Integrating Lecture and Lab Activities in Introductory Soils.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Introductory Soil Science class serves as both a fundamental course for our Environmental Earth and Soil Science degree as well as a service and general ed course for our college and university. As a result, over 600 students enroll in the course each year, and we typically offer around 10 lecture sections of about 70 students each, with roughly 30 smaller lab sections annually. Due to workload and scheduling constraints, the lab and lecture sections are commonly taught by multiple instructors, and lab and lecture contents are not always neatly connected. In an effort to improve the delivery of this critical course, the soils faculty have developed a “studio format” concept in which lecture and lab time are integrated, with discussion topics transitioning directly into connected laboratory activities. A pilot section of the course in this studio format is being offered in Fall of 2017, and efforts have been made to document student learning and satisfaction under this new approach as compared to the traditional method.