PADI Open Water Course - Self-Study Instructions
Step 1. Please fill in the personal particulars in the Student Record file (upper left-hand corner on a page titled PADI Open Water Course Record and Referral form).
If you received all course forms via email, you'll fill the Student Record file when you first meet your instructor - either in the classroom or pool.
Step 2. Open the file and you’ll find Medical Statement. Please follow the instructions, and answer ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ to each question. This is a standard medical questionnaire required by all dive agencies to screen out possible medical conditions that may affect your diving safety. If there are one or more ‘YES’ answers, medical check-up by a physician is required before any in-water activities including pool sessions. Please be honest with your answers: it is your safety in question. It is best to do this early, in case a physician’s signature is required.
Step 3. Please read and sign both Standard Safe Diving Practices & Statement of Understanding and Liability Release. By signing these two passages you confirm that you understand that there are inherent risks in scuba diving.
Please bring the Student Record file/signed forms to your first classroom session. They will end up in our records.
Thank you for choosing Pro-Diver Development for your Open Water course. Here are some pointers to guide you through the materials you have obtained. There are more detailed instructions in the manuals, videos, etc. but in order to avoid confusion and possible disappointments in case you may have missed something, you might want to start from this one.
What you have in your PADI Open Water Diver package is:
Open Water Manual
Logbook with Training Records
RDP Table (with instructions of Use)
Student Record file (a tan colored file)
The Student Record file and the DVD (if you received one) we’ll need back, the rest is yours to keep.
Administrative Procedures
If you signed up and received your materials in our office, you are likely to have completed the Administrative procedures and you can skip straight to Knowledge Development section.
You may also have received the forms by email and if you have printed and filled those in, you don't need to fill them again in the student record file.
Please bring the forms and student record file to your first session.
Knowledge Development - Steps
1
Watch the video segment: Introduction
The segment gives you an overview of the Open Water Course
2
Read the Introduction section in the manual
Pages 12-13 cover the procedure to prepare for classroom Review Sessions
3
Watch video segments for Section 1
4
Read Section 1 in the manual
5
Answer Knowledge Review questions for Section 1 in your manual
Section 1: Knowledge Review Page 77
6
Repeat steps 3-5 for Sections 2-5
Section 2: Knowledge Review Pages 114-115
Section 3: Knowledge Review Pages 170-171
Section 4: Knowledge Review Pages 218-219
Section 5: Knowledge Review Page 244
7
Study and practice the RDP Table use with the Instructions booklet
Important Points:
You need to have completed the following before your classroom sessions:
Before Classroom Review Session 1:
Section 1: Knowledge Review Page 77
Section 2: Knowledge Review Pages 114-115
Section 3: Knowledge Review Pages 170-171
Before Classroom Review Session 2:
Section 4: Knowledge Review Pages 218-219
Section 5: Knowledge Review Page 244
RDP Table use
In the classroom sessions we’ll use the Knowledge Review questions to
a) monitor your learning,
b) as a basis for further elaboration as needed.
We’ll go over the Knowledge Review questions and answers, and administer little Quizzes for each chapter. The quizzes are mostly multiple choices, 10 questions per quiz. The passing score for these quizzes is 80%. At the end of the second classroom session, there is a Final Exam (again mostly multiple choice questions, 50 total), the passing score is 75% (i.e. Minimum of 38/50).
The course content is not lectured: the classroom sessions are Review Sessions. Please come prepared: you are unlikely to be able to absorb the full course content by merely attending the classroom sessions.
All PADI Open Water course modules - theory, pool, open water dives - are linked and must be done in a certain order.
Your instructor will schedule the course in a way that you always have the required knowledge and skills to progress. You will however have to pass the academic sessions in order to continue to open water dives. The theory part is not difficult, but it is important in order to dive safely. If you have not completed the required Knowledge Review sections, your instructor might not be able to take you into the open water.
The exact rules are:
Completed Chapter 1 -> Open water dive 1
Completed Chapters 1-3 -> Open water dive 2
Completed Chapters 1-5 -> Open water dives 3&4
Please keep this in mind while studying especially if your course is tightly scheduled.
If you have questions or need clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact your instructor. Have fun learning!