New Applied Climatology and Meteorology Course at the University of Oklahoma

During the spring semester of 2008, the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma offered a senior- and graduate-level course titled "Applied Climatology and Meteorology." The course was the first applied climatology course taught at the School for over 15 years. The purpose of the class was to "broaden the perspective of students to the use of weather and climate information in agriculture, transportation, public safety, public health, and other areas of society."

Guest speakers included Mr. Ivan Cacic, Director of the Meteorological and Hydrological Service of the Republic of Croatia (see attached photo for class visit); Dr. David Robinson, New Jersey State Climatologist and Chair of the Department of Geography at Rutgers University; Dr. Eve Gruntfest, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies University of Colorado at Colorado Springs; and Dr. Chris Fiebrich, Manager of the Oklahoma Mesonet.

The course instructor will provide an overview of the course, discuss some of the challenges that she encountered, offer some examples of student feedback provided during and at the end of the semester, and show examples of projects that were conducted by the students for their community. In addition, the instructor will discuss some of the teaching methods that she tried, including service learning, gallery walk, cooperative learning, and interactive lectures using a classroom response system (aka "clickers").