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Online Weather Studies
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Gaining Approval to Offer the CourseQ. I am a professor who would like to offer the course, but getting a new course approved is very difficult and time consuming. Do you have any advice?A. There might already be
a course in your college catalog, such as “weather and climate” which
could serve as a home for Online. The course can be offered with a title
other than Online Weather Studies. Remember that Online is a very
versatile offering which may be easily adapted to many course descriptions and
situations. Be sure to check lists of infrequently offered or banked/archived
courses. Look into courses offered by other disciplines that could be
cross-listed with your own. In some cases, the course is offered as a
“special topics” or “directed reading course.” Q. I will have to submit a detailed proposal to the curriculum committee to get the course approved. Can I get a syllabus for the course? A. Because the course is
offered in so many ways and by individual faculty members at many colleges, AMS
does not provide a syllabus for the course. However, a course schedule and
syllabus can easily be constructed from information found on the main
faculty informational homepage, the
textbook info page, and the
study guide info page. Q. Is the course suitable to be offered as a lab science course? A. To offer Online
Weather Studies as a lab science course, we suggest you license the
complete course package, which includes the Textbook, Study Guide, and course
homepage. The twice weekly investigations (found in the Study Guide and course
homepage) are considered by many to be ideal lab exercises with a mix of
hands-on exploration, data manipulation and analysis, as well as map and graph
work. These investigations are similar to activites found in many typical lab
manuals, except that in the case of Online they are based on current
and/or real-world weather situations. Offering the course with additional
semester hour credit adds value because there are no additional licensing fees
or book costs. Q. Is there some advantage to offering the course (using the complete course package) in real time rather than using the archived investigations? A. The real-time aspect
has been proven to heighten student interest and extends learning because other
weather variables may be considered along with the specific topic of the
lesson. A Weather Summary is available each weekday when the course is offered
and a variety of real-time weather data, maps, radar and satellite images as
well as forecast products are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year from
the homepage. In lab settings, the real-time analysis offers the ability to
fashion additional exercises around current weather data that connect to the
daily summary and the weekly investigations. Faculty BackgroundQ. What kind of background does the instructor need to offer the course?A. Specific
qualifications needed for offering Online Weather Studies will depend on
local course requirements and the departmental and curricular policies in
effect at your school. The Online Weather can be offered by instructors
with a broad range of backgrounds. The course's turnkey package design and
accompanying faculty manual (on the CD) allow the Online to be
successfully implemented by instructors with little formal training in
meteorology. The course will be offered in a variety of departments including:
meteorology, mathematics and physical science, physics, biology, geography and
earth science. In some cases the course will be offered as part of a career
degree program, for example, in teacher education, geotechnologies, aviation,
conservation, and natural resources. Q. If I do not have a lot of formal training in atmospheric science, will I feel comfortable offering the course? A. The course materials
are presented in such a way that an instructor in most science and mathematics
departments should have no difficulty offering the course. The Online
complete course package includes everything needed for your success. While one
might wish to add supplementary materials in some situations, the course as
packaged is a robust introduction to meteorology. Collegial assistance from AMS
professional meteorologists, earth scientists and educators will be available
to faculty members offering the course. A faculty homepage and a comprehensive
faculty manual will provide answer keys to exercises, a large test-question
bank with answers, and suggestions for offering the course in various
ways. Q. How much mathematics is needed for the course? A. While atmospheric science is a quantitative science, this introductory course does not require extensive preparation beyond basic algebra. Q. If I offer this course as a distance education course over the web, how will I give exams and communicate with my students? A. Making this course a
totally online experience for students is left to local institutional needs and
technical capabilities. Most schools have an Office of Information Technology,
Distance Education, or Continuing Education which provides assistance with
these kinds of issues. They may also assist you in developing your own course
management homepage for administering this course. Modern technology allows a
wide range of distance education implementations. In most cases, though, the
course will successfully be delivered via the accompanying homepage and the use
of phone, fax or e-mail for communication with students. From time to time,
suggestions for improving the way the course is delivered will be provided on
the Faculty Homepage. Course Management SystemsQ. Can Online Weather Studies be administered using course management systems such as Blackboard and WebCT?A. Many colleges offer
the course using Blackboard, WebCT, or other course management systems. These
systems are used in traditional lecture/laboratory and distance learning
offerings. AMS recommends you check with your college administration to see if
this is a requirement. Q. My college requires that I use a course management system and I have no experience with such a program. Where should I go for assistance? A. First, contact your
Office of Information Technology, Distance Education, or Continuing Education.
This office will typically help you set up your course management system and
homepage. Please contact AMS if you would like to speak with other Online
Weather Studies faculty members using the same course management
system. Quality and Integrity IssuesQ. This is a new course and a novel delivery method. How do you know it will work?A. Online Weather Studies (as the complete course package) is based on the highly successful AMS DataStreme graduate-level K-12 teacher enhancement course which has been in existence since 1996. Virtually all of the Online Weather Studies components have been used and tested as a part of this prior program. Online has benefited from the feedback AMS has received from the teachers who have taken the DataStreme course and from the more formal assessments which have been undertaken to evaluate it for reporting purposes to the NSF which supported DataStreme (Grant No. ESI-9453205) and provided funding (Grant No. DUE-9752416) for development and piloting of Online Weather Studies. NOTE: As of Fall Semester 2004, Online Weather
Studies has now been offered at over 200 colleges and universities since
its nationwide implementation in Fall Semester 1999. This course was rigorously
accessed by the Spring Semester 1999 pilot study colleges and accessed again by
licensed colleges in Fall Semester 2001. Course instructors have successfully
used Online in a variety of instructional settings with great success.
Q. How do you know undergraduate college students will like Online Weather Studies? A. Components of the
course have now been used in introductory courses by over 200 college faculty
members. Many of the initial faculty members to implement Online Weather
Studies had used the DataStreme materials and activities in their
regular college classes with great success. This experimentation was, in part,
responsible for adapting the materials for undergraduate students. In addition,
the course was pilot-tested in 15, two- and four-year colleges and universities
around the country in Spring Semester 1999 by a team of specially selected
faculty members who rigorously assessed the course. The offerings of the course
since Fall Semester 1999 have reflected what we learned through the pilot
program. Additional course changes were made in response to an evaluation
completed by course instructors in Fall Semester 2001. Q. Can we count on the quality and integrity of this course? A. The course itself
bears the seal of a distinguished professional scientific society which has
been in existence since 1919. The AMS Education Program has delivered quality
educational programs in meteorology and oceanography in partnerships with the
U.S. National Weather Service, SUNY College at Brockport, United States Naval
Academy, the Office of Naval Research, the Naval Meteorological and
Oceanographic Command, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service and National
Ocean Services. Major funding of many programs, including the initial
development of Online Weather Studies and the Geosciences Diversity Project, has been from the
National Science Foundation. Meteorological data is delivered via the US
National Weather Service's National Centers for Environmental Prediction. In
addition, several national experts in education and meteorology have
contributed to the development of the course insuring its scientific
integrity. Textbook IssuesQ. How may I order an evaluation copy of the textbook (and study guide)?A. If you are interested in using the Online Weather Studies textbook (or textbook and study guide) in a current or future course offering, you may request an examination copy. If you would like to order the book for personal use, please send a purchase order or check for $86 ($79 + $7 US Shipping/Handling) to Online Weather Studies You may also fax a purchase order to 1-800-258-1176. To
pay by credit card (Mastercard, VISA, and American Express accepted), please
call 1-800-824-0405 Q. How will textbooks and other course materials be handled? A. For those using the textbook-only option, the Online Weather Studies text will be sold by college or local bookstores in the same way that any college text is usually sold. For those licensing the entire course package, the Textbook and Student Study Guide will typically be packaged together and sold by college or local bookstores. The Textbook and Study Guide are also available separately for licensed users. For further information, please contact us. Q. What specific information do I need to provide the bookstore? A. To order the Online Weather Studies Textbook and Study Guide (for licensed users):
To order the Online Weather Studies Textbook:
To order the Online Weather Studies Study Guide (for licensed users):
A. Bookstores should send a purchase order to AMS Online Weather Studies by mail or fax. American Meteorological Society Bookstores are encouraged to call 202-737-1043 if there
are any further questions. Course Licensing Fee and CostsQ. How much does it cost to license Online Weather Studies?A. A one-semester license is only $149, and for even greater savings, an annual license is just $249. For minority-serving institutions participating in the Online Weather Studies Diversity Project, the one-semester license is $49 and the annual license is $79. Q. I am a professor who would like to offer the course but I don’t know where I would get the licensing fee? Who pays for the course? A. The licensing fee has
been reduced to enable most departments to cover its cost as a petty cash
expenditure. Additionally, you might talk to your Office of Distance or
Continuing Education about their potential to offer assistance in providing
funding for this course. Also, check with your academic vice president, dean,
business or budget office to see if there is a budget category to cover these
types of costs. Inquire about how other courses your institution is offering
which have license fees (i.e., Oceanus, Planet Earth, The Earth Revealed are
just a few possible examples) manage these cost arrangements. Q. Can students be assessed a special fee to cover the costs of the course? A. Covering the cost of the license fees for the course is a local matter that has to be determined by your institution. Q. Can the course be licensed for use by schools using a quarter system or for an intersession or a summer session? A. The course can be
offered at any time by using the archived investigations provided. If it is
offered at times other than during the real-time offering of the course, the
online Daily Summary component will not be available. However, the learner will
be directed to other real-time weather summaries. Q. Can one license be used on multiple campuses? A. Generally, the answer is no. One license covers the course being offered as many times during the licensed period as wanted on the campus that purchased the license. Offering the course through one instructor on one campus that has enrollment open to other campuses requires only one license. Offering the course on different campuses through different instructors requires additional licenses. For further clarification, please contact us. Contact information is listed at the top of this page.
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Copyright © 2005 by the American Meteorological Society. The American
Meteorological Society is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Federal
Tax-Exempt Identification No. 04-2103657.
e-mail us at: onlinewx@dc.ametsoc.org
