One of the things I often try to do as an instructional designer is to get consulting experts to share stories about difficult forecasts they've had to make, ones that they might have failed at. I agree with Anna's earlier posting, and I think these kinds of stories can be some of the best learning experiences for novices, but also for fellow experienced forecasters, and even for the person telling the story of the failure.
I have to say I haven't been all that successful at getting these stories included in COMET modules, because there is limited space, and also because the stories end up being turned into "case studies," a more academic, scientific, and less human form of the story. Perhaps this is because we are reluctant to talk about our failures, even though this is how we all know we learn, by failing and reflecting about why.
Because Discussion Forums are a less formal venue for discussion, could we use discussion forums for getting forecasters to share their worst nightmare forecast experiences with a little more honesty than they might in a case study? I believe this probably happens to some degree in residences courses when forecasters go out for beer together, but can we make this happen in distance learning courses? Maybe one could include a forum for every course: "Share your worst experience in fog forecasting," or "Share when NWP fooled you into making a bad forecast," something like that.
I think this is a good idea, Pat.
Once a thread is established I suspect readers who are forecasters would identify with aspects of the stories and might want to contribute. It could also broaden to forecast successes where people spotted something that was critical to making a good forecast.
Cheers,
Chris