P1.23
Incorporating the AMS Online Weather Studies resources in the design of a new meteorology course
Stephen L. Arnold, Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, CA
Allan Hancock Joint Community College District serves major portions of three counties and approximately 225,000 California residents, with over 16,000 students enrolled each semester in both credit and community education courses. The district is comprised of one main Allan Hancock College (AHC) campus, as well as a new satellite campus and three additional learning centers. It is accredited by the U.S. Department of Education as an Hispanic-Serving Institution and serves a diverse student population. Overall, the percentage of students from all minority ethnic groups in AHC is approximately 55% (including Hispanic, African American, American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Other). The author has served as a part-time instructor at several AHC campuses since 1999, having taught Introduction to Physical Geography (Geog 101) and several other courses in a largely traditional classroom setting, yet still incorporating significant Internet-based resources. There continues to be great interest in using course materials and investigations in which students use current satellite observations and other data available online, as well as online analysis and collaboration tools. Several individual and group activities utilizing such online tools and data have been developed and used in the past, with varying degrees of success (Arnold, S.L., 2005).
The AMS Online Weather Studies Faculty Workshop was held in May, 2007, in Kansas City, presenting both pedagogical and background materials. The materials and activities presented at the workshop, such as the pressure block activities, El Nino charts, and Coriolis demonstrations, seem engaging and effective, and will most likely be incorporated into both new and existing courses over the coming semesters. The Online Weather Studies Investigations Manual also appears to provide an excellent, comprehensive resource for both extending a lecture class and supporting a full set of laboratory investigations. It is expected that the addition of these AMS resources to existing course curriculum materials will provide more engaging classroom activities and assignments, resulting in an enhanced learning environment for the students. The complete set of resources for Online Weather Studies will be applied to the new meteorology course offered in Spring, 2008. Although the course outline is designed as a traditional 3-hour lecture and 3-hour laboratory course, the intent is to support both lecture and laboratory components using the AMS Online Weather Studies textbook and laboratory investigations manual, as well as the AMS course web site. The new course will eventually be offered in both a classroom-hybrid and Internet-only format, with the former including career speakers (ie, working meteorologists) and field-trips to operational weather facilities.
Arnold, S. L. (2005) Open Source Technologies in Science Education: What's Your Geek IQ?, presented at the Joint Session on Cyberinfrastructure to Support Atmospheric and Oceanic Education: Examples and Strategies, 14th Symopsium on Education, 85th Annual AMS Meeting, San Diego, CA.
Supplementary URL: http://www.gentoogeek.org/geography
Poster Session 1, Educational Initiatives Poster Session
Sunday, 20 January 2008, 5:30 PM-7:00 PM, Exhibit Hall B
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