How happy are you with today's level of Diver Education?

[walke121]

Well what I was saying before is that this isn't the case. There are very good studies out there showing that if you space learning sessions your "forget" things at a slower rate... And the retention isn't a little bit better, it's a lot better, like 50% or something.

So.... well.... to put it bluntly, you're wrong. 20 hours isn't 20 hours. 20 hours and good timing will get you the best long term results. 20 hours of cramming won't.

R..

Whatever I'm not going to sit here and argue with you. I don't need a study to tell me something I have had direct experience with. I did however teach college level biology/physiology courses while getting pursuing my PhD and I will tell you that I had much better grades with the shorter interim courses that met every day for 6 hours than the regular term courses that met twice a week for 1.5 hours each time for 4.5 months. I had this same pattern for 3 years. And in my opinion OW can be taught in a weekend and do the dives the next weekend. Its not exactly rocket surgery.

 

[JeffG]

Maybe like someone who denies that his negative posts on SB with regards to PADI 2-day classes are without validity and only intended to stir the PADI bashing pot?

LOL Better watch out for the black helicopters.

All it proves is that you lack reading comprehension.

You get so stuck in defend PADI against all comers mode, you seem to forget how to read.

 

[*dave*]

2 days of classes. 2 days of checkout (no classes there)


Still 2 days.


Keep on dancing

As much as it pains me to agree with the padiwan, I don't believe a course is offered through any major agency which would allow you to be certified OW within 48 hours of the time you signed the waiver.

2 days of class + 2 days OW = 4days.

PADI standards are such that checkouts have to take at least two days. There has to be at least a day for academics and pool.

I have to call BS on the 2 day OW cert. The link you provided supports the call.

The SCUBA Diver cert, which certifies a person to dive with a professional can be had in two days. How easy is to imagine people coming back with this cert thinking they were certified divers? I can imagine them talking to their certified, but mostly clueless friends, and telling them about their two day cert..... Add the internet and you have the perfect method of delivery for the myth.

Please acknowledge that he's correct and maybe he'll stop the PADI Jihad. dude... I'm begging

 

[Aquaventurewhitetip]

I can't agree more with the above. Diving is a life not just vacation. If your first Instructor was as competent and enthusiastic as mine was many years ago, you would not be able to wait to get back from your holiday or vacation and find a club and get diving.
It really does fall on the Instructor a bit sorry to say. We all need to try and get the most info and ability into students as we can. If they on vacation yes it is harder than at home where the course structure usually stretches over a few weeks, but we have to try. Get them excited about being a diver not just someone who has dived or holds an OW card. If they see it as an ongoing thing then they themselves may take it more seriously and want o do more and be better.

 

[MikeMeagher]

My 2 cents here..since someone asked with posting this thread. I have observed over my 33 years of diving the general quality of the open water certification dumbed down, IMHO. Its a combination of certification agencies dumbing down the requirements.. and also depends on the instructors. Generally.. most new divers today have no basic snorkel useage skills, are generally over weighted, rely too much on the BCD to get up and down, many do not know how to do a descent in open water without the aid of the boats anchor line, many lack a true understanding of use of dive tables, and some even dont understand the difference between a safety stop and a required deco stop. I blame this on instructors and the agencies by over the years trying to make diving seem more easier and simpler, and the desire to sell more and more classes. Today's "advanced" diver class is yesterdays intermediate course that was offered long ago. Why is that so? Years ago when I taught, we required our students to do their ocean dives over 3 different days... 3 weeks apart all with the aim and purpose of exposing the diver to as many different diving conditions as possible. Now.. everything done in a rush. The so called "experts" will disagree with me.. but ask any long time charter boat captain what they think of today's newly certified diver as compared to the newbies minted 30 years ago.. and they will tell you the same. I'm not trying to sound cynical but just sharing my observations. Guess I'm starting to sound like my old man.. lol

 

[Teamcasa]

One more thought.
Frankly I don't blame the major agencies for making OW an affordable way to get people diving. However, there really is no excuse for making AOW nothing more than a few dives with an instructor.

 

[The Chairman]

One more thought.
Frankly I don't blame the major agencies for making OW an affordable way to get people diving. However, there really is no excuse for making AOW nothing more than a few dives with an instructor.

I agree. Of course, nothing is stopping those who think that agencies are to blame from starting their own agency! I like what we have, though I don't always like the instructors we have.

 

[Teamcasa]

I agree. Of course, nothing is stopping those who think that agencies are to blame from starting their own agency! I like what we have, though I don't always like the instructors we have.

Instructors, like many people, only do the minimum. For me, you could not even sign up for AOW until you have booked 50 dives.

 

[*dave*]

Instructors, like many people, only do the minimum. For me, you could not even sign up for AOW until you have booked 50 dives.

That's where the agencies fail, not the instructor.

 

[llqwyd]

I think that it is an unfortunate byproduct of the whole "gotta have it now" mentality that we have created. Once upon a time, things worth having took time. That is not to say that you cannot create good divers in a short amount of time...it just means that typically, you get out what you put in. If you only spend the minimum time with a diver, you usually get a diver that is capable of the bare minimums. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, but they are just that, exceptions.

PADI has smartly led the charge to make diving more approachable for many people. However, in doing so, they have created a "slew" of once a year (if that) recreational divers that you better keep both eyes on. I don't want to add fuel to the PADI fire. As the "fast food" diving agency, they provide a "legitimate" service. I give them much respect for bringing so many new divers in to the market. Now they just need to figure out how to not only retain them, but also to make them better.