BSAC Instructor Foundation Course (IFC) - advice?

[Jules]

This may be a little premature but I have signed up for my Instructor Foundation Course. As I am fairly new to BSAC can any of the instructors here tell me what to expect and also tell me if I should be preparring for it in any way. I am sort of anticipating that i might actually have to do "death by power point" at some stage, or some practical skills but never having done any of the BSAC pool skills I dont know what to expect.

Thanks

Jules

[vid]

if you are feeling confident enough to sign up, then it isn't premature.

the IFC itself is a two day course.

you'll be in small groups and will get to practice (1) a classroom lesson and (2) pool lessons.

The IFC is all about giving you some pointers in how to deliver the training, such as how to captivate your audience in a lecture (you are encouraged not to powerpoint) or how to position trainees in the pool so that they can fully see what you are doing.

if you haven't done bsac pool lessons, i'm assuming that you have crossed over. given most pool skills are similar in all of the training organisations, then this shouldn't be aproblem.

once our dive leaders have gone on an IFC we tend to get instructors to buddy with them over a few weeks. first the instructor goes through a whole lesson, and then the IFC trainee repeats it the following week. have you any instrcutors in your club, who could help you on that basis?

Ellie - you've done IFC recently haven't you? any comments?

vid

[Narked@50]

The IFC is one of the most enjoyable couple of days you will get, the atmosphere is good and everyone is both nervous and excited at the same time. A lot of the emphasis is on teaching and how to teach, rather than how good a diver you are. There is lots of class work in groups, but it's fun and everyone is in the same "boat". You will prepare a 10 min presentation overnight for the next day on a simple skill, try to keep it simple, if you get somthing like DSMBs, you should either do one in depth or an overview of several types, don't try and give chapter and verse on everything, you just don't have time. Same aplies to the pool session you get, pool time for training is limited in most clubs, so time management is important.

Remember to give an indication of who you audience are and where they are going next with the training. eg. you could say something like: "Following on from last weeks lecture on rescue, this week we are going to look at AV", and finish with, "next week we will look at this combined with CPR".

The best thing to do is find someone who has done it recently, buy them a beer, and be prepared to be talked at for an hour!

James

[GaryC]

Originally Posted by Jules

This may be a little premature but I have signed up for my Instructor Foundation Course. As I am fairly new to BSAC can any of the instructors here tell me what to expect and also tell me if I should be preparring for it in any way. I am sort of anticipating that i might actually have to do "death by power point" at some stage, or some practical skills but never having done any of the BSAC pool skills I dont know what to expect.

Thanks

Jules

As far as I am aware you will be encouraged to NOT use power point in the IFC. You can be more adventourous using flip boards and magnetic stickers etc.
The IFC is non assessed so relax enjoy the experience and try and pick up as much as you can. If there is anything you dont understand then ask them. It is one of those courses, the more you put in the more you get out.

Have a good time.

Gary

[Jules]

So do you get to chose which lesson or skill you get to teach or do they allocate one to you? and does it have to be ones of the standard lessons or can you just make one up?

yes i crossed over so havent really done much apart from the Skill development courses for dive leader DPM, PRM etc

On a recent training course at work I delivered a interesting talk on underwater photography complete with props, slides etc. I also do a great line in RF safety courses and that would really bore the ar$e of any group of trainees! I have delivered the same course 26 times since last september! That is a lot of boredom for one career (mostly theirs!)

jules

[Nick Kay]

1. PM Paul Beal - he's done his ITDC and (I believe) now teaches on the IFCs (doing my ITDC at the end of the year - gulp)

2. Lecture... remember:
a) Must know
b) Ought to know
c) Nice to know
The lecture must cover (a) probably most of (b) and some of (c) if its relevant, its short & sweet, doesn't detract from the lecture
In any case, it all must be accurate and up-to-date - esp if you're doing (say) cylinders
Also, practise, practise, practise

3. Practical... remember (you work out the order):
a) SEEDS
b) Buddy Check
c) Reap
d) It MUST be safe
e) It MUST be progressive

Whatever else - ENJOY YOURSELF - its not the TIE or PIE - you're there to suck the instructors dry and get every possible hint/tip from them

Then go away and put it all into practise

[Nick Kay]

So do you get to chose which lesson or skill you get to teach or do they allocate one to you? and does it have to be ones of the standard lessons or can you just make one up?
1. No they allocate one to you
2. You're not given a full lesson, just one area of subject matter; for example:
- Ropework for divers
- Small boats
- Large boats
- Cylinders
- Protective clothing

As far as I am aware you will be encouraged to NOT use power point in the IFC. You can be more adventourous using flip boards and magnetic stickers etc.
1. Depends on the instructors - some don't mind, some (rightly?) take the attitude that you should be able to deliver a quality lecture anywhere - with whatever props are available - for example on a boat, if the PC / projector fails. Therefore that probably means KISS - and the simpler the better. Consider... if you're teaching "compass" then why not make a LARGE compass complete with lubber line, movable needle etc...
2. They like you to make it interesting and not just to drone on and on
3. I used a projector (many years ago) for my IFC. My subject was "protective clothing":
- intro slide (what we're going to cover)
- slide to explain heat loss and what you need to prevent it
- parts of the clothing: suit, hood, gloves, etc (hidden until needed so as not to distract)
- types of protective clothing (hidden until needed so as not to distract)
- summary slide
Also, you need to check for knowledge transfer "what are the two types of drysuit?

[Ian@1904]

I have to agree with all of the above. I did my IFC in February. Being a relatively quiet person that would avoid "presenting" this forced me into the spotlight so to speak. I have not looked back-massive confidence booster.

First batch of trainees have completed their Ocean Diver theory with me(with our senior instructor present of course)

The course is hard work, but immensely satisfying.

[MattS]

Big up for taking the course. As others have said it is one of the best courses BSAC provide.

Other than assembling the materials I would not spend too much time preparing. Just go with an open mind and put your preconceptions to one side. You are not there to perform perfectly, you are there to learn. Listen to the lessons, make your mistakes and take on board the critique. As I often tell my trainees, getting it wrong is half way to getting it right ;-)

Visual aids need to be affective and appropriate to the lesson. No point spending hours creating a PP slide for a dive computer if you can just hand a couple of computers round the class. If your students are dozing off as you put slide 37 on the projector, it is hardly affective. The very worse thing you can do is put up a PP slide filled with bullet points and just read what is on the slide. Really good PP presentations are quite difficult, particularly if you lack design skills. There is usually an easier way which is more affective.

There are times when PP is appropriate to support the lesson. I ended up using PP on my TIE and got a merit for it. The subject was Large Boats and dragging a 10m hard boat into the classroom wasn't really on. You can download the presentation if you want to try and work out what makes it affective. http://dmz.mssystems.co.uk/files/tie-1.zip

Unless things have changed you may be allocated a lesson or allowed to pick your own. The coach on my ITC (IFC) had a number of lesson subjects and we were allowed to pick what we wanted in the order we were going to present. So the guy first up to the stand had the greatest choice of lessons.

Top Tip: don't plan anything for the evening of the course, you will be far too busy.

Have a great time.

[Gareth J]

Of all the coarses the BSAC run, you should find this one of the best.

Generally, participants enjoy the weekend (both instructors & candidates). You should find it educational, it makes you thing about a lot of the things you now take for granted.
The more you put in the more you will get out. The instructors are not there to 'catch you out' or 'trip you up', they are there to provide support & assistance, corrective critisism.

THEORY LECTURE
As has been stated, don't try to do too much in your lecture keep it short, to the point & punchy, get as much audiance participation as possible. If you don't know the answer to a question in ht electure don't B.S., say you'll get back to them later onceyou've checked your facts.

POOL
Try to get your group in the water ASAP, keep briefings short, teach in the water, not during the briefing. Get in first, out last. Teach the entry & exit. Above all be safe.

Enjoy the weekend, & best of luck.