I have completed my 4 OW confined dives. Question 1 should all 4 confined dives been crammed into one day (10am-2pm)?
In the PADI OW course, there are technically five Confined Water dives, rather than four. The skills in dive Five are Remove/Replace SCUBA Unit underwater and at the surface, and Remove/Replace the weight system underwater. I presume you covered those.
and is a class size of 10 too large for 1 instructor?
Not necessarily. It is compatible with PADI standards, probably with other training agencies as well. Whether it is too large depends on the students, the instructor and the environment, among other things.
I have passed my skills for the 4 confined dives but am not totally comfortable with all of them. (I had trouble with the alternate breathing source, put in in upside down the first time.) Also should I say something to the owner about my concerns?
YES. Most definitely. But, you should address your concerns with the Instructor first.
We got in the pool, and after we all checked out with the 100 yd swim. immediately put on bc's and within a few minutes were checking out on skills- demonstrated one or twicew by instructor and then tested one at a time immediately after with no practice- is this normal??
Yes. The idea is to get students in the water as soon as possible, working on the very skills that are required for completion of the course.
also in the classroom portion of the course we rushed through (right before the quizzes and final the instructor went through the quiz book and pretty much gave us the answers (While I knew them already, I was a little concerned about this practice)- is this the usual for PADI certification classes.
This is a more difficult question to address. When you say 'rushed through', how much time was actually spent in the classroom? Did the instructor go over the actual examination questions in advance, or did he/she cover the Knowledge Reviews, and the questions on the Quick Quizzes? There is considerable overlap. Did the Instructor spend time going over questions that others in the class missed, to assure understanding? In the past, some instructors have spent more time than was perhaps necessary in the classroom, rather than getting students in the water to actually dive. Many of us believe that we have a vast body of wisdom to share with / impart to OW students. But, there are some who would suggest that our enthusiasm for lecturing exceeds the students' enthusiasm for being lectured to - often by a factor of 10.
any feed back would be appreciated- I want to know if i should take the class again elsewhere, report the school or if i am just being nervina.
None of the above, necessarily. First, you have paid for the course (I presume), so I would start with the Instructor. Indicate your level of discomfort and ask for more pool/confined water time to go over the skills. PADI uses the term 'mastery' in defining the target level of student peformance, and you are well within your rights to indicate to the Instructor that you are uncomfortable with your level of mastery at this point. Second, if you do not get a satisfactory response from the Instructor, then you should approach the shop owner with the same concerns. Take these steps first before going elsewhere, or reporting the shop/instructor to PADI QA, etc.
Having said all this, I will add that I have not yet seen a set of circumstances that would allow me, as a solo instructor without a Certified Assistant in the water with me, to complete the performance requirements for all 5 Confined Water dives, for 10 students, in one 4 hour pool session. I will not say it is impossible, only that I have not personally seen it. We ordinarily allocate a total of 16 hours of pool time to the OW course. Perhaps, with 10 very motivated, thoroughly prepared students, and an extraordinarily effective and efficient instructor, it is possible to achieve student proficiency in only four hours of Confined Water training. There are always two or more points of view in a case like this, and we only have yours. But, you have described a hurried approach to didactic and Confined Water training that would probably make more than a few instructors cringe.
scubanatic:
I am surprised that you did 4 OW cert dives in one day. WRSTC states no more than 3 open water certification dives may be done in a 24 hours period. Why were you rsuhed through the course?
While you are absolutely correct about the OW cert dives, I believe the OP was referring to her CONFINED WATER training.
