The University of South Alabama’s meteorology program is distinguished by its emphasis on weather forecasting, preparing students for careers in operational meteorology through hands-on experiences. Traditional final exams often fail to comprehensively assess the critical thinking, decision-making, and real-time analysis skills required for weather forecasting. To address this limitation, a severe weather forecast simulation was implemented as an alternative to a final exam in an upper-level meteorology course. This non-traditional approach engaged students in analyzing meteorological data, assessing severe weather environments, and issuing risk-based forecasts under time constraints. Surveys were then administered to evaluate student perceptions, comparing the simulation’s effectiveness to traditional exams and evaluating whether students felt they learned more through the project compared to a traditional final exam.
