Teaching Meteorological and Observing Fundamentals Through High-Impact Learning

In this era of mandated shortened undergraduate curricula, with increasing requirements for non-major coursework, teaching students meteorological fundamentals, particularly related to observations, can be greatly enhanced without a formal observations course in a standard classroom setting. Learning the origins and characteristics of data, including inherent uncertainties, remains important to a complete Atmospheric Science/ Meteorology education. We are using hands-on and out-of-classroom settings to give the next generation of operators and researchers a firmer foundation in meteorological concepts and observational literacy. These include summer and regular semester research and directed studies opportunities, as well as volunteer teams dedicated to observations including on-demand radiosondes when requested by National Weather Service Offices or the Storm Prediction Center.