What is the timeline and structure of your Open Water Diver Course?
Here is what I did when I taught the PADI Open Water Diver class. Students would purchase the book and rdp manual. I would mail their books to them along with a copy of the video. At home, they would complete all the knowledge reviews and watch the video. I would schedule the "class" portion of the course for a Friday evening (starting around 4pm). The students would bring their books, completed knowledge reviews, return the borrowed video to me...and come prepared to take the quizzes and final exam that night. Most students would finish the quizzes and exam by 9pm. At this point, I had about a 98% pass rate.
On Saturday morning, we would arrange to meet at a pool that was convenient for the students. I’ve used pools at the YMCA, student’s home pools (as long as the pool was big/deep enough), dive center pools, hotel pools (with approval), etc. We would practice in the pool from about 8am until around 2pm. While in the pool, I would usually have students do the 10 minute "survival float". At this point, I had about a 85% pass rate...those that failed to adequately perform certain tasks, I did not let them continue.
On Saturday afternoon, we would head to a local dive site (usually the Blue Lagoon, Twin Lakes or 288 Lake in Texas). We would conduct dives 1 and 2 from about 3:30pm until 7pm. At this point, I had about an 80% pass rate.
Then on Sunday, we would meet around 9am and conduct dives 3 and 4, along with the land compass practice and the 300 meter swim. We would finish around 6pm on Sunday. I would always invite the students to participate in upcoming classes as well (to continue to practice their skills). Those that passed Saturday’s dives didn’t have a problem with the skills and tasks required on Sunday. So my overall pass rate is 80%.
Every student I trained loved the format of the course. They appreciated the flexibility. If a student didn’t "pass" the course, I allowed them to take the course again sometime in the future, at a slightly reduced rate. The biggest challenge for most people that didn’t pass were the mask drills (partial flood, full flood, etc.). |