Making It Personal: Storytelling and Soil Science.

Researchers in the area of cognitive science suggest that stories are one of the main ways that humans make sense of the world around them. In science education research, storytelling has been linked to better personal connections between the instructor and students and improved transfer of scientific concepts. Given that most students receive relatively little exposure to the field of soil science - despite the ubiquity of soil in their daily lives - storytelling presents a powerful tool for engaging students in this field of study and showing them how it connects to more familiar scientific and social disciplines of study. This presentation will describe some of the theories of storytelling in education and share specific examples of how it can be applied to soil science education.