Experiential Learning in Meteorology: Field Studies of Convection and Severe Storms

Each spring semester, I organize a for-credit field trip experience for undergraduate students where we go storm chasing for 9 days. During this intensive, immersive learning experience, students gain real-world application of topics that are introduced in classroom coursework taken in various undergraduate classes, but especially mesoscale meteorology. Students learn about the subtleties involved with forecasting severe convection and they get to experience the consequences of good – and bad – forecasts. They also learn about the important non-meteorological considerations involved with chasing, such as road network availability, chaser traffic, and the serendipity involved with being in the right place at the right time (or being in the wrong place.) At the end of the trip, most students reflect that the experience was more beneficial to their learning than any in-class course they have taken. In this presentation, I will describe the recruitment of student participants, the timeline, organization, and preparation involved with executing the trip, and the details of the trip experience itself including academic and participant expectations. Student participation and responses will be highlighted and actual student testimonials will be shared.