Online Ocean Studies: an undergraduate distance-learning course utilizing ocean and coastal observing systems

Online Ocean Studies is a distance-learning introductory college-level course on the basic understandings of oceanography developed by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This semester-length course explores the ocean in the Earth system via investigations keyed to near real-time environmental data derived from ocean and coastal observing systems. Online Ocean Studies emphasizes the flow and transformations of water and energy into and out of the ocean, physical and chemical properties of seawater, ocean circulation, marine life and its adaptations, interactions between the ocean and other components of the Earth system, and the human/societal impacts on and response to those interactions. Online Ocean Studies is a turnkey package (Webpage, customized textbook, investigations manual, and secure faculty Webpage) licensed from AMS and adaptable to both traditional lecture/laboratory and totally online local instruction. The investigations manual consists of the first half of twice-weekly inquiry-based learning activities. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, AMS staff scientists in Washington, DC write the second half of the investigations to near real-time data and post these investigations to the course homepage. The AMS piloted Online Ocean Studies during spring 2005 with eleven participating colleges and universities nationwide. Feedback from faculty and students at the pilot-test institutions was the basis for revising the learning materials during summer 2005 in preparation for national implementation of the course in fall 2005