Lack of commitment from students?

[jbd]

I'm posting this because of a point brought up in a similar thread.

I have noticed in the recent months, that students seem to be taking Scuba courses less and less seriously. I can pretty much guarantee, if I run an OW course with 5 people, 3 won't have their Knowledge reviews done when requested, and 3 (not necessarily the same 3) will have to back out of doing the OW dives because it doesn't suit them, but then give out when they're told there will be an extra fee involved in getting them certified as it will probably end up being one to one tuition.

Is it just me? Or are students starting to expect "show up and get certified?"

SF

I don't think this is anything new. My course director related a story from when he was teaching a lot of OW courses in which he was puzzled why there seemed to be a significant increase in the number of people failing the written exam and needing to re-take it. Then during a break he overheard one student telling another that he hadn't bothered to study. From that day forward his policy was $50 to re-take the final exam. Strangely enough---no more failed exams

I also agree strongly with NWGD--set the expectations clearly at the beginning.

I require active participation in the classroom; the workbook has to be completed and turned in or there is no going on to the OW cert dives, and the final pool sessions is an evaluation to see if the students are ready for the OW cert dives.

 

[Rick Inman]

Scuba manuals used to be filled with math, physics, physiology... Boyle's and Henry's laws. Now they've got cartoons, sections on color-coordinated gear and travel tips. And the books look very similar in style to the "...For Dummies" books. Gee, I wonder why the students don't take the class seriously.

 

[RonFrank]

I'm posting this because of a point brought up in a similar thread.

I have noticed in the recent months, that students seem to be taking Scuba courses less and less seriously. I can pretty much guarantee, if I run an OW course with 5 people, 3 won't have their Knowledge reviews done when requested, and 3 (not necessarily the same 3) will have to back out of doing the OW dives because it doesn't suit them, but then give out when they're told there will be an extra fee involved in getting them certified as it will probably end up being one to one tuition.

Is it just me? Or are students starting to expect "show up and get certified?"

SF

Our LDS (retail dept) spends about 15-20 minutes with each student when they sign up for OW. In that time they discuss what is expected from the student. It is indicated at that meeting that if the student fails to come to class prepared which includes knowledge reviews completed, that the student may not pass and may have to take the course (or parts thereof) again at additional expense.

So the question for you is does the LDS you work with take a similar approach when signing OW students, and is it stressed that failure is an option that carries additional class/pool time and expense?

As I'm not an instructor, my experience involves my OW and in that case 10 of 10 students came to class completely prepared, and everyone did well on tests and with all skills with a few minor bumps.

I will also note that in the Nitrox class I did, two of ten individuals came in without the skills review done, and one appeared to have NOT read the material to any great extent. One was still working on completing the test when the remainder of the class had finished and was leaving. In fact when everyone else had finished the test, we broke and did the O2 analysis on the tanks. Then we all left, and he stayed with the instructor. Not sure if he passed or not.

 

[miked]

Scubafreak,

What you are describing is a common occurrance in many areas of instruction these days. ( I teach HS math.)

Students who "can't be bothered" to do the work on time, or at all. Students with little or no dedication to the material they are studying, etc. etc.

I had hoped that in an area like scuba,where the sign-up for the class is because you "want" to learn the subject, things would be different.
sad to hear that it's not.
I also agree that the "mass marketing", and "dumbing down" of some scuba class content has contributed to the lack of focus from some, but thankfully not all, of the students.

 

[Derek S]

So what would you expect from someone who is willing to do their OW dives in 40 degree water

Terry

LOL

Tavi is doing pool sessions right now, not sure if those students are going to referral elsewhere or brave the cold.

I did see some students out at Canadaigua Lake yesterday doing OW check-out dives in wetsuits. Those college kids are crazy!

 

[WellBelowH2O]

My dad was an instructor, and instead of passing students with just the minimum score required, he would have the students score at least a 90% on the final test to make sure the students reviewed their material, and didn't show up expecting a certification. He did this because he wanted his students to take is seriously, and he didn't want his name on a dead diver's C-Card.

My shop has a requirement that all students must get 100% of the questions related to dive tables correct in order to pass. Now I don't know what happens if you miss one whether or not they actually enforce it or not or if it is just a scare tactic to ensure you study and learn how to use tables, but it certainly made people pay attention and learn them.

 

[jbd]

Scuba manuals used to be filled with math, physics, physiology... Boyle's and Henry's laws. Now they've got cartoons, sections on color-coordinated gear and travel tips. And the books look very similar in style to the "...For Dummies" books. Gee, I wonder why the students don't take the class seriously.

Touche' LOL!!! I take it you haven't seen the materials written by NWGD.

BTW Rick--when are you gonna get certified, or are you just gonna keep diving without being certified

 

[Squalus]

There is always the militaristic approach; Task, Conditions and, Standards to teaching. As an instructor you need to highly stress the importance of the information that is about to be covered. Quite frankly, it is a matter of life or death in our sport. The LDS I work for does stress this prior to the beginning of each class and is repeated throughout until the end. Instructors have the option of not issuing a C-Card afterall it is their name as the certifying instructor. If they don't issue one to a particular student, they are worked with until they pass (there are no free cards given because of the money, you gotta want it to get it).

 

[RP Diver]

I don't see this as anything new, but I also don't recall seeing it as a trend either. I was assisting back in 89 - 94 and most students were both serious and enthusiastic. They came prepared, and those classes were lots of fun.

I did see the occasional, "Geeze, what bore. Do I really have to put up with this?" type of student. I also saw the shock on their faces about at module 3 when they were taken aside and told that their performance was sub-standard and they would most definitely NOT get a referral if they didn't start making an effort. Some took the hint, some just saw this as a scare tactic.... right up until they failed the final and found out that the shop was serious about meeting the standard requirements. I thought this one 30 something smart aleck was going to have a stroke when told that he couldn't participate in the next weekend's OW dive's he'd signed up for, even though the instructor had warned him days earlier that he was failing (and had even offered to give him some tutoring, which he just laughed off).

In my experience, most students approached the classes with a good attitude, and left happy and certified, or with referral in hand.

 

[Tavi]

LOL

Tavi is doing pool sessions right now, not sure if those students are going to referral elsewhere or brave the cold.

I did see some students out at Canadaigua Lake yesterday doing OW check-out dives in wetsuits. Those college kids are crazy!

One of the Policies with the shop that I work with is: If the students want to do their C-dives in a drysuit we'd do them now. If they are diving wetsuits we wait until the water temp is 60f. We want them to have fun!! If they don't have fun and enjoy their dives they are more likely to become warm water vacation only divers.