Search Results (7)

Earth science education can be enriched by adding technological knowledge to enable monitoring human earth impacts by using soil science as an example. Modern sensing technologies and a mobile mapping platform can enhance an existing field laboratory exercise to expand students’ knowledge beyond the core subject matter. This multi-year study’s objectives were to enrich laboratory exercise content on soil compaction using a soil penetration resistance (PR) tester (penetrometer) with the concepts of direct (soil PR) and proximal remote sensing (cellphone photos of the sample area), and crowdsourcing of field data using a GPS-enabled mobile phone application in an introductory soil science course at Clemson University, South Carolina (SC), United States of America (USA). Students from multiple Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines (forestry, wildlife biology, and environmental and natural resources) participated in the study. They completed a set of reusable learning objects (RLOs) in the following sequence: pre-testing questionnaire, laboratory video, quiz, and post-testing questionnaire. Students had increased familiarity with the concepts from this exercise, as demonstrated by the post-assessment survey. The quiz, which was taken by 113 students online, had an average total correct score of 9 out of a possible 10. A post-assessment survey indicated that the laboratory exercise was an effective way to learn about field soil PR data, direct and proximal remote sensing, and crowdsourcing with a GPS-enabled cellphone application. Results from the two study years (2022 and 2024) were consistent, indicating validity and confidence in the findings. Full article

Responsive infant feeding is a key strategy for childhood obesity prevention. Responsive feeding involves caregivers responding to infant hunger and satiety cues in a timely and developmentally appropriate manner. There is a dearth of evidence-based information and guidance for caregivers on how to responsively feed their infants. The aim of this research is to co-design a Reusable Learning Object (RLO) and guidance infographic to improve caregiver awareness, understanding and use of responsive infant feeding behaviours. The Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour (COM-B) model of behaviour change and the Aim, Storyboarding, Populate specification, Implement media, Review and release prototype, and Evaluate (ASPIRE) approach for digital intervention co-design will be utilised. Four co-design workshops with caregivers of infants and healthcare professionals (HCPs) will determine priority RLO content. Content analysis will enable RLO development and process reporting. Formative and summative surveys will be conducted to evaluate the usability of the RLO, its impact on caregivers and its potential implementation into NHS care pathways. The output will be a RLO on responsive feeding for caregivers and an infographic for HCPs/support workers which will contribute to a future obesity prevention intervention. The findings will be disseminated to stakeholders and submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Full article

Interest in a subject matter is a powerful motivation in education. Prior knowledge of students’ interests can be helpful in teaching the concept of ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (ED), which is increasingly being used in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, including soil science. Study objectives were to evaluate prior students’ soil science-related interests and use them to expand the learning context of a laboratory exercise on soil reaction (pH) with ES/ED in an online introductory soil science course (FNR 2040: Soil Information Systems) taught at Clemson University. Students from multiple fields of study (environmental and natural resources, forestry, and wildlife biology) completed the laboratory exercise in Fall 2021. This exercise on soil regulating and provisioning ES/ED included a sequence of reusable learning objects (RLOs), which are self-contained online modules frequently used for e-learning. Laboratory activities included calculating the liming replacement cost of soil inorganic carbon (SIC) and avoided social cost of carbon (SC-CO₂) from soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stocks in the assigned soil. The laboratory exercise was effective in increasing the familiarity with the concept of ES/ED (+39.4 increase in “extremely familiar” category) and the concept of SIC (+44.7 increase in “moderately familiar” category). The graded online quiz consisted of 9 questions and was taken by 55 students with an average score of 7.0 (out of 9). A post-assessment survey found that the laboratory was an effective way to learn about soil pH, SIC, and their ES/ED. Detailed student comments showed learning enjoyment (e.g., calculations, good experience), the value of multimedia (e.g., video, PowerPoint), the learning flexibility (e.g., separate parts), content applicability (e.g., economic values of services), and constructive criticism (e.g., clearer instructions, lots of information). A word cloud based on comments by the students about their soil ES laboratory exercise experience indicated the most common words submitted by students to describe their experience, such as “soil”, “calculations”, “enjoyed”, “learning”, and “values”, among others. Applied recommendations are proposed to develop future exercises based on the alignment of students’ interests, STEM subject matter, and ES/ED applications. Full article

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has increased in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions. This means there is a growing need to integrate UAV training into STEM education. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a UAV education module and laboratory exercise for natural resource science students. The study used a series of reusable learning objects (RLOs) to assess students’ prior knowledge of remote sensing and UAVs. Students were taught the steps of UAV data acquisition and processing through lectures and UAV simulation videos. Students applied this knowledge by completing a laboratory exercise that used previously collected UAV data. Student knowledge retention and understanding were evaluated using an online quiz to determine the effectiveness of the education module. The average quiz score was 92%, indicating that the UAV laboratory exercise effectively taught students about UAV data acquisition and processing for natural resource research. Overall, students expressed positive opinions about the UAV education module. Student feedback indicated that the laboratory exercise was engaging, but some students would have preferred a hands-on experience for some parts of the exercise. However, in-person UAV instruction may not be accessible for all educators because of UAV cost or lack of instructor training. This study provides educators with crucial recommendations for designing UAV exercises to improve access to UAV-related educational content. This study indicates that online training can effectively introduce students to UAVs. Given the wide range of UAV uses across STEM fields, students in many STEM disciplines would benefit from UAV education. Full article

Crowdsourcing is an important tool for collecting spatio-temporal data, which has various applications in education. The objectives of this study were to develop and test a laboratory exercise on soil erosion by water and field data crowdsourcing in an online introductory soil science course (FNR 2040: Soil Information Systems) at Clemson University. Students from different STEM disciplines (wildlife biology, forestry, and environmental and natural resources) participated in the study in the fall of 2021. They completed a sequence of self-contained digital teaching modules or reusable learning objects (RLOs), which are often used in online learning. The exercise included a field exercise and learning module to teach students about different types of water-based soil erosion as well as field data collection and crowdsourcing tools. As a result of this exercise, student familiarity with crowdsourcing was effectively increased, as shown by the post-assessment survey with a +31.2% increase in the “moderately familiar” category and a +28.3% increase in the “extremely familiar” category. The online quiz contained ten questions and was taken by 56 students with an average score of 9.5 (out of 10). A post-assessment survey found that most of the students indicated that the laboratory was an effective learning experience about field data crowdsourcing using a GPS-enabled cellphone application. Detailed students’ comments indicated enjoyment of learning (e.g., data collection, learning about different technologies), the value of multimedia (e.g., ArcGIS Survey123, cellphone), the flexibility of learning (e.g., field work), the content applicability (e.g., actual field examples of erosion by water), and criticism (e.g., technical issues). A word cloud derived from students’ comments about their laboratory exercise experience indicated the most frequent words used by students, such as “erosion”, “enjoyed”, and “different”, among others. Incorporating a learning module and field exercise using modern data collection technology into an undergraduate soil science education course enabled students to understand the value and methods for leveraging cellphone-based field collection methods to crowdsource data for environmental assessment. Practical recommendations for planning and executing future crowdsourcing exercises were developed using the current study as an example. Full article

The framework of ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (ED) has increasingly been used in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, including soil science. The objectives of this study were to use ES/ED concepts to extend and test an existing lecture and laboratory exercise on soil organic carbon (SOC) in an online introductory soil science course (FNR 2040: Soil Information Systems) taught to Clemson University students from various STEM disciplines (forestry, wildlife biology, and environmental and natural resources) in Fall 2020. The laboratory exercise was extended with a series of reusable learning objects (RLOs), which are self-contained digital modules commonly utilized in e-learning. The laboratory exercise consisted of identifying ES and calculating the avoided social cost of carbon (SC-CO₂) from soil organic carbon stocks in the assigned soil’s topsoil horizon. The laboratory exercise effectively increased student familiarity with ES/ED as indicated by the post-assessment survey with a +24.4% increase in the moderately familiar category and a +36.1% increase in the extremely familiar category. The graded online quiz consisted of ten questions and was taken by 51 students with an average score of 8.7 (out of 10). A post-assessment survey indicated that most of the students found that the laboratory was an effective way to learn about ES/ED with examples from soil science. Detailed students’ comments indicated enjoyment of learning (e.g., calculations, applying new knowledge), the value of multimedia (e.g., PowerPoint, video), the flexibility of learning (e.g., different parts in the laboratory), the applicability of content (e.g., real-world examples), and criticism (e.g., tedious calculations). A word cloud based on students’ comments about their experience with the laboratory exercise on soil ES indicated the most common words used by students to describe their experience, such as “soil services”, “learning”, “enjoyed”, and “ecosystems”, among others. Incorporating ES/ED into an undergraduate STEM course enabled students to connect ES/ED provided by soil with the societal systems reliant on the soil resources. Full article

Modern technological advances and trends require new pedagogy and delivery of mapping materials to prepare the future workforce in the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for an increasingly technology-dominated society. The purpose of this study was to develop an Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Story Map “Soil Forming Factors: Climate” for multiple STEM disciplines based on the design guidelines from the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML). The study incorporated a two-group post-test only design that utilized multiple methods of analysis, including a quality assessment of the ESRI Story Map using the five principles of effective storytelling, direct quantitative measures of learning (quiz), and surveys of participants’ perceptions (PowerPoint presentation versus ESRI Story Map) using Qualtrics^TM. Survey results were summarized by gender, academic classification (year), and academic major program. The newly developed ESRI Story Map was an effective teaching tool as demonstrated by quiz scores and students’ positive responses. Post-testing scores indicated that ESRI Story Maps were an effective way to learn and were viewed as effective as traditional teaching methods (e.g., PowerPoint). Additionally, students reported feeling comfortable using ESRI Story Maps. These positive responses were consistent by gender, major, and academic classification (year). This research indicates that adding audio may improve the use of this ESRI Story Map for educational concept delivery. Empirical studies such as this that include multifaceted quantitative and qualitative assessments are critical to understanding the benefits of new types of multimedia learning in an educational setting. Full article