http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/effectiveness-online-response-meta-analysis.pdf
https://www.dol.gov/odep/documents/SoftSkillsMastery.pdf
Boulderjohn - here are 2 studies to contradict you. Also my FAA Certified Flight Instructor certificate and renewals indicates opposition to the comment "I can assure you that the very worst way to have people learn content is through instructor lecture". Blended is the best way to instruct. Since I renewed my CFI in October, the FAA still has not changed that. Nor do these studies. Online can be useful but you also need face time. I recently watched a student do his online for nitrox. I cannot say he really learned a thing. Pop onto the internet to get a quick answer with no understanding. Repeat the test until you pass, taking the results not knowledge from the first test to the second. Face time was a couple of questions. Not an important course so we have caught him back up, but still shows the issues.
"Mask clearing, for example, must be done so successfully that the instructor is convinced the student can repeat it without a problem a minimum of 7 times" - Really??? then why is it very common to see new divers panic at the first loss of the mask??
"With the changes in the way pool sessions are supposed to be done today, you can make the students come out looking one heck of a lot more like divers than you could only a few years ago in the same amount of time." - Wishful thinking here. Is the pool more magical? Are the students more motivated??
"My cousin's total course in the mid 1960s took place on the floor of the sporting goods shop where he bought his gear." - You keep going back to the 60's as your example. Many divers then were not even certified. Many instructors were really mentors at best. Let's talk the late 70's and early 80's where the curriculum was developed and the gear standardized and agencies solidified.
"This is a standards violation, and you should report it when you see it" - I see this a lot. Even had an advanced student do a octo (or alternate) surface from a deep wreck with his student this weekend... I will agree that I see fewer OOA ascents then the past but I suspect that is because of limiting OW to shallower depths and making more rules about return air then more aware divers.
"First of all, was this part of the standard curriculum, or did your instructor add it?" - Nope, it was part of the curriculum. You are teaching rote information if you do not go into the laws more. This is the part I am talking about. We were expected to know a great deal more about our environment and the affects it has on us. We were expected to calculate PPO2, PV=nRT, etc. We were tested on it. As divers, we understood not just rote information about the new environment.
Doing something is a combination of 2 things. Skills and Knowledge. The problem is that neither is being well taught. I can read online all I want about football. I can know how the game is played better then any player or ref. That does not make me a good player. For that, I need to develop skill which come from experience. Short courses do not adequately develop skills from 0 time to diver in the handful of classroom sessions. Fundamental issues are present as a result and obvious when diving on boats with new divers. The basics must be completely developed so the student can work on expanding their experience.
Funny thing about the course length - I have had discussions with an Instructor that taught in the 80's, 90's, 00's, 10's. They gave me a simple return answer for the efficiency of the courses. He stated that when the 2 week course came out, he had to move from the 6 week course or he would be put out of business. Same for the weekend courses. I know for a fact that many of the agencies talk about the issues with instruction and I have brought it up at a number of seminars with them.
A good Arab proverb "He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool; avoid him. He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a student; teach him. He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep; wake him. He who knows and knows that he knows is a wise man; follow him."
What to take from that. Information is what a student needs. Big pressure change - Not good information. Henry's Law - Affects NDL because.... Boyle's Law - Affects how much gas you will use at depth because .... Dalton's law - Affects PPO2 and as a result Narcosis because... - Instead, lets teach rote information and expect higher levels of learning when???
Boulderjohn - as an instructor you have professional skin in the game. You cannot tell your students that today's training is not the best. It is called towing the line. whether you have seen the changes or not, I do not know but you cannot honestly tell me that shortening training is better. I have seen numerous classes struggle to finish as the students are not ready!! I do not have professional skin in the game. Rather, I was responsible for many divers going to be certified in the 80's, 90's and 10's. I got to see first hand the differences of each training type on my dive buddies.
Now back to the question at hand.... A Master Diver with 5 specialties and 50 dives is not a master diver of anything (necessarily). It is a marketing tool to get divers to get specialties and think they are skilled divers. If the program, instead of focusing on specialties, focused on types of diving and quantity then it may be different.
Some hundred dives - Check, Rescue Diver - Check, Lowvis - Check, Deep - Check, Wreck - Check, Drift - Check, Ocean - Check, Lake(closed) - Check, Anchor - Check, Hot Drop - Check, Dive Lead - Check, Cold - Check, Warm - Check, Required specialties including Buoyancy, Wreck, Deep, Night, ?? - Check.... Pencil pushing aside, this would indicate a background of a skilled diver and probably a true Master Diver who has a wide range of skills and can be depended upon.
50 dives in training maybe in the same lake- check, Rescue (All training from OW with no non training dives) - check, Zombie Apocalypse Survival Dive Course (specialty) and 4 other who knows specialties - Check --> Master Diver. I would not trust this diver to dive in a wet paper bag. Their skill may be superior but it also may be severely lacking. Nothing in the certification can indicate which it is.
