Mesoscale Dynamics is an e-learning class

This means that for taking this class you need the technical equipment and software indicated in the  syllabus. In addition, you have to have the pre-requisites listed in the catalog or get my permission.   If you need a pre-requiste over-write,  contact me by email.

Curiosity and job skills

Most interesting and challenging research questions have in common that they are ill-posed problems. The same applies often to tasks in the job field.

Therefore, besides learning the fundamentals of atmospheric sciences this class also will teach students how to solve ill-posed questions by making reasonable assumptions accessing the uncertainty in the results caused by these assumptions. This means this class also teaches you to synthesize, and assess limitations, and to ignore irrelevant data.  All these skills are needed for research, and highly demanded in the various professional fields.

What else happens in this class?

In this e-learning classroom students learn at their own pace within the framework of  units  that have fixed due dates given in the  schedule. The class web-page guides you thru the knowledge gaining process, applications, and exercises with mandatory tasks, voluntary tests/quizzes and further non-mandatory material. The respective material is indicated as such.

Class participation and interaction is important in this course.   The closed google group permits you to ask questions and provide answers to fellow classmates.   It also serves as a discussion board  where assigned discussions will take place.

How and when do you get feedback

There are three mandatory teleconferences during the semester, where I will call you.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me at  cmoelders@alaska.edu.   You can also check your chat function on Google Mail if I am logged in. I will not response before 1000 and after 1700 and on weekends even when I am logged in.

It generally takes me about a week or so to grade written assignments after submission. There are voluntary quizzes that provide immediate feedback.

In addition to your grade, you will receive feedback from me either in the comment box, or as an attachment.

Each unit has a FAQ section as well.

What does educational research say?

Educational research provides evidence that students who are in an active learning classroom paradigm, gain more knowledge and have higher success rates and less frustration than students being taught in the traditional lecture-homework setting. According to research in education, the attention span is about 15 minutes. Students can recall about 70% of the lecture material presented in the first 10 minutes, but only 20% from last 10 minutes. Lecture pausing increased the short term recall (108/80 correct facts) and long-term retention (89.4%/80.4% exam scores). Collaborative learning has been found to improve academic achievements, communication skills, self-esteem, and student retention. Problem based learning improves student attitude.

Where to go next

Get started or read the syllabus.

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