Your thoughts on conceptual models - Session Forum

Bryan Guarente of COMET is busy posting conceptual models that he's developed for his modules, so check them out!

Hello All,

I am mainly the user (not creator) of conc. models (CMs). I'd like to thank all of you who added CMs material on padlet. It is so useful and evident explanation of  atmospheric physical parameters using animation.

Will this http://padlet.com/mullerb/conceptstories be left for longer time or we need to save addresses of theese different CMs?

We have in Lithuania a few special cases which have been observed close to the Baltic sea. It happens during the spring or autumn when big difference in temperature between the water and approaching air mass appears and 1)we have prolonged fog in spring ( all Lithuania is in sunny warm air except of narrow cold foggy seashore). 2)very heavy rain or even dangerous snow only in the same coast region , meanwhile the rest part of Lithuania is glad about good air conditions.Looks like comma on satellite image 3)dangerous freezing rain on the big lagoon coast when cold and strong eastern wind blows from the water for long time-then the eastern part of trees, houses etc. are under thick ice cover.

Unfortunatelly, our Service is too small and doesn't have a research devision and nobody could precisely analize these events and make scientific conclusions...So this training helps us a lot to know more from collegues.Thanks!

Tsvet, I wonder if there is a possibility to save your animation?

Izolda

Hi, all,

I added couple of conceptual model schematics  into your wonderful Padlet ..First set is from SATMANU project I worked in a few years ago. Another set is is from our southern hemispheric project we had last year. Argentina and Australia colleagues may wish to add some nice schematics from that source, too...

Hi all,

I posted a few more conceptual models to the wall.  A quick reminder that you can re-use COMET's graphics and animations in your training efforts.  We only ask that you do not use them for commercial purposes and keep the COMET credit on the graphics.

Cheers,

Tsvet

Hi all,

I just posted a timely conceptual model about Lake Effect Snow to the padlet. NY is getting hammered right now with multiple feet of snow due to this effect. I placed it in the convective section. 

I guess that during my stay at COMET I was involved in the development of more than 100 different illustrations and animations of conceptual models. I can't imagine teaching meteorology without them. We often dismiss learning objectives that begin "Understand the processes...", but in reality, this is the beginning of any good forecast decision making, so developing understanding at the level of being able to describe or draw a conceptual model is critical. And not at all easy, or deserving of begin low in the "Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives". People need more to be able to do the job, but understanding is a critical start.

I started by looking for conceptual models about marine wave processes, and found a lot of clever animations and some stills also, but nearly all of them required some prerequisite knowledge--like the simple fact that waves slow down in shallower water, which also required some mathematics to explain, at least to some degree. Conceptual models can be really complex, and it often takes several depictions, presented in a well designed sequence, to really get across a complex concept or physical principle. (Particularly for a 4D model)

One additional thing worth sharing in this excellent CALMet session--mental models are a more general category than conceptual models, and they also include behavioural scripts (or just "scripts"), which are models for how to behave in certain situations or in the presence of certain phenomena. This is another type of mental model that forecasters need to learn--when they see signatures of an underlying conceptual model, what actions should they take? What data do they analyze, in what sequence, using which tools, to help them make forecast decisions? How rapidly do they need to act? Where do they focus their attention?

Patrick

Hi all,

what a pool of resources there....

it's great to learn about conceptual model from the forum and the padlet as well.

thank you..

cheers,

Tya

Hello again! We're nearing the end of week 3 of the Conceptual Models session, and I want to thank all of you who participated and posted CMs to the Padlet. We've compiled a nice list that covers many areas in meteorology.

I've converted the entries to a spreadsheet that's accessible from the Moodle site.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you use them. You can also send more entries (description and URL) or ideas for CMs that you would like to see developed. We'll keep the list here at COMET and hopefully find ways to produce them in future projects.

It's a pleasure to be part of such a great community!
Marianne Weingroff