Ed Symposium 88 Abstract 1

Incorpor ating the AMS Online Weather Studies Resou rces In the Design of a New Meteorology Course Mr. Stephen L. Arnold Allan Hancock College 800 S. College Dr Santa Maria, CA 93454 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 cre dit and community education course s. The district is comprised of one main Allan Hancock College (AHC) campus, as well as a new satellite campus and three additional learning cen ters. It is accredited by the U.S. De partmen t of Education as an Hispanic-Serv ing Institution and serves a diverse stu dent population. Overall, the percent age of students from all minority ethnic groups in AHC is approximately 55% (including Hispanic, African American, American Indian, Asian/P acific Islander, and Other). The author has served as a part-time instructor at several AHC campuses since 1999, having taught Introduction to Physical Geograph y (Geog 101) and several other courses in a largely traditional classroom setting, yet still incorpora ting significant Internet-based resource s. There contin ues to be great interest in using course materials and investigations in which students use current satellite observation s and other data available online, as well as online analys is and collaboration tools. Severa l 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 i n May, 2007, in Kansas City, presenting both pe dagogical and background materials. The materials and activities present ed at the workshop , such as the pressure block activities, El Nino charts, and Coriolis demonstrations, seem engag ing and effective, and will most likely be incorpora ted into both new and existing courses over the coming semesters. The Online Weather Studies Investigations Manual also appea rs to provide an excellent, comprehensive resource for both extending a lecture class and supporting a full set of laboratory investigation s. It is expected that the addition of these AMS resource s to existing course curriculum materials will provide more engag ing classroom activities and assignmen ts, resulting in an enha nced learning env ironment for the stud ents. The complete set of resource s for Online Weather Studies will be applied to the new meteorology course offered in S pring, 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 labora tory components using the AMS Online Weather Studies textbook and laboratory investigations manual, as well as the AMS course web site . The new cou rse will eventually be offered in both a classroom-hyb rid and Internet-only format, with the former including career speakers (ie, working meteorolog ists) and field-trips to operatio nal weather facilities. Open Source Technologies in Science Education: What's Your Geek IQ? (2005) S. L. Arnold, 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. Corresponding Author: Tel.: (805) 863-8299; email: stephen.arnold@acm. org

Ed Symposium 88 Abstract 1

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