Integrating OWS Materials into an Existing Introductory Meteorology Class.

Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) is a minority serving institution (38% Hispanic) located in Southern California's San Fernando Valley.

Although Meteorology has traditionally been offered as a 3-credit non-lab course at LAVC, it will be offered for the first time as a “hybrid” course Fall, 2007, integrating exercises and data made available through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) and American Meteorological Society (AMS) Online Weather Studies (OWS) Diversity Project. In-class and take-home exercises based on real-time data will be utilized to promote active learning in an otherwise traditional lecture setting. In addition, students will visit the NWS office in Oxnard, California.

The results of this new course format will be presented, in part to inform the development of an entirely online course at LAVC utilizing OWS materials (to be offered Fall 2008), and a future complimentary laboratory (both online and traditional).