Nationwide dissemination of Online Weather Studies and Online Ocean Studies courses at minority serving institutions

The Education Program of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) designed, developed and nationally disseminates the introductory undergraduate courses Online Weather Studies and Online Ocean Studies, licensed by AMS to colleges and universities for local offering and credit. Both courses take an Earth system approach, extensively utilize geoscience data available on the Internet, and can be offered in a variety of instructional settings from a traditional lecture/laboratory course to totally online. A major initiative involving Online Weather Studies and Online Ocean Studies seeks to address the nation's need to attract more members of minority groups to scientific careers, particularly in the geosciences. To this end, the AMS Education Program with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) developed Diversity Projects that facilitate offering of the Online courses at minority serving institutions (MSIs).

Online course components include customized textbook, investigations manual containing the first half of twice-weekly learning activities, and a course website that contains links to current geoscience data. AMS scientists/educators in Washington, DC write the second half of the twice-weekly investigations to a current or recent atmospheric or oceanic event and post them to the course website. This near real-time aspect of the Online courses provides students with an engaging and highly motivational experience in science inquiry and helps them to develop critical thinking skills. Course instructors also have access to a secure faculty website containing answer keys and a faculty CD with various instructional materials, including learning objectives and test bank questions. The turnkey design allows the courses to be offered by experienced meteorologists and oceanographers, as well as by those in other scientific fields, such as geography, geology or chemistry.

In order to maintain a robust and competitive scientific workforce, it is imperative to boost minority participation in the sciences. In many cases, the principal reason minorities do not consider a major or career in the geosciences is lack of access; that is, their college or university does not offer a course in the geosciences. The AMS Online courses are effective vehicles to introduce minority undergraduates to atmospheric and oceanic sciences. The AMS Diversity Projects facilitate course implementation of the Online courses at MSIs through support from the National Science Foundation's Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences and Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement–National Dissemination programs. Faculty members introducing the courses at MSIs are invited to attend week-long NSF-supported workshops that cover course implementation procedures and key course components and topics. The workshops feature many guest speakers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and university geoscience departments. Instructors are also invited to a diversity workshop at the subsequent AMS Annual Meeting and present posters detailing their course implementation experiences.

To date, Online Weather Studies and Online Ocean Studies have introduced innovative geoscience education to more than 300 colleges and universities nationwide, including over 100 minority serving institutions. The Online Weather Studies Diversity Project began in Spring 2002 and continues through 2007. The Online Ocean Studies Diversity Project began in Spring 2006 and is funded for a total of 75 MSI faculty over 3.5 years. Feedback from participating MSI faculty has been very positive.