Doing this for Credit

Enrollment in the University of Oklahoma's Information Technology Skills for Meteorology, either METR 5330 (the graduate version) or METR 4330 (the undergraduate version), requires special permission from the instructor Prof. Brian Fiedler. Send him email at bfiedler@ou.edu with a request for the number of credit hours desired (1 to 3), your Sooner ID number, and a brief summary of your experience with computers and programming. If your request is approved, Prof. Fiedler can turn on the option for you to enroll in the online enrollment system.

  1. Both of these course are now letter graded (not S/U).

  2. Your instructor and primary source of tech support is Prof. Brian Fiedler bfiedler@ou.edu. Tech support is not quite 24 x 7, but just about whenever you can get my attention. I hope to be checking my e-mail often.

  3. There are no lectures.
  4. There are no quizzes or tests, only tasks and projects.
  5. Projects and tasks will be submitted for assessment (and a grade) by sharing it securely with the instructor with a password-protected directory at your web site.

  6. The tutorials here are for general use. The tasks are embedded inside. Seach for the {*} icon.

  7. Requirements for an A grade in 1 credit hour is the satisfactory completion of 4 tasks, one of which must be building a basic web site with a password protected directory.
  8. Requirements for an A grade in 2 credit hours is the satisfactory completion of 6 tasks, one of which must be building a basic web site with a password protected directory.
  9. Requirements for an A grade in 3 credit hours is the satisfactory completion of 7 tasks, one of which must be building a web site with a password protected directory. A term project is required in addition to the 7 tasks.
  10. Collaboration with classmates is not discouraged. You may learn and "copy" from others, and extend what others have done. BUT give acknowledgment to the work of others. For example: "This program originated from Joe Student with his permission. Modifications for relativistic effects in tornadoes were included by me."
  11. My experience in previous years has been that, for most students, the term project follows quite naturally from something that student has become interested in. It does not necessarily involve more labor than completing an assigned task. However, it does require a bit more creativity. You might not have an idea for a term project until you are several months into this course. Your plan for a term project should be approved by me before you proceed with it. I advise you to keep cool about the term project; many student become too anxious about it.
  12. Many students, especially undergraduates, take an incomplete grade in this course. That is fine with me, there is no penalty for finishing late.

  13. You will need to get an account on Gentry, gentry.metr.ou.edu, which is hosted by the School of Meteorology, but primarily administered by me, Brian Fiedler. E-mail bfiedler@ou.edu to get an account. Suggest a preferred login, which should probably be the same as your other SoM accounts (i.e., first_initial+lastname). I will send you a password, probably to the OU e-mail address in the official enrollment database. Please change the password within 24 hours.

  14. If you need an account to log onto all other SoM computers, please grab an account request form at the SoM Computing Corner. But you do not need accounts on computers other than Gentry to complete this course.