ONLINE%20WEATHER%20STUDIES:%20A%20Distance-Learning%20Course

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ONLINE WEATHER STUDIES A Distance-Learning
Course

• Ira W. Geer
• R.S. Weinbeck
• B.A. Blair
• American Meteorological Society, Washington, DC
• CALMet99
• Helsinki 14-18 June 1999

• J.A. Brey, University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley
• E.J. Hopkins,University of Wisconsin-Madison
• J.M. Moran,University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

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Historical Perspective AMS Educational
Initiatives

• Project ATMOSPHERE
• The Maury Project
• The DataStreme Project (1996-present)
• Online Weather Studies (1999- )
• Water in the Earth System (1999- )

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ONLINE WEATHER STUDIES OVERVIEW

• Developed pilot-tested by AMS
• Support from National Science Foundation
• One-semester, introductory, college-level course
  on fundamentals of atmospheric science
• Online distance learning stressing current
  weather
• Suitable for 2 and 4 year post-secondary
  educational institutions
• Designed for diverse and non traditional student
  populations.

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ORGANIZATION
AMS EDUCATION DC Office Madison
COMET Boulder, CO
Text Products
Current Weather Products
ONLINE WEATHER STUDIES
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Online Weather Studies Course Components

• Textbook
• Student Study Guide--Learning Activities
• Course Homepage
• Faculty Manual Secure Homepage
• Course Management Homepage (optional)

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Online Weather Studies Pilot-Test

• Background
• Spring 1999
• 14 institutions (two- four-year colleges
  universities)
• Varied Formats
• Student-Instructor Interaction
• Student-Student Interaction

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Online Weather Studies Pilot-Test (cont.)

• Results
• Student Evaluation
• Advantages
• Disadvantages
• Student Attrition

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DEMONSTRATION CONNECTIONS

• Online Weather Studies Demo Page
• Sample Class Page
• Univ. of Wisconsin-Green Bay( J. M. Moran)

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CONCLUSIONS

• OLWS Pilot Course
• was successful
• was well received by students
• technology not a limiting factor
• students were generally well motivated

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CONCLUSIONS (cont.)

• Advantages
• Convenience flexibility attractive features for
  students
• Administration very supportive
• Comparable student performance with other
  traditional introductory courses

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CONCLUSIONS (cont.)

• Areas of concern
• maintaining students schedule
• little face-to-face contact between student and
  instructor