise thru the academics...now we get to the in pool drills

Relax....its fun

Paul in VT