TY - JOUR
T1 - Teaching soil science
T2 - The impact of laboratory and field components on the knowledge and attitude toward soil
AU - Neaman, Alexander
AU - Stange, Christian
AU - Zabel, Sarah
AU - Minkina, Tatiana M.
AU - Yáñez, Carolina
AU - Burnham, Elliot
AU - Otto, Siegmar
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Revista Brasileira de Ciencia do Solo. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The concept of attitude toward soil is emerging, with a slim choice of scales available to collect hard data. There is also a dearth of standard scales to acquire precise data on students’ knowledge of soil. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were: (1) to devise appropriate scales to quantify theoretical soil knowledge and attitude toward soil, and (2) to quantify the effect of laboratory studies and fieldwork on students’ theoretical soil knowledge and attitude toward soil. The study is based on data collected from undergraduate students of the introductory soil science course. Participating students were randomly divided into two groups. Teaching of the control group (n = 38) was classroom-based, while teaching of the intervention group (n = 43) was complemented with laboratory studies and fieldwork. Our test design included a pre-test and post-test. It appears that theoretical soil knowledge and students’ attitude toward soil can be improved using classroom-based education alone, without any need for laboratory or field components. However, future studies would be needed to develop questionnaires covering hands-on soil knowledge to better gauge the impact of lab work and field classes on student learning. The present study is an important step to elaborate reliable scales suitable for quantifying students’ knowledge and attitude toward the soil. It is impossible to test academic assumptions or create theoretical foundations for soil science education without a reliable device to weigh analytical concepts.
AB - The concept of attitude toward soil is emerging, with a slim choice of scales available to collect hard data. There is also a dearth of standard scales to acquire precise data on students’ knowledge of soil. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were: (1) to devise appropriate scales to quantify theoretical soil knowledge and attitude toward soil, and (2) to quantify the effect of laboratory studies and fieldwork on students’ theoretical soil knowledge and attitude toward soil. The study is based on data collected from undergraduate students of the introductory soil science course. Participating students were randomly divided into two groups. Teaching of the control group (n = 38) was classroom-based, while teaching of the intervention group (n = 43) was complemented with laboratory studies and fieldwork. Our test design included a pre-test and post-test. It appears that theoretical soil knowledge and students’ attitude toward soil can be improved using classroom-based education alone, without any need for laboratory or field components. However, future studies would be needed to develop questionnaires covering hands-on soil knowledge to better gauge the impact of lab work and field classes on student learning. The present study is an important step to elaborate reliable scales suitable for quantifying students’ knowledge and attitude toward the soil. It is impossible to test academic assumptions or create theoretical foundations for soil science education without a reliable device to weigh analytical concepts.
KW - environmental attitude
KW - quantitative analysis
KW - scales
KW - soil education
KW - soil knowledge
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140487958&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.36783/18069657rbcs20210040
DO - 10.36783/18069657rbcs20210040
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85140487958
VL - 45
JO - Revista Brasileira de Ciencia do Solo
JF - Revista Brasileira de Ciencia do Solo
SN - 0100-0683
M1 - e0210040
ER -