how to handle panicky divers in group

[rx7diver]

turns out those "semester long" courses are NOT all semester...

Anthony,

I currently work at the univ where I received my initial scuba training. Well, sort of: I work for the System Office, not actually for the campus where I was trained. At any rate, my office is located on that campus, and I remain in contact with that scuba course which is still being taught all these years later. The course continues to have a lecture session (which meets every Tuesday night for ~3 hours--throughout the 14-week semester) and a pool session (which meets Monday and Wednesday mornings for ~1 hour each meeting--throughout the 14-week semester). I assure you, this is a *real*, semester-long college course, with a curriculum vetted by a university curriculum committee. The students pay college tuition and fees for this course and receive college credit. During the lecture session, students take quizzes and a mid-term and a final exam. During the pool session, students are graded on physical fitness skills (running, swimming, push-ups, sitting-tucks, pull-ups, etc.), skin-diving skills, and scuba skills. Students receive a final grade for the course which appears on their college transcript. (I took my course pass-fail, as I was a graduate student at the time, older, and didn't want to risk too much...)

EDIT: My description above pertains to the scuba course as it is taught during the fall semester or spring semester. I should also add, at the time I was a student, the course also had a weekly "optional" two-hour Sunday pool session during which students could practice additionally and attempt and pass skills. The Sunday pool session is no longer a part of the course.

I took my course during the summer semester, though, and things were structured a bit differently: The class met ~3 hours each day, Monday through Thursday, for the eight-week summer semester. Each day the class began in the lecture room (~1-1.5 hours) in the campus natatorium, and then moved into the pool itself for the wet session. There was an "optional" two-hour Sunday pool session, as well. This was scuba instruction taught with "both barrels!" I TA-ed for the course for several semesters, and I always preferred to TA the summer version. The summer version is no longer taught.

Sounds like your course was structured a bit differently.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[Anthony Hayes]

rx7diver,

ours is setup Mcdonald's drive thru style. Turn and burn as quick as possible. Nowhere near the number of hours you have described. And there's no such "optional" hours. We were advised at the start, any add'l time is paid CASH @ $30/hr + pool rental, directly to the professor.

 

[Akimbo]

I respecfully disagree and call BS on this theory. There is no evidence or studies to show that in water harassment improves training retention...

I would have to question the methodology of any study that reached that conclusion. My conclusion is based on personal experience and observations of divers trained by the US Navy over more than 40 years. Besides, retention isn’t the primary objective of harassment dives. It is to demonstrate to students how to manage problems and panic.

 

[rx7diver]

rx7diver,

ours is setup... We were advised at the start, any add'l time is paid CASH @ $30/hr + pool rental, directly to the professor.

Yes, your course seems to be taught by someone *contracted* by your university/college to teach the course. I'm aware that some colleges use this approach, aware that sometimes the scuba instructor is not even on the university/college faculty, perhaps not even a "regular" employee of the institution. In these cases the instructor and the institution agree to terms/conditions under which the instruction is offered. The fact that you have to pay additionally for pool "rental" and for the "professor's" extra hours is consistent with this type of contracted course. A "real" university course generally would have these things paid for from a student's tuition and fees (e.g. activities fee) and special fees (e.g., lab/pool/internet access fee), through state appropriations (if the institution is public), and through donations/gifts, etc.

Maybe your course is not like this (i.e., a contracted course) at all, but just of a type I've never before heard described.

Question: Do the students earn college credit for your course?

EDIT: I just remembered that when I was in college, I took a couple of semesters of karate. The instructor was contracted by the college. (Small, private, liberal arts college.) He owned a studio in a nearby city, and was not connected otherwise with the college. We didn't have to pay anything extra--except we had to purchase our own "uniforms" (karategi?).

However, a close friend of mine took a couple of flying courses (from one of our tenured philosophy professors!! who was also a vet and flying instructor). Single engine through dual-engine, instrument rating. I believe he had to pay for his seat time and fuel (sort of like a special fee), even though the course appeared in the university catalog. I don't remember if he had to pay the instructor directly, though, for instruction.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[Anthony Hayes]

Yes, your course seems to be taught by someone *contracted* by your university/college to teach the course. I'm aware that some colleges use this approach, aware that sometimes the scuba instructor is not even on the university/college faculty, perhaps not even a "regular" employee of the institution. In these cases the instructor and the institution agree to terms/conditions under which the instruction is offered. The fact that you have to pay additionally for pool "rental" and for the "professor's" extra hours is consistent with this type of contracted course. A "real" university course generally would have these things paid for from a student's tuition and fees (e.g. activities fee) and special fees (e.g., lab/pool/internet access fee), through state appropriations (if the institution is public), and through donations/gifts, etc.

Maybe your course is not like this (i.e., a contracted course) at all, but just of a type I've never before heard described.

Question: Do the students earn college credit for your course?

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

Instructor is tenured faculty.

We earn college credit for the course.

 

[rx7diver]

Instructor is tenured faculty.

We earn college credit for the course.

This is very curious. I was regular, tenure-track faculty at a Big 10 university for a while. (My area was/is statistics.) I am almost certain my boss (the department chair), and his boss (the division dean), and his boss (the provost, the university's chief academic officer) would have had quite a bit to say if I had made my students (to whom it was my responsibility to eventually assign college credit-bearing course grades) pay to attend my help sessions. No doubt there is a lot of crucial detail here that's missing. (The amount of hidden detail at the academy can be astounding!)

Regardless, I sincerely hope you will be able to get the scuba training you're seeking—even though you've been "surprised" by some of the nuances of your particular course. Don't let this type of thing deter you.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver