Introductory soil courses: a frontier of soil science education in Canada

Abstract

As the focus of soil science education in Canada and elsewhere has shifted towards nonsoil science majors, it is important to understand if and how this has affected the scope of introductory soil science courses. The objectives of this study were to inventory Canadian postsecondary units that offer introductory soil science courses and to document attributes of instructors, students, and teaching approaches in these courses. We surveyed 58% of the instructors of introductory soil science courses across Canada, and most of these courses were offered by geography and environmental science units. The majority of instructors followed a traditional lecture (86%) and laboratory (76%) delivery format, whereas 36% used online teaching resources. Introductory courses were delivered by primarily one instructor, who held a Ph.D. in a tenure track position and in most cases developed the course themselves. Over half of the instructors surveyed used either a required or a recommended textbook, pointing to the need for creation of a Canadian-authored soil science textbook. Several follow-up studies are needed to evaluate teaching methods used in the upper level soil science courses, students' perceptions of teaching in soil science, and instructors' knowledge of resources available for online and (or) blended learning.

A Survey of Introductory Soil Science Courses and Curricula in the United States

“…There was no consistent, significant relationship detected between class size, land‐grant status, or Carnegie classification and the percentages of these teaching styles. This appears to indicate a higher percentage of diverse teaching approaches employed in the respondents of our survey than those reported in a survey of Canadian institutions, which indicated that lectures were a much more predominant form of teaching style (Krzic et al, 2018). These results appear to show that the ISS e instructors surveyed in our study tend to be highly innovative, regardless of their professional background or academic position.…”

Unexpected shift to introductory soil field activity at home: Teacher and student experience

“…Soils are also at the core of many environmental issues we face today. It is therefore vital that land managers and the general public have an understanding of the importance of soils in order to maintain or enhance global soil resources (Krzic et al, 2018). This must begin with the postsecondary curricula that adequately cover the roles of soil in the context of global issues (Bruyn et al, 2017).…”

Combining problem‐based learning and team‐based learning in a sustainable soil management course

“…These approaches aim to enhance student engagement, improve critical thinking and problem‐solving skills, and contribute to peer‐learning (Prince, Borrego, Henderson, Cutler, & Froyd, 2013; Santos, Figueiredo, & Vierira, 2019). In soil science education, however, traditional forms of instruction (lectures, labs, and field trips) remain predominant (Krzic et al., 2018; Parr, Trexler, Khkanna, & Battisti, 2007). Although the importance of active learning has been stressed (e.g., David & Bell, 2018; Valley, Wittman, Jordan, Ahmed, & Galt, 2018), widespread adoption of innovative teaching practices within agricultural, natural resource, and soil science curricula has been limited (McKim, Pauley, Velez, & Sorensen, 2017).…”

“…instruction (lectures, labs, and field trips) remain predominant (Krzic et al, 2018;Parr, Trexler, Khkanna, & Battisti, 2007). Although the importance of active learning has been stressed (e.g., David & Bell, 2018;Valley, Wittman, Jordan, Ahmed, & Galt, 2018), widespread adoption of innovative teaching practices within agricultural, natural resource, and soil science curricula has been limited (McKim, Pauley, Velez, & Sorensen, 2017).…”