Characterizing Instructional Strategies within Atmospheric Science Courses

Substantial science education research over the past several years has demonstrated the benefits of substituting traditional lecture within a college course for increased use of in-class active learning strategies (e.g., in-class activities, discussions, team-based learning, project-based learning) within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses (e.g., Johnson et al. 1998, Springer et al. 1999, Mostrom and Blumberg 2012, Yuretich and Kanner 2015, Cotner and Ballen 2017). Given this, and given the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS’s) interest in the incorporation of active learning strategies within courses (AMS 2017), the goal of this study is to conduct an assessment of atmospheric science education learning strategies utilized within the broader atmospheric science community. Specifically, the following research questions are addressed: 1) which active learning strategies are utilized most often vs. least often, 2) how much professional development and/or training do atmospheric science instructors receive with respect to the creation and implementation of active learning strategies and materials, and 3) what type(s) of active learning strategies could be utilized more often within the broader atmospheric science community to improve the educational experience for undergraduate and graduate students?

Atmospheric science instructors throughout the United States were asked to participate in the completion of an online survey asking participants about their teaching background, the types of active learning strategies they have implemented within their courses and what types of resources they have used (e.g., professional development, training) to improve their understanding and use of active learning strategies. Preliminary results from this study are presented and used to provide recommendations to improve the use of active learning strategies throughout the AMS community as well as determine the best strategies for encouraging instructors to incorporate such strategies within their courses.