I have taught and have taken USPS courses
Ed, et.al.I am a 100 ton skipper, have taught ASA courses and have also taught courses for the United States Power Squadron. Lastly, I have also taught keel boat sailing for a university.The Power Squadron courses are, in general, quite good depending of course on the instructor. I am just finishing an Marine Engine Maintainence course which as been excellent. The instructor is an owner and head of a local car dealership and head of the service area in our town. As a local boater, he understands Marine engine problems to a fair-the-well. However, I disagree with your statement that there is no boat time for the USPS course. I just finished a course for Basic Sailing and Advance sailing for six persons in two sections (12 people) and we did all our instructions on my boat for seven weeks. One person did not pass and two dropped out.In some ways I think the USPS courses are better in this area that the ASA courses; the reason being the USPS can take more time per subject than the ASA course which needs to be completed in a certain time length. As a professional educator, we call this, time on task. For example, I believe a student coming out of a USPS piloting course will do better than a student completing an ASA piloting course. I don't have proof and there are many variables, but I think on the whole that statement would probably be true.One other comment--if you decide to take the Power Squadron courses, remember that you are a part of an organization, not just a buyer of a class. One reason that the courses are reasonable is that many people are donating their time. If you join, you may want to learn how to teach a course as that will make you even smarter than you were.