Meteorology and Cimatology: On-Line Weather Studies

Through the Virginia Earth Science Collaborative (VESC), a partnership of nine institutes of higher education, non-profit organizations, and eighty-three school divisions, a 3-credit, graduate-level meteorology course was offered six times between Spring 2006 and Fall 2007. The course, entitled Meteorology, was offered at three locations (Richmond, Abingdon, and Harrisonburg), and a local instructor facilitated each section. Funding for the course development, instructor stipends, and participant expenses (including travel, meals, and tuition) was provided through a competitive Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) grant funded through the federal No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001. The framework of the course was the American Meteorological Society\u27s Online Weather Studies program, which provides meteorological content and laboratory investigations, and relies heavily on the use of Internet-accessed, real-time weather data to teach meteorological topics in a distance learning format. The 115 teacher participants were required to complete text readings and written assignments, conduct laboratory investigations, design projects using real—time meteorological data, complete exams, and attend three face-to-face meetings. For the purpose of the VESC grant evaluation, pre-test and post-test data were collected on 110 of the participants which indicated an average 14.7% increase in participants‘ content knowledge and use of real-time meteorological products (weather maps, satellite images, station models, etc.) in their instructional delivery