Bringing meteorology 'alive' through the use of immersion-based learning activities that emphasize role playing and problem solving

摘要

Current research and emerging standards in teaching and learning say that students learning best when information is presented in a meaningful context and when the students are involved in things they care about. At the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), science education programs have been developed that incorporate these concepts. To help students and teachers understand the process of ''doing'' science, we provide immersion-based programs in such technical areas as meteorology, marine sciences, wetland ecology, groundwater hydrology, robotics, lasers materials science, biology, and archaeology. This paper focuses on a meteorology program the authors developed in recent years to support this immersion experience approach. We will discuss how we link meteorology with other subject matter, how we show the relevance of meteorology to real-world problems, and how we immerse student's and teachers in activities that help them understand how scientists uncover knowledge and solve problems.