Basic Public Education Committee

This site is provided as a means of communications with the USPS National Basic Public Education Committee (BPECom).  We welcome your questions and comments on our public courses and associated materials.

R/C Richard L. Carson, JN
Stf/C David A. Daniels, SN
Stf/C George Malindzak, SN

Topics

News

• ABC3 On The Water Guide Now Available.

  The ABC3 On-The-Water Teaching Aid Guide is now available for downloading and use from the Downloads section of the ABC3 page. The Guide takes the classroom knowledge to actual on-water experience, covering the material in the ABC3 2012 reprinting, 8 and 12 hour course versions. Concomitant to building confidence in new boaters, these skills will establish a foundation for on-the-water training in advanced courses and seminars, and foster interest in the BOC program. (15 May 12)

• April 2012 Boating Class Reports Available for Printing or Download. (06 May 12)
  

• ABC3 Reprint 2012 Student and Instructor Kits Being Shipped

  The 2012 reprinting of America’s Boating Course 3rd Edition (ABC3) has been completed and products are being shipped. Order your materials from the On-line Materials Catalog & Shopping Cart found on the EdDept Home Page, in the “Order Course Materials” pull-down tab. The ABC3 2012 Student Kit reprinting includes the 2012 Student Manual, bonus Coastal Explorer Express Edition updated DVD, and the bonus Student Courseware v3.2 CD. The 2012 Instructor Kit includes the items in the Student Kit plus the 2012 Instructor Manual, and 2012 Instructor PowerPoint CD. The PowerPoint CD includes presentations for Part 1, Chapters 1 through 4 that comprise the NASBLA approved 8-hour course, and Part 2, which is Chapter 5 that may extend the course to 12+ hours. Part 2 introduces charts and piloting then presents Appendix A (Canadian Rules and Regulations), and Appendix E (Boating Decision Making). Appendix F in the Instructor Manual is the complete assessment examination package: instructions, end-on-chapter questions answer key, two 50-question NASBLA approved examinations and their answer keys with cross references, and the Chapter 5 examination and answer key. Headquarter’s stock of ABC3 2008 and 2010 Student Manual printings is depleted. However these Student Manual versions may be used to present ABC3 while using the 2012 NASBLA approved assessment examinations (available from the EdDept Materials Catalog and Shopping Cart, and in the 2012 Instructor Manual). Where needed, the existing examinations translated to the Spanish language may be used pending translation of the 2012 examinations. (13 Apr 12)

   

• America's Boating Course, 3rd Edition - 2012 — Information, Registration, and Assessment Overview

  The USPS Public Boating Course

  America’s Boating Course, 3rd Edition (ABC3): USPS' ABC3 is the sole basic public safety boating course supported by USPS and approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). It has been approved by most states, and is offered in two parts. Part 1 is the 8-hour (Chapters 1-4) format and Part 2 includes Chapter 5 plus appendices. Part 1 coupled with Part 2, Chapter 5 comprises the 12-hour course. Chapters 1-4 focus on Federal laws and state licensing requirements, and Chapter 5 introduces the student to the use of charts and piloting. The classroom version of ABC3 is presented by USPS Certified Instructors only. The ABC3 student manual is "Copyright 2008 United States Power Squadrons Reprint 2012" to distinguish it from prior editions.

  Student and Instructor materials to support the ABC3 course (Student Manual, Instructor Manual, Instructor CD with PowerPoint files, bonus CD and DVDs for the student, assessments, answer sheets, diplomas) continue to be obtained from the On-Line Materials Catalog & Shopping Cart on the USPS Education Department Home Page.
  

  Assessment Examinations: Testing and verification are used to assess student comprehension. This includes classroom interaction, completion of the four end-of-chapter reviews, and a 50-question final multiple choice examination at class end. Education on state boating laws is specific to the state’s laws and assessed typically by a 10-question multiple choice test in addition to the 50-question NASBLA approved exam. Students who complete the Chapter 1 through 5 “12-hour” program receive the endorsement “Includes Introduction to Coastal and Inland Navigation Endorsement” (programmed in the HQ-800 12-hour class diploma printing event) on their Certificate of Completion. Minimum passing score for all ABC3 related exams is 80%. All multiple choice examinations are closed book, proctored by USPS members as arranged by the Exam Administrator, and scored by designated personnel other than the instructors. Two ABC3 final examinations are provided. Those not passing the initial assessment may, after additional study, retake the second exam. State-specific test questions are provided by the respective states and may be downloaded from the EdDept Home Page under the “State Boating Info” pull down tab. Aadditional evaluation direction may be included with the questions. The state specific examinations are in a protected directory to which DEOs have access.

  Successful completion of the NASBLA approved 2012 final examination leads to issuance of an ABC3 Certificate of Completion and accompanying wallet card.

  Course Completions: There is one report, submitted electronically, that records completion of each public boating class (and seminar). The report is made through either the HQ-800 System or the Boating Course Assistant version 7 (BCA 7) software. Both programs are easily accessed from the USPS Education Department web site. While each is unique with various additional aids to administration, they integrate the necessary information from the Student Registration form (ED46) and Course Answer sheet (ED-26) into a data record which is uploaded to USPS Headquarters. Both allow for pre-registration by students, a feature that aids compilation of data for reporting purposes. These programs include printing student information on the Certificate of Completion.

  Boating Class Summary (ED-27): This report provides the student statistics from course completion reports and is sent electronically to the respective district and squadron educational departments, and state boating law administrators. ED-27 reports are produced by the HQ-800 System from squadron information submitted to HQ from either of the two software programs.

  Support Common to Both Software Programs by HQ-800 System

  Announcing and Advertising Your USPS Public Boating Course: All ABC3 public boating courses are to be listed on-line on the USPS website. This serves several purposes. First, it announces to the general public the date, time, location, and point of contact for each class. Next, the new features of the on-line registration system will automatically send email notifications of the boating class schedules and completion results to the designated state Boating Law Administrator (BLA) or his/her representative. This feature meets the reporting requirements contained within just about all of the Memorandum of Understanding between USPS and the states.

  Pre-Registering Students: The on-line registration process for potential students to pre-register for squadron public boating classes supports the student who chooses to do contact on-line, and provides the host squadron with information that helps prepare the student for the course. The process requires that squadron boating class information be listed in the on-line HQ-800 database. Squadrons enter their class information into the database via the USPS Education Department Home page, then select “Manage Public Programs,” select “Register Boating Courses (HQ-800), and enter course data. When entering course data, check the “allow on-line registration” box and consider checking the “offer 6 month memberships" box. Once activated, students may fill in the pre-registration form with all their personal data, greatly simplifying the process of entering the data into the course completion report.

  Supports On-Line Searches: When Google and other on-line search engines are used to seek terms such as "safe boating classes" or "public boating education", the courses listed in the HQ-800 System are provided. The BoatU.S. course listing extracts the USPS information for publication on their site.

  Summary Information for the Educational Department: The cumulative reports from squadron submissions are used to manage stock levels to support squadron efforts, track trends in USPS Boating Safety Education, and may be used locally to manage course schedules and inter-squadron teaching efforts. The summary report of ABC3 classes completed and numbers of students with these classes is updated and posted monthly on this web page. (13 Apr 12)

• Squadron and District Guide for On-Line America’s Boating Course – 3rd Edition. The Squadron and District Guide for America’s Boating Course – 3rd Edition, for use by squadrons and districts to manage ABC3 on-line students, may be found in the Downloadable Material section of the ABC3 web page. Currently, on-line student information is passed to the respective districts and their squadrons to administer the required state education and NASBLA approved final examination, and if a passing grade is achieved, issue the Certificate of Completion. An on-line testing program to fully automate the on-line course is under development. (13 Apr 12)
  
  
• USCG District 9 Charts for Use in Coastal Explorer Express Program.

  The previous (February 3, 2010) CD version of Rose Point's Coastal Explorer Express viewer program may have a corrupted zip file for the charts of USCG District 9. If you have a problem loading District 9 charts from your CD, download a good copy of the zip file (254,458KB) and install it in Coastal Explorer. Note that this is a rather large file and may take some time to download depending on your Internet connection speed. The procedure to download and install the file is as follows:

  • Click on this link to download the zip file, browse to your "C:\Charts" folder/directory, and save the zip file to this folder/directory.
  • Start Coastal Explorer Express.
  • Click on the menu icon to "Access program options, install charts, and configure electronics.", and select "Install Charts..." from the pull-down menu.
  • In the resulting window, click on the "Install charts from a ZIP file..." option.
  • Browse to your "C:\Charts" folder/directory if it doesn't come up automatically.
  • Click on the file you just downloaded, which should be named "09CGD_RNCs.zip", then click "Open" or "OK". You should get a message that the charts are being installed and that it may take a little while to complete.
  • Close the window after the charts are installed. You can then check that the charts are installed by using the Chart Portfolio to see all the charts you have installed. (22 Nov 11)
    
    
• Intracoastal Waterway PowerPoint Teaching Aid. A short presentation (1814KB, PPT) on navigating the Intracoastal Waterway has been prepared. Please include any part or all of it in those classes where you have students traversing the Intracoastal Waterway. (11 May 10)
  
  
• ABC3 Review Answer Sheet and PowerPoint Files for 2010 Reprint. Revised PowerPoint files and answer sheet for the 2010 reprint of ABC3 are available under the Downloadable Material section of the ABC3 web page. (22 Mar 10)
  

• America's Boating Course, 3rd Edition, Computer Settings. New instructions for setting your computer options to run America's Boating Course, 3rd Edition, using Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Shockwave Player are available on the ABC3 web page. (01 Sep 09)

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Public Boating Programs

• America's Boating Course - 3rd Edition is our primary civic effort toward public instruction in the fundamentals of safe boating.  Both short (8-hour) and long (12-hour) formats are designed to familiarize the student with the fundamentals of safe boating and qualify for certification in most states that require boating education before operating a watercraft.  Subjects include:

  • Boat handling under normal conditions
  • Adverse conditions and emergencies
  • Types of boats and boating terminology
  • Required and recommended equipment
  • Boating regulations and navigation rules
  • Lines and knots
  • Charts and aids to navigation (in 12-hour format only)
  • Piloting techniques (in 12-hour format only)
  • Marine radiotelephone usage
  • Trailer boating

  Information for instructors and assistants is available from the ABC3 information page.

• Seminars address specific boating topics and needs of interest to both members and the public in a two-hour format. Squadrons conduct seminars to provide specific information to its members and the public, and to increase awareness of USPS knowledge, skills, and abilities to the public. Seminars also serve as excellent public relations fora from which to entice new members. Information for instructors and assistants is available from the Seminars information page.

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Paddle Smart

Paddle Smart is a USPS seminar on a series of topics created especially for paddle sports.  There is also a related (but more for the public) Paddle Smart web site.  Web site topics include:

• Navigation Rules with emphasis on kayaks, canoes, etc.
• Personal Flotation Devices (life jackets)
• Charts and Maps
• Homeland Security
• Weather and its impact on paddlers
• Electronics for paddlers including GPS, cell phones, VHF marine radios, etc.

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Questions or Comments?

If you have any questions or comments about any of the public boating courses, please contact the National Basic Public Education Committee chair by e-mail, phone or postal service mail.  Please be sure to keep your SEO and/or DEO advised of any correspondence you may have with the National committee. Addresses for the National BPECom chair are listed in The ENSIGN and on the Committee Chairpersons page.

We will try to answer your questions as soon as possible, but please allow 5 working days for an answer.

Anyone wishing to provide input on these courses, please contact the committee chair.

If you are interested in becoming a member of this committee, submit a resume on-line at the Committee on Nominations web site.

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