HR: 1340h
AN: ED23A-0080    [Abstracts]
TI: AMS Online Weather Studies: The National Dissemination of a Distance Learning Course for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences
AU: Weinbeck, R S
EM: weinbeck@dc.ametsoc.org
AF: State University of New York College at Brockport, Dept. of the Earth Sciences 350 New Campus Drive, Brockport, NY 14420 United States
AU: Geer, I W
EM: geer@dc.ametsoc.org
AF: American Meteorological Society, Education Program 1120 G St. NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005 United States
AU: Mills, E W
EM: mills@dc.ametsoc.org
AF: American Meteorological Society, Education Program 1120 G St. NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005 United States
AU: Porter, W A
EM: WAPORTER@MAIL.ECSU.EDU
AF: Elizabeth City State University, Campus Box 975 Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC 27909 United States
AU: * Moran, J M
EM: moran@dc.ametsoc.org
AF: American Meteorological Society, Education Program 1120 G St. NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005 United States
AB: Our nation faces a serious challenge in attracting young people to science and science-related careers (including teaching). This is particularly true for members of groups underrepresented in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology and is especially acute in the number of minority college students majoring in the geosciences. A formidable obstacle in attracting undergraduates to the geosciences is lack of access, that is, no opportunity to enroll in geoscience courses simply because none is offered at their college or university. Often college-level introductory courses are a student's first exposure to the geosciences. To help alleviate this problem of access, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) has developed and implemented nationally an introductory weather and climate course, Online Weather Studies, which can be added to an institution's menu of general education course offerings. This highly successful course has been licensed by over 230 colleges and universities nationwide, among them 72 minority-serving institutions which have joined via the AMS Online Weather Studies Geosciences Diversity Program since 2002. This program designed to reach institutions serving large numbers of minority students has been made possible through support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences (OEDG) and Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement-National Dissemination (CCLI-ND) programs. Online Weather Studies is an innovative, 12- to 15-week introductory college-level, online distance-learning course on the fundamentals of atmospheric science. Learner-formatted current weather data are delivered via the Internet and coordinated with investigations keyed to the day's weather. The principal innovation of Online Weather Studies is that students learn about weather as it happens in near real-time - a highly motivational learning experience. The AMS Education Program designed and services this course and makes it available to colleges and universities as a user-friendly turnkey package with electronic and printed components. The AMS Geosciences Diversity Program, in cooperation with the National Weather Service (NWS), facilitates institutional participation in Online Weather Studies. Prior to an instructor's initial offering of the course, he or she is invited to attend a one-week course implementation workshop at the NWS Training Center at Kansas City, MO. Participants are encouraged to share best practices ideas in science content and teaching strategies related to their offering of Online Weather Studies. Through the course homepage, students are provided with information on further studies in the atmospheric sciences, opportunities for internships and summer research, and career counseling. Meteorologists-in-Charge at NWS Weather Forecast Offices across the nation have interacted with minority-serving institutions to encourage adoption of the AMS weather course. Also, participating faculty members are invited to the Educational Symposium of the AMS Annual Meeting where they will attend a special Diversity Session and are encouraged to present posters.
DE: 6605 Education
DE: 6630 Workforce
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 0830 Teacher training
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting