Dynamic weather forecaster: results of the testing of a collaborative, on-line educational platform for weather forecasting |
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| Authors: | Cinzia Cervato William Gallus Pete Boysen Michael Larsen |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA;(2) IT Services Academic Technologies, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA;(3) Biostatistics Center and Dept of Statistics, George Washington University, Rockville, MD 20852, USA |
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| Abstract: | The online Dynamic Weather Forecaster is an open, collaborative application available now to high-school and college instructors
across the United States who would like to easily incorporate weather forecasting in their instruction. The application consists
of a set of 13 questions that allow students to submit forecasts that cover most of the parameters used by professional weather
forecasters. Submissions are automatically validated against weather parameters and graded. We tested the impact of the application
on the learning of 199 undergraduate students in an introductory meteorology course in spring 2008. Students who begin forecasting
early in the semester and continue to do so throughout the semester are statistically significantly more successful in the
course than students who start late or complete a low number of forecasts. College, year in school, and gender were not significant
predictors of success. Students found the application easy to use, and 92.3% of them found it at least somewhat helpful as
they learned about the weather. Through the use of the DWF, students also experience first-hand that uncertainty is a critical
part of weather forecasting and of scientific studies in general. With sufficient interest from potential users outside the
USA, the DWF platform could easily be expanded to include global weather data. |
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