Nitrox instruction
I also know an open water instructor who took a "Nitrox Instructor" class and taught a nitrox class before ever making a dive on nitrox himself.
EDIT: This was split off the thread about becoming a cave instructor, because it is a different topic.
Last edited by FW; 06-12-2013 at 06:14 PM.
Whoever said money can't buy love never bought a puppy.
Well, that entire class could be replaced with a wikipedia article, so I don't think it's really a big deal.Originally Posted by Slüdge
I teach Nitrox and require two dives on Nitrox at appropriate Depth to see the benefit versus air. For the some the "knowledge" part is easy; the diving part is easy too. But for some not so. There are many students for whom math and reading are not easy. Good intelligent people otherwise, running their own business even, but just not up to par on "book-learning." Wikipedia would be worse than useless.
I also teach it as an add-on to open water and the move from 21% to mixes up to 40% broadens understanding of basics, adds SAC and RMV info over and beyond the beginning course, and provides increased knowledge/understanding of DCS. You can see the light come on in their eyes. Of course it may be the extra 4 hours of class time (not wiki, not online learning, but good old dry erase board and eye-ball contact).
skip
"Learning the techniques of others does not interfere with the discovery of techniques of one's own." B.F. Skinner, 1970.
Yup!
I may be a Luddite, but just like there's no substitute for time in the water, there's no substitute for time in the classroom, interacting directly with the teacher. I'm not a dive instructor, but have done a lot of teaching. (fire/rescue/EMS & emergency/critical care nursing) I think I'm the only guy left at my hospital who teaches on a white board and seldom uses powerpoint. Sometimes I even pull out my "Weapon of Mass Instruction" - the old Kodak Carousel slide projector.
Mike
What do you learn by doing two nitrox dives that you can't learn in a classroom?
I've taught a ton of Nitrox classes, both those that used to require dives and those that now do not. The class, of course, is basically the same. Many of these students then went on trips with me, where they got to (previously) do their Nitrox cert dives or (now) just dive with Nitrox. My observation is that the whole concept of doing your analysis and checking the MOD and tables or setting your computer is not real to them until they realize they are going to breath that gas they just analyzed and they are going to potentially have serious problems if they screw up on the the analysis or reading the tables or setting the computer. So now I give them their Nitrox card after the class, and then tell them we are going to analyze their first tanks together on the trip before they dive. They are always grateful, and *really* listen carefully when we do the hands-on stuff at the dock. So, my impression is it is not the the actual dives that make it all sink in, it is the hands-on prep before the dive that makes it sink in.
For many people, especially bright young college-educated people, not much! But for the rest, the whole process of renting tanks, filling out the shop's forms, and conducting an in-field oxygen analysis, is worth the time. Admittedly, the dives themselves are instructive only in that they drive home the in-class lessons on tables and computers in terms of extending the dive times; for older divers who dive it as air, they get a chance to see how diving nitrox provides a safety margin (air versus nitrox tables). There is no substitute for the experience, for going through it all as instructed in class, but in person in real dive time. The added benefit is their realization of how much better they feel after two repetitive nitrox dives compared to how they feel after the air dives. With beginning students, who don't have prior experience, I arrange the first two training dives on air, then the next two on nitrox. Agreed, many people, especially the young educated, could easily do an online class, and go out and do the dives on their own. I'm just saying that way is not the way for many, perhaps the majority; they need to take it slow, see it for themselves, have a confident knowledgeable and interesting person to teach and to discuss.
Before being split off, this was in a thread concerned with lack of skills, apparent sloppy training, etc. It begins with OW. I'm not out to make money - I often half-joke that if I gave potential students 50 bucks and sent them away, I'd come out ahead! But I do wonder that as we claim OW and Nitrox are so easy a caveman can do them - with online instruction and no required dives - are we not setting up the beginner to view diving, even cave and technical diving, as just more instruction and little more? I'm concerned about the attitude we may be conveying as we loosen up on basic learning.
skip
"Learning the techniques of others does not interfere with the discovery of techniques of one's own." B.F. Skinner, 1970.
Personally, I just think it should all be rolled into OW...
It they taught everything in OW, how would they continue to make money off teaching divers?
They create new useless classes, like zombie apocalypse dive certificationsIt they taught everything in OW, how would they continue to make money off teaching divers?
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