How did you do on your DM tests?

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What did your get on the tired diver tow? I only got a 3, but I think that was because we were in a 25meter pool, and had to turn around with the diver 3 times.

Tom
 
I've taken Equipment and Physiology so far. I got 18/20 on the Equipment test, simple mistakes reading too much into the questions, and I got 20/20 on the Physiology.

I'm studying Physics and Decompression Theory & RDP for testing on Tuesday. Once I have the "big four" (IMHO, of course) out of the way I can focus on the more fun stuff: Skills and Environment, Supervising Students, Supervising Certified's, and DM Conducted Programs.

Swims will probably be late this month or in May.

Then it's on to the meat of it...the practical work with classes.

:coffee:
 
creamofwheat:
So, how did you do?

I have only done one test so far (physics). I was nervous about it so worked on it first to get it out of the way, and I somehow miraculously pulled off 20/20. But I studied quite a bit for it, because equations just are not my strong part.

The other tests, I am not so worried about.

What about you guys? How did you do on your tests? Which ones were you most apprehensive about?

For me it was the Physiology test (always had trouble remembering technical terms), but passed. I did over stress about the swim test, and once it was completed I thought, well that was easy. I friend suggested to do the 800m test first, and that seem to work well (beat the time needed), so I didn't have to swim the 400m in record time, just complete it.

Good luck with the rest of your tests.
 
Everything seems to be PADI in this thread so let me throw my NAUI 2 cents in.

Most if not all the dive science is done at the Master Diver level and DM focuses more on the liability and leadership aspects.

I'm in an ITC now (instructor training course) and it's pretty intense. My ITC instructor is a bit of a "prick" and I mean that in a completely NICE way! He's raised the bar far above the minimums and it's completely ok with me that he's doing it this way.

1,000 yard swim's. One freestyle and one with mask/snorkel fins (2,000 total!) all timed, 200yd rescue tows (yes more than one), snorkel ditch and don, and a bunch of other skills. Not only do "we" have to actually pass the skills but we have to make it "look good" (instructor quality) when we do them. It's VERY difficult!

We do at least one lecture every class session and there is at least 5 or 6 quizzes and one more BIG test to look forward to before I'm done.

In my CD’s words “I shouldn’t have to teach you anything except how to teach. You should already know everything and if you don’t you better get studying.” That may sound harsh but by the time you reach leadership level in NAUI that’s all it is, molding you into a leader. You should already have all the science down, how gear works, how reg’s work, etc.

As far as the test go, ouch! Tough stuff! It’s funny really how it changed from taking a course for a cert or specialty to now taking the Instructor course. The course cert’s and test to this point have been about the major and or key points throughout the class; every quiz and test I’ve had so far have asked me everything BUT key points. “Read the book” has new meaning with the course I’m taking now.

I probably made the course sound like “HOLY COW!” and in some ways it is, and others its not. It’s just different than what I’ve read in this tread and because of NAUI’s flexibility in exceeding standards it’s different than a NAUI class that took place an hour away at another NAUI shop. I for one am glad my CD is pushing us hard, it will make us all better divers and better instructors.

Good luck to all of you in your courses!
 
It doesn't sound all that different from PADI. The academic levels are expected and taught at Divemaster...ie, this is where you learn it. The PADI IDC is teaching you how to teach, and the IE is your testing. From my understanding there are tests administered during the IDC as well, but more to see where you are with your knowledge and theory so you know what to bone up on for IE. For PADI, Divemaster is where you're expected to learn it. Our Master Scuba Diver level is simply a Rescue Diver with 5 specialties, the highest non-professional level.
 
You know, replying to this made me think back to my Rescue classes back in '86. My instructor was tough on us. One day we were in the pool, an indoor olympic size pool with a nice deep end as it had (2) 1 meter boards and (1) 3 meter board. He decided he wanted me to do an underwater equipment donning. He made me wait in the locker room while he placed my equipment around the pool. When he came and got me, my only instructions were: "Take a deep breath, get in that pool and don't come up until you have all of your gear on properly." The only nice thing he did for me that day was place my tank/reg/bc close to my entry point in the deep end, so I swam down and got that first so I could breathe. One fin was in the other corner of the deep end and the other was about the middle of the pool. I crawled/walked/kicked to the first fin, then the second. It took a bit after that to find my mask which was in a corner of the shallow end. By the time I finally surfaced back in the deep end, my eyes felt like they had sand in them, my nose was burning and I was pissed off. I surfaced to him standing there, looking at his watch, only to say "Take your time Joe Diver, we have all day."
 
I didn't really "stress" about the physics test, but it was the one that other DMs I know had told me they had problems with. Working from the schedule my instructor had given me, I thought I was going to have one more day to review for it. As it happened, I cruised through the 1st four tests she put in front of me and next thing I know, she handed me the physics test. I laughingly tried to protest ("the darn schedule says I don't have to take this one 'til TOMORROW!") to no avail. Why does the review book cover physics FIRST, anyway?

Suffice to say, I took the B exam a couple days later and did fine.

The swimming tests were great fun, but I was definitely glad I'd started daily swimming workouts at my local Y and gotten myself to 2300 yds/day.

All told, a positive experience. Glad I did it.

See you down there!

John
 
b1gcountry:
I agree on the repetitive dives with the wheel. Some of the test problems I did according to proper procedures with my wheel, and got a different resulting pressure group than with the instructor's wheel. This really pissed me off. Do they really have questions on the exam that are this close. If so I think it is bogus. If they want a precise answer, let us use a precise table, not this dumb wheel POS!
Tom

I feel a retraction post is in order... I just took the PADI DM Final, and there were five questions on the wheel. In the test, there was one fill-in-the-blank, and four multiple choice. The fill-in-the-blank explicitly said that your answer may vary by one or two minutes, and you will not be counted down as long as you followed proper procedures.

The Multiple-Choice were all different enough that the answer was pretty apparent even when my answer didn't line up with one of the choices exactly. (ex. I computer 10 minutes as one answer and the possible answers were 4, 9, 14, 37)

Tom
 
I have to say that I´m not stressed about the tests at all...I´m going to test-write 3 this afternoon and see how I do...

The "multiple choice-style" of testing and the "keyword-memorization" that seems to be the PADI method (at least in the knowledge reviews) doesen´t really encourage or test learning...IMO...I´m just going to try to pass the tests with as little effort as possible and take responsibility for my own learning "on the side"...The most recent courses I´ve taken have been all essay-type questions and while that requires more effort both as student and instructor, I think they are a better indicator of learning than managing to pick the righ a, b, c or d....

ymmv
 
I took the Physics test Friday and aced it, 20/20. I studied my *** off for that test since I had a few more days...got delayed from last weekend....

Grazie42, I don't get the impression that rote memorization of terms is the way to pass. Many of the questions are asked in such a way as to test understanding of the concept rather than just "fill in the blank" keywords, and these questions can fool you into the wrong answer.
 
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