STORYTELLING IN THE METEOROLOGY CLASSROOM

The current explosion of scientific information available to science e ducators puts increasing pressure on conventional educational approach es. One educational technique that (a) facilitates the communication o f essential knowledge, (b) is supported by cognitive science theory, a nd (c) is easily implemented in the atmospheric science classroom is t he reformulating of lectures into stories. ''Storytelling'' here is un derstood to describe the oral or written communication of a ''connecte d narrative of important events.'' Stories differ from other pedagogic al approaches, such as the traditional fact-laden lecture, through the network of multiple linkages between different characters, events, an d facts in a story. Facts in a lecture may simply follow one after ano ther; events in a story, by contrast, must follow from previous facts and the logic in the story itself. An account is given of the lead aut hor's use of storytelling in an atmospheric dynamics course at the Uni versity of Wisconsin-Madison. In the 2-hour-per-week laboratory, the c ourse material was cast in the form of stories-stories that framed the basic knowledge, conveyed key concepts, and related key topics to one another. Stories were delivered orally in class and through an inform al laboratory workbook. The rationale for this approach, the stories t old, and the students' reactions are described. An example of storytel ling in a global climate change course is also provided to illustrate the usefulness of storytelling in a wide range of meteorology courses.