Is the instructor partly to blame if you fail your OWC?

[Eric Sedletzky]

Interpretation: you therefore will only be diving in warm, clear benign conditions not found in the UK

UK diving is cold water (= drysuit + thick hood & gloves) on wrecks (= risk of entanglement, need for navigation, frequently “return to shot line”) in deeper waters (30m/100ft to 40m/130ft, requiring backup gas, best with decompression, needing planning) in dark (must have lights) in currents (use of SMB to drift from the wreck) and poor visibility (the ever present probability of being separated from buddies == self reliance on your kit and skills)

None of that is taught or coached at the resort clear, warm, low current, shallow water locations

That kind of diving will make a man out of you.

 

[Edward3c]

That kind of diving will make a man out of you.

Or woman, rebreather, deep, and from hard boats is not the preserve of males.

 

[clownfishsydney]

so to generalize some some an instructor with thousands of dives who learnt in the maledives is not as good a diver as an AOWD with 50 who learnt in cold water?

Or do you rather mean divers who "dive" in cold water instead of "learnt

I said generalisation. In most cases, again, I find that people who learn in warm water don't do that much diving and certainly very little in colder waters. In general!

 

[clownfishsydney]

Do you blame the teacher if you failed the exam?

If the teacher is very bad, yes. At school I had a very bad teacher in one subject that previously I was very good at. That year I (and most of the rest of the class) were lucky to pass the end of year exams.

 

[Wibble]

so to generalize some some an instructor with thousands of dives who learnt in the maledives is not as good a diver as an AOWD with 50 who learnt in cold water?

Or do you rather mean divers who "dive" in cold water instead of "learnt"

It starts with learning and ends with diving.

For someone to rack up thousands of dives generally means they do multiple dives per day which implies they're simple dives, maybe leading others around a reef; doing discover scuba; teaching classes, etc.

Those repetitive dives will normally be in the same locations, with the same challenges, probably in warm water and benign conditions. The skills required (aside from teaching) are mainly to be observant and return everyone back to the end point.

Contrast that with typical lower visibility, poorer weather, deeper wreck diving in cold water. Wrecks in poor visibility or where someone's kicked up the silt aren't benign especially if you've penetrated inside the wreck. The cold water means drysuits and thick gloves to make everything more difficult. Frequently you'll be separated from buddies or others and you must be self-sufficient to handle "issues"; putting up an SMB is pretty normal as you do your ascent and safety/deco stops alone or maybe with a buddy as the current takes you downstream from the wreck.

Dives tend to be deeper too as wrecks will be swept for shipping navigation (ships dragging thick hawsers across a wreck to ensure nothing sticks up), so the better wrecks are found at 30m/100ft and deeper. At these depths with the ever present risk of separation, gas redundancy becomes a necessity. Nitrox gives longer bottom times and safety stops are mandatory.

Deeper and darker on a wreck is not a place for fragile divers. Self-sufficiency skills are crucial even if it's just not panicking when the visibility suddenly disappears.


Now compare cold water low visibility with clear warm-water diving on reefs. It is hard to compare the two: literally apples and oranges; both fruit but that's that.

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

Really do think the OP needs to go speak to their local bsac branch,, (seen as they’re in London) explain what they are trying to achieve and give them the dates they are free, a lot of clubs are reasonably accommodating, plus any further education is done in the club setting which I think is much more suitable, and done at the correct pace, as long as the dinosaurs in the club are suitably extinct it’s far better than the other agencies imo, bsac is more of an inturnship where after basic training your drip fed knowledge and skills until your up to the next level, with the “main agency” you buy your cert by comparison,
And as much as the OP says just clear warm water for me,, I must inform them that the uk is just as fantastic in my opinion, give it a chance AFTER you’ve got comfortable in the water.. the seals at the farnes in 6-15m of water will change anyone’s mind.

 

[Edward3c]

so to generalize some some an instructor with thousands of dives who learnt in the maledives is not as good a diver as an AOWD with 50 who learnt in cold water?

Or do you rather mean divers who "dive" in cold water instead of "learnt"

Learning in nice tropical waters is a world of difference to cold water.

In warm water there is little buoyancy change with a 3mm shortie, no fumbling mask replacement because of 5mm (or thicker) gloves, minimal weight, and little opportunity to regularly deploy a DSMB (the guide’s launch from 5-6m.

In cold water there is high buoyancy change when your drysuit compresses, refitting a mask with hood and gloves, additional weighting to compensate for drysuit, regular deployment of DSMB from depth (to use as a marker for the boat and holding mandatory stops.

Vis can be good or not in both, but tourist operators don’t survive if they don’t give guests 15m minimum vis. Cold water, we’re lucky to get 10m.

It’s not one is better than the other, it’s having the skill/knowledge for both.

 

[boulderjohn]

Do you blame the teacher if you failed the exam?

In many and perhaps most cases, yes. Absolutely.

Many studies over the past couple decades have shown that the primary factor in student success is the skill of the teacher.

I was a researcher on a study done by a large school district to evaluate an experimental testing program. Students at several grade levels were given a writing assessment that was scored on a 4-point scale that corresponded roughly to great, good, not so good, and pretty bad. The results were published, and at all levels, the results were that about 57% scored at the good or great level. The teachers involved knew the total results, and they knew their own scores, but they didn't know anyone else's scores. They therefore did not know what we researchers knew--not a single teacher had scores remotely close to 57%. They all had nearly all of their students score good or great or nearly none of their students score good or great.

We then did an anonymous survey of the teachers. Even though the survey was anonymous, by asking how their students did meant we knew which camp they were in for their responses to the questions. In 100% of the cases, the teachers whose students excelled said that all students could succeed, and it was the job of the teacher to provide the support to make students successful. In 100% of the cases in which the students failed, the teachers said that student success depended upon the student's ability and effort, and the teacher had little to nothing to do with it.

 

[Learner Diver]

Do you blame the teacher if you failed the exam?

Yes, if the teacher taught me.

 

[scubaozy]

Teaching academically is very different than teaching practical skills. Comparing a guitar teacher would be more suitable. I had some amazing guitar teachers who taught me amazing stuff, but the catch is, I could figure out what they meant only years later, when my motor skills developed and caught up.
I also do not see much difference between cold water/warm water divers. At best, cold water divers do not freak out in bad viz and rough seas. But in my personal observation, there is fair amount of bottom dwellers among cold water divers, bad vis does not make buoyancy better, contrary, they do have way more contact with the environment. So, the cold water learning being better is totally a myth in my book. People learning in cold water have the edge because at home, pool sessions are longer than confined water and learning in such environment is spread out to several weeks instead of 3-4 days. Students have more time to practice and digest what they have learned.