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CPD Teaching

Come Rain or Shine: Teacher CPD Wins Award

We are delighted that our online weather and climate teacher CPD course “Come Rain or Shine” has received the EMS Outreach & Communication Award 2018.

FutureLearn is a leading Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform delivering online learning to participants around the world, free of charge. Running a course on this platform has been a key way for us to engage new and harder-to-reach audiences than could otherwise be reached, and to be able to develop course content that is interactive and engaging. The only cost to participants is associated with extending access to the course materials beyond the initial, free, 5 week period.

The Royal Meteorological Society partnered with the University of Reading to develop a three week course entitled ‘Come Rain or Shine’ which focusses on the processes and phenomena which govern UK weather. The content of the course was developed with the needs of UK secondary geography teachers in mind, however the course was open and very much of interest to all.

An online course to reach secondary geography teachers was needed because:

  • Changes to the National Curriculum and exam specifications in the last couple of years have increased the requirement for the teaching of weather and climate in schools.
  • The knowledge, skills and confidence of current UK geography teachers to teach weather and climate is currently very low, following decades of little weather and climate teaching in schools and
  • The model of teacher training is moving from Universities to individual schools, making
    knowledge update days with trainee teachers increasingly difficult to deliver.

The course ran twice in 2016, three times in 2017 and will run three times in 2018, requiring participants to spend around 3 hours per week studying the dynamic materials. These materials consist of a mix of written articles, videos, fieldwork activities and other practical exercises written by Dr. Sylvia Knight, Head of Education at the Royal Meteorological Society and Dr. Pete Inness, a lecturer at the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading. Registered participants benefit from peer-to-peer support. In addition, during the three week periods, additional support is available from expert mentors from the University and the Society given through integrated discussion areas at each step of the course.
Participant numbers have been high: in June 2016 over 9000 people registered for the course, in October 2016 over 4000 registered and through 2017 over 10,000 registered.

Learning Outcomes for Participants:

  • Describe the weather features associated with depressions, anticyclones and the four main air masses which affect the UK.
  • Interpret a synoptic or weather chart, to provide details about wind speed and direction, precipitation and cloud cover.
  • Describe some of the physical processes which give rise to weather, such as convection, condensation, pressure gradients and the Coriolis force.
  • Investigate local weather conditions using readily available instruments.
  • Explain some of the processes which transfer energy through the Earth system, including the transient effects of volcanoes and changes in the Earth’s orbit, and how these processes relate to the Earth’s climate.
  • Apply their understanding of mid-latitude weather systems to the analysis of weather data and images.
Categories
CPD

Free Online Weather CPD for teachers

rain or shine courseWe are delighted to announce that the 10th run of our free, online weather subject knowledge course for geography teachers (and anyone else with an interest in the weather), Come Rain or Shine, will start again on 7th October 2019 and will remain open for 15 weeks. The first 3 weeks are supported by mentors – so if you have any questions they will be seen and answered. However, access to the course is free for 5 weeks from whenever you start it – plenty of time to download all the resources. The course will take roughly 9 hours in total to complete.

Learning Objectives of the course:

  • Describe the weather features associated with depressions, anticyclones and the four main air masses which affect the UK.
  • Interpret a synoptic chart (also known as a weather chart) to provide details about wind speed and direction, precipitation and cloud cover.
  • Describe some of the physical processes which give rise to weather, such as convection, condensation, pressure gradients and the Coriolis force.
  • Investigate local weather conditions using readily available instruments.
  • Explain some of the processes which transfer energy through the Earth system, including the transient effects of volcanoes and changes in the Earth’s orbit, and how these processes relate to the Earth’s climate.
  • Apply your understanding of mid-latitude weather systems to the analysis of weather data and images.
Categories
CPD Teaching

Free Weather CPD

rain or shine courseOur award winning, online weather and climate CPD course for secondary geography teachers, Come Rain or Shine, is starting its 9th run on the FutureLearn platform on the 10th of June.The course is also suitable for older students to take.

It will run for 15 weeks. During the 1st 3 weeks (until 30th June), expert mentors will be on hand to answer questions and respond to comments.

Access is free for 5 weeks from whenever you start the course.

The learning objectives for the course are:

  • Describe the weather features associated with depressions, anticyclones and the four main air masses which affect the UK.
  • Interpret a synoptic or weather chart, to provide details about wind speed and direction, precipitation and cloud cover.
  • Describe some of the physical processes which give rise to weather, such as convection, condensation, pressure gradients and the Coriolis force.
  • Investigate local weather conditions using readily available instruments.
  • Explain some of the processes which transfer energy through the Earth system, including the transient effects of volcanoes and changes in the Earth’s orbit, and how these processes relate to the Earth’s climate.
  • Apply an understanding of mid-latitude weather systems to the analysis of weather data and images.
Categories
Blog CPD Teaching

Weather and Climate CPD

The next run of our free, online weather and climate CPD course designed specficially for secondary geography teachers and A level students, Come Rain or Shine, starts again on 2nd October. From 2-22nd October there will be experts on hand to answer any questions or help you if you get stuck.

The course focuses on UK weather (depressions, air masses, anticyclones) through a mix of videos, text, practical exercises and fieldwork, and also explores the wider global picture. It takes about 3 hours per week over 3 weeks.

Due to changes in the FutureLearn platform, participants only get free access to the resources for a few weeks. We therefore suggest that you only register yourself or your students for the course on the day you want to start accessing the materials.

Categories
CPD Schools Teaching

MetMark launched – recognising excellent weather teaching




The Royal Meteorological Society and Met Office are delighted to announce this new award to recognise excellence in weather teaching.

More details are available about who can apply and how to apply here.

Categories
CPD Teaching

Top 10 ideas for weather teaching

Find our favourite ideas for teaching weather at all levels here.