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Credits: 3
Meeting: MWF, 2-3PM
125 Kildee Auditorium

WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN'D ASTRONOMER

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Course Philosophy

This is a meteorology course, not astronomy as Whitman experienced, but the feeling you can get in a science course may not differ much from his. We will try very hard to avoid making you tired and sick as a consequence of figures and charts and diagrams. But how to allow you to experience the wonder of weather when there are over 250 of you in this lecture hall is a challenge.

This course will be different from many others in that I will not grade on the curve. All of you can get an "A". Further, we will have less emphasis on exams and more on showing me (and yourself) that you can "do" meteorology. This will involve activities such as making clouds, measuring temperature from a balloon, forecasting daily weather, and forecasting weather "to write home about" (the severe stuff).

Before we get to the specifics of grading I want for you to understand what I think is important for you to be able to do at the end of this course. First, I want you to learn to think like a meteorologist (no, that isn't just making wild guesses no matter what comedians say). This means you will need to have opportunities to do what meteorologists do. This will include collecting and interpreting data and also forecasting. Before you panic, we have done forecasting activities for several years now and this is always the most popular part of the course according to student course evaluations.

 Next, I want you to learn to think like scientists. To help accomplish this you will be given opportunities to learn how to solve problems.  We will try very hard to make the problems realistic and thus they may have more than one right answer. As you well know by now, life is full of problems. The approach you will construct is intended to serve you in many life situations.

Finally, I want you to gain a better understanding of our physical world. I will try to create circumstances where you will seek understanding because you are curious rather than because an exam is eminent (although we will have a few of these also). In the course philosophy the importance of learning to learn and solving problems is reflected by being 70% of the course grade (everything but the actual examinations).

Many of the course materials are only available from the Internet. To facilitate the management of web-based course materials we will use ClassNet, software that has been designed at Iowa State University for this purpose. We will demonstrate the use of this software in class, however, we will have a help room (3008 Agronomy) staffed from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday to provide assistance on any computer issue related to this course. This room also has several computers that you are welcome to use during any of the open hours. There are many public computer facilities. These may be located using http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cac_info/openlabs.html

The details of a forecast exercise will be covered in class but some general comments may help reassure you that this is something that each of you can do. Most students in previous classes were as apprehensive as you may be at this stage in the course. We have modified the forecasting activity so that you will be able to start with predicting only a few parameters. We will begin this part Wednesday, January 19, 2000. You may try your hand at forecasting current weather using the "regular" forecast exercise from day 1 if you wish. You will be required to do a minimum number by announced dates. Because we will only count your 25 best forecasts there is no penalty for trying. Paul will often give you his best judgment concerning many of the answers so if you listen to him during class you should do very well. The way we score will be to give you 3 points for a correct answer, 1 point for trying, and no points if you don't participate. There will be over 75 forecast opportunities relating to current weather. We encourage you to submit as many forecasts as possible.

Meteorology 206 is a course in introductory meteorology that is intended to meet the needs of students whose goal is to satisfy a science requirement. In this course you will have many opportunities to test your understanding of meteorology principles. Because learning from mistakes is an important part of the learning process you will be given numerous opportunities to try and fail without penalty. In order for us to be able to interact with some 300 students and to provide timely and accurate feedback we will be using the Internet to communicate with you.  Many of these web-based activities that you will be assigned have been especially designed for this course by faculty and graduate students in other departments and are the subject of ongoing studies to determine if they are effective in improving science learning. We very much need and appreciate your feedback concerning them.

The grading in this course has been weighted to reflect my perceptions of the most important outcomes for you in this course. Although you are expected to read the text the total course grade is heavily based on activities (60%). You are encouraged to interact with others as you figure out the most appropriate responses but the work that is submitted must be your own. You are likely to encounter things which puzzle you.  Getting these questions resolved is important for your understanding so feel free to ask about these during class or by sending an email to either Paul or me. To assist you in preparing for the hour examinations we will try to have collections of old test questions available for you that can be accessed from the computer. However, materials on the hour examinations will also be based on class discussions and class assignments.

Some interactive learning tools that are unique to this course involve computer-based simulation activities. There are two parts to learning from them; responding to the questions within ClassNet (outside of class) and sharing with other students within small groups (an in-class activity). In order to get credit for either part students must participate in both. This means you must come to class. Special attention is called to the policy concerning the hour examinations. This term five will be given but only your best four will be counted. On the other hand there will be no make-up exams. This will permit answers to examination questions to be posted immediately following the examination period.

This course is under constant revision as new learning tools are developed and tested. Please note that there is no grading curve. If we all did our jobs correctly everyone should be able to get an "A". I have established a grading scale that is largely based on my experience. If I have misjudged I reserve the right to "ease up" on the grading. but it will not be made more rigorous.

Finally, this syllabus is a work in progress. It is likely that we will fall behind in certain sections and be able to move faster in others. No doubt there will be changes in assignments. I will continually update the syllabus that is accessible through the web at http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mt206/obs/syl_mt206.html  Especially note the links to the daily lecture slides under the "Class Period" column. These will be available shortly after the end of the class period.
 
 
 
 

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