Teaching Atmospheric Dynamics at the
Education–Research Interface
Daniel Keyser and Alicia M. Bentley
Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222
Kyle MacRitchie
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
State University of New York College at Oneonta, Oneonta, NY 13820
23rd Symposium on Education
Tuesday 4 February 2014
Overview
• Personal history
• Effective teaching practices
• Example of teaching in class: Thermal wind
• Example of teaching out of class: Sawyer–Eliassen equation
• Example of a research-worthy topic: Gradient wind
• Concluding remarks
Personal history
• B.S. (’75), M.S. (’77), Ph.D. (’81) from Penn State.
• As a graduate student, I filled in for faculty when they were
out of town, and taught Meteo 430 (Introductory Synoptic
Meteorology Laboratory) in fall ’80 as instructor of record
when the assigned professor resigned on short notice.
• I realized that I had a lot to learn and some growing up to do.
Personal history
• After graduating from Penn State, I went to NASA/Goddard
to work in the Severe Storms Branch of the Laboratory for
Atmospheres as a research meteorologist. I gave little
thought to teaching, but was encouraged to consider doing
so by two respected and influential colleagues, one senior
and one contemporary: Dick Reed and Kerry Emanuel.
• At NASA/Goddard, I enjoyed working one-on-one with two
postdocs I was assigned to supervise, Michael Reeder and
Joe Zehnder.
Personal history
• When a faculty position in synoptic-dynamic meteorology
opened up at the University at Albany in late 1986, I applied
and became a member of the-then Department of
Atmospheric Science the following year.
• I then had ample opportunity to learn how to teach and
advise students through the time-tested method of trial
and error.
• I have been learning ever since.
Personal history
• At the University at Albany, I have taught lower-division
undergraduate courses in introductory atmospheric science,
upper-division undergraduate courses in atmospheric
thermodynamics and dynamics, and graduate courses in
synoptic-dynamic meteorology, the structure and dynamics
of extratropical cyclones, and mesoscale dynamics.
Effective teaching practices
Selected comments from student evaluations of
Atm 320 (Atmospheric Thermodynamics)
taught in spring ’13:
“Great Job overall really helpful outside of class.”
“Appreciated the use of previous materials such as a SKEW-T in lecture
and explanations. Very receptive to student ideas and always willing to
learn as much as teach. Inspires students to challenge and derive
solutions themselves.”
“Extremely helpful outside of class....made sure students actually learned
the material”
Effective teaching practices
Selected comments from student evaluations of
Atm 320 (Atmospheric Thermodynamics)
taught in spring ’13:
“This was a very good course to take for a couple of reasons. The material
was what it was, I mean, I personally didn't think that it was exceptionally
interesting, but there were definately some topics that provided me with
those "AHA!!" moments. The professor really made the difference. He was
very concerned with how we did in the course, regardless of our grades on
the exams. While he was going over the material, he made sure that we
understood what was going on and why, and to do so, he got us involved
by asking questions. I liked his style of teaching, and after exams, he made
sure that he met with us to discuss anything that we did wrong, which is
something that is pretty uncommon. He was a great professor who without
a doubt cared about his students.”
Effective teaching practices
• I believe that an important goal of atmospheric dynamics
courses is teaching students how to learn and how to solve
problems.
• I view my teaching style as traditional. I haven’t yet tried
flipping my classes and I use class time to deliver content
clearly, thoroughly, and slowly.
• I consider myself more effective teaching students one-onone and side-by-side than in class.
Effective teaching practices
“Teaching Clearly Can Be a Deceptively Simple Way to
Improve Learning,” Chronicle of Higher Education, November
22, 2013, authored by Dan Berrett:
http://chronicle.com/article/Teaching-Clearly-a/143209/
Effective teaching practices
Want to improve student learning? Start by teaching in a clearer and more
organized way.
That is the deceptively simple implication of three studies presented last
week at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher
Education.
While much of the pedagogical conversation in higher education focuses on
innovations like the flipped classroom, the findings suggest the value of
basic teaching techniques and traits.
Effective teaching practices
All of the studies draw on the Wabash National Study of Liberal
Arts Education, which followed thousands of students as they progressed
through institutions of differing types, sizes, and levels of selectivity.
Effective teaching practices
The Wabash study provides an unusually rich portrait of student learning
and dispositions. Data include demographic information, scores on a
standardized test of critical thinking, and measures of motivation and
approaches to learning.
Those measures were correlated with a survey of students' perceptions of
the clarity and organization of their professors' teaching. The survey asked
students how often they thought their instructors provided clear
explanations, used good examples to illustrate difficult points, were well
prepared for and organized in class, and had a good command of the
subject.
Effective teaching practices
“AMS Teaching Excellence Award Renamed after Eward N.
Lorenz,” The Front Page, March 21, 2013:
http://blog.ametsoc.org/uncategorized/ams-teachingexcellence-award-renamed-after-edward-n-lorenz/
Effective teaching practices
Almost five years after his passing, the AMS is honoring Edward N. Lorenz
by renaming the Teaching Excellence Award after the pioneer meteorologist.
According to Peter Lamb in his recommendation to rename the award:
Edward N. Lorenz was arguably the most accomplished research
meteorologist of the twentieth century. At MIT, his principal instructional role
was to introduce multiple generations of beginning doctoral students, many
with little or no background in meteorology, to the challenges and rigor of the
theoretical essentials of our science. Those lectures were renowned for their
consistently very high standards of preparation and presentation, just like
Professor Lorenz’s external seminars.
Example of teaching in class:
Thermal wind
• Teaching atmospheric dynamics in class works when
equations, words, and schematics tell a coherent story.
This point is illustrated with excerpts from the lecture on the
thermal wind presented in Atm 510 (Synoptic-Dynamic
Meteorology I) on 5 November 2013.
Example of teaching in class:
Thermal wind
Class No. 20: Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Thermal wind:
1) Sections 3.4 (The Thermal Wind, pp. 70–74) and 3.4.1
(Barotropic and Baroclinic Atmospheres, pp. 74–75) in Holton, 4th
ed.
2) Sections 3.4 and 3.4.1 in Holton, 4th ed. respectively correspond
to sections 3.4 (The Thermal Wind, pp. 81–84) and 3.4.1
(Barotropic and Baroclinic Atmospheres, p. 84) in Holton and
Hakim, 5th ed.
3) Section 4.3 (pp. 89–93) of Mid-Latitude Atmospheric Dynamics:
A First Course, by J. E. Martin (2006, Wiley).
Example of teaching in class:
Thermal wind
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
• Teaching atmospheric dynamics out of class works when
course topics lead to research questions that can be
addressed through class projects.
• Sawyer–Eliassen equation from Atm 631 (Mesoscale
Dynamics) taught in spring ’95.
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
Alicia Bentley’s course notes from Atm 511 (Synoptic-Dynamic
Meteorology II) taught by Ryan Torn during spring ’13.
Example of teaching out of class:
Sawyer–Eliassen equation
Alicia Bentley’s course notes from Atm 511 (Synoptic-Dynamic
Meteorology II) taught by Ryan Torn during spring ’13.
Example of research-worthy topic:
Gradient wind
• The gradient wind, which is a classic textbook topic, is a
balanced wind that accounts for curvature of parcel
trajectories and demonstrates that the actual wind speed is
slower than the geostrophic wind speed (i.e., subgeostrophic)
in troughs and faster than the geostrophic wind speed
(i.e., supergeostrophic) in ridges.
• So far so good, but the textbook derivations technically apply
to steady-state axisymmetric vortices in the case of constant
Coriolis parameter.
Example of research-worthy topic:
Gradient wind
• How should the gradient wind be calculated and interpreted
in realistic flow configurations?
• Are subgradient and supergradient wind speeds possible
and if so what is their dynamical significance?
Example of research-worthy topic:
Gradient wind
Example of research-worthy topic:
Gradient wind
1
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ABSTRACT
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The gradient wind is defined as a horizontal wind having the same direction as the
4
geostrophic wind but with a magnitude consistent with a balance of three forces:
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the pressure gradient force, the Coriolis force, and the centrifugal force arising from
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the curvature of a parcel trajectory. This definition is not sufficient to establish a
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single way of computing the gradient wind. Different results arise depending upon
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what is taken to be the parcel trajectory and its curvature. To clarify these
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distinctions, contour and natural gradient winds are defined and subdivided into
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steady and non-steady cases. Contour gradient winds are based only on the
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geostrophic streamfunction. Natural gradient winds are obtained using the actual
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wind. Even in cases for which the wind field is available along with the geostrophic
Concluding remarks
• Ingredients for effective teaching: Preparation, organization,
clarity, command of the subject, and empathy.
• Teaching atmospheric dynamics in class works when
equations, words, and schematics tell a coherent story.
• Teaching atmospheric dynamics out of class works when
course topics lead to research questions that can be
addressed through class projects.
Concluding remarks
• Not all of the concepts treated in atmospheric dynamics
textbooks represent the last word on the subject.
• Teaching atmospheric dynamics can identify viable research
questions and operate at the interface between education
and research.
• Atmospheric dynamics is not a static subject: it is dynamic.