Instructor:
SO470C: SENIOR CAPSTONE COURSE IN METEOROLOGY
SPRING 2014
Assist. Prof. Bradford S. Barrett
Office:
Text book:
CH216, phone: 3-6567, e-mail: none bbarrett@usna.edu
Web page:
All course information, including the Syllabus, will be hosted at the following web page: http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/barrett/SO470C.htm
Assessment:
Final grades will be based upon the following:
Analysis of scientific paper 10 %
COMET presentation 10 %
Capstone paper
Capstone presentation
50 %
20 %
Participation 10 %
-------------------------------------------
Total 100%
POLICY STATEMENT
1.
Objectives
By the end of this course, you should:
 Be very knowledgeable about a specific meteorology topic
 Be able to critically assess results of a data analysis that you undertake, in the context of the peer-reviewed literature
 Have a good, advanced understanding of several other key meteorology topics
 Be able synthesize results from different investigations of a particular meteorology process into a coherent narrative
 Be comfortable writing and presenting results of your study to a meteorology-

literate audience
2.
Expectations
My expectations for you in this course are that you will:
 Respect the learning environment, both in and out of the classroom. Come prepared to each class session, bringing the appropriate materials per the syllabus
 Ask constructive questions of your classmates
 Work together to help each other learn
 Bring a positive attitude, especially when you find the material frustrating
 Be prepared to be challenged to think critically about meteorological processes
 Leave the course having taken the lead in driving the learning for the semester
3. Strategies for success in this course
This is a demanding course. It is unique among all the courses you will take in
Oceanography, in that you drive the learning process. Based on student feedback, here are several strategies for success:
 Start considering a topic the first day of the semester
 Select a topic that is narrow and allows you to perform a data analysis
 Read many, many peer-reviewed papers and save a copy of each
 Take advantage of my offer to review and offer comments on your paper
 Cite most of the sentences in the introduction of your paper
 Do not procrastinate
 Do not procrastinate (yes, that is a strategy worth repeating)
 Relax, and enjoy the learning process
Now, for the more formal part:
1. Classroom decorum:

 I will assign a Section Leader who will become familiar with COMDTMIDNISNT
1080.1 series (Subj: Academic Accountability System). The Section Leader will be responsible for calling the class to attention at the start and reporting absences to the instructor.
 We will follow proper military etiquette and courtesy at all times. I expect the same standards of appearance and conduct that your company officer expects.
 Do not bring food or drink into the Oceanography Department classrooms
(exception – you may bring non-disposable bottles of water, etc for drinking). It is imperative that we keep our spaces clean and neat.
 If you bring a cell phone to class, please make sure it is turned off. Please refrain from unauthorized use during class time, including playing games, sending
email, or texting.
 Plagiarism is the unauthorized use of other’s work and passing it off as your own.
It can be overt or unintentional, but regardless, it is still unacceptable. Follow all
USNA and Oceanography Department guidelines regarding proper paraphrasing and appropriate citation. The reference librarians, other Oceanography faculty, and I stand by to help should you have any questions. All suspected plagiarism will be reported immediately to the chain of command.
2. Extra Instruction (E.I.):
E.I. is available upon request; please do not hesitate to ask for assistance. I am generally in my office from 0830 to 1730, with the exception of my scheduled class periods, meetings, and lunch hours. For an appointment, see me or send me an email.
3. Absenteeism:
The attendance policy is established by the Academic Dean. In most cases, missing classes is not in your best interest. If you must miss a class, notify me in advance. Course notes are available online. Talk with another student to see what was specifically covered. Missed handouts, if not on the course web site, may be obtained by contacting me.

4. Materials and Class Preparation:
All material for this course will be available at http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/barrett/SO470C.htm
5. Assignments
Your capstone paper and presentation are the primary products of this course, so you will undoubtedly be spending a significant amount of time in the library or using library products. As a mechanism to familiarize you with scientific literature, we will have two sessions with the Oceanography Reference Librarian. In addition, each of you will select a key scientific research paper that is essential for your capstone topic and prepare an oral presentation to the class as well as a bulletized summary on one of the main components of a paper: Abstract, Background, Methodology, Results, Graphics, or
Summary and Conclusion. The purpose of this presentation is for you to learn how to break down a paper into its fundamental components, using a published paper as a model, then analyze how well (or poorly) the author(s) constructed this component.
Each of you will bring copies (for the class) of the abstract (including title and author information) as well as the component of the paper you will be presenting to the class. Each of you will have 15 min. to present your analysis for to the class. The intent is to help you and the class understand what is an effective (and ineffective) writing style for each component of a paper and to expose each of you to a variety of technical writing styles as presented in the scientific literature.
In addition to writing your capstone paper, all will be giving three oral presentations: the initial paper described above, a presentation of a COMET module on some topic relevant to weather forecasting, and your presentation of your capstone paper. The presentations should be done in a professional manner – as if you are giving it to your CO. The intent is to inform not entertain. That is not to say that they should not be interesting, but most importantly they should be presented professionally.
The presentations will be graded according to the grade sheets provided.
Minimum specified criteria are considered average (C) work. Visual aids are considered an essential part of any professional presentation. It is strongly recommended that you make overheads (PowerPoint or similar) of relevant diagrams (i.e., figures from the articles themselves). Hand drawings on the blackboard or passing around a copy of a book are not effective or professional ways of communicating technical information.

Your presentation grade will be penalized without quality visual aids. The more you research and prepare your presentation, the better you will become in presenting your ideas to others and the better your grade. This will pay handsome benefits in your future career.
The grade in your capstone project itself will depend on the extent to which you undertake your own data analysis using software tools (MATLAB, Excel) that you have learned while an Oceanography major. To earn a high grade on the project, you should critically analyze, in context of the peer-reviewed literature, results of a data analysis that you undertake. This analysis (data, methodology, results, discussion in context of other studies) should form a significant portion of your final paper.
Due Dates - The following are due dates for the respective times to be handed into me for approval and grading. Each day late in handing in each item will lower your overall project grade by 10% on a scale of a possible 100% for the project.
ITEM DUE DATE
First week of class (1) Topic signups
(2) Analyses of paper components
(3) First draft of capstone
(4) COMET module presentations
(5) Final capstone paper
(6) Capstone presentations
Weeks 4-6
Monday of Week 8
Weeks 8-10
Wednesday 09 April (Week 13)
Weeks 13-16

These dates are given at the beginning of the semester to give you plenty of lead time to adequately research your topic. Attempting to obtain the references, to prepare your papers, presentations, or visual aids at the last minute is poor planning, and is not an acceptable excuse for a late assignment.