A National Soil Science Curriculum in Response to the Needs of Students, Academic Staff, Industry, and the Wider Community
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A national soil science curriculum in response to the needs of students, academic staff, industry, and the wider community Final Report 2012 The University of Sydney (lead) The University of Adelaide The University of Melbourne The University of Queensland The University of Western Australia Project team Alex McBratney (Project Leader) Damien Field (Education Leader) Tony Koppi (Project Manager) Lorna Jarrett (Research Assistant) Lyn Abbott Cameron Grant Peter Kopittke Neal Menzies Tony Weatherley Report authors Damien Field, Tony Koppi, Lorna Jarrett, Alex McBratney, Lyn Abbott, Cameron Grant, Peter Kopittke, Neal Menzies and Tony Weatherley contact author: [email protected] Acknowledgments Support for the production of this report has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. Creative Commons notice for documents With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and where otherwise noted, all material presented in this document is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/). The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website (accessible using the links provided) as is the full legal code for the CC BY 3.0 AU licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/legalcode). Requests and inquiries concerning these rights should be addressed to: Office for Learning and Teaching Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education GPO Box 9880, Location code N255EL10 Sydney NSW 2001 <[email protected]> 2012 ISBN 978 1 921916 66 3 (PDF) ISBN 978 1 921916 67 0 (Print) A national soil science curriculum 2 Contents Executive Summary and Recommendations ................................................... 4 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 6 Intended deliverables and actual achievements .................................................... 6 Stakeholders ......................................................................................................... 7 Surveys ................................................................................................................. 8 Forums .................................................................................................................. 8 Curriculum and teaching considerations ................................................................ 8 Methods ........................................................................................................... 9 Overall project approach ....................................................................................... 9 Survey methods .................................................................................................. 11 Forums ................................................................................................................ 12 World Congress of Soil Science (Brisbane, 1–6 August 2010) ............................ 12 Soil science teaching principles ........................................................................... 12 Outcomes ...................................................................................................... 13 Overall outcomes ................................................................................................ 13 Establishment of a Soil Science Community of Practice ...................................... 13 Soil Science Teaching Principles ......................................................................... 14 Student perspectives on the soil science curriculum ............................................ 15 Employer perspectives on the soil science curriculum ......................................... 17 Graduate perspectives on the soil science curriculum ......................................... 20 Main concerns from students, employers and graduates ..................................... 22 Joint units of study and guidelines for online learning of soil science ................... 24 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 25 References .................................................................................................... 27 Appendix 1: Soil science students’ perceptions of learning and teaching ...... 29 Appendix 2: Soil science graduates’ perceptions of learning and teaching .... 43 Appendix 3: Soil Science employers’ perceptions of learning and teaching .. 59 Appendix 4: Participants ................................................................................ 77 Appendix 5: Evaluation report.........................................................................78 A national soil science curriculum 3 Executive Summary and Recommendations This two-year project was intended to start a discussion about soil science higher education at the national level with all relevant stakeholders. The long-term aim was to involve all institutions that teach soil science, and for the project consortium to do the initial groundwork. This consortium (comprising The Universities of Adelaide, Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney (lead institution) and Western Australia) represents five states and the issues and challenges facing soil science higher education across a diverse educational and geographic landscape. Stakeholders (academia, students, industry, graduates and professional bodies) were consulted through surveys and forums to develop a national approach to a curriculum that will produce work-ready graduates with the interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and capabilities relevant to the needs of Australia. A national curriculum is here defined as: a curriculum that includes stakeholder considerations and is applicable at any higher education institution teaching soil science. This is an inclusive approach that aspires to synthesise the broad range of perspectives internal and external to academia. The surveys of current students, employers and graduates concerned with soil science were the primary means of academia receiving feedback on the curriculum. Forums including students and representatives from the professional bodies (Australian Society of Soil Science Incorporated, and the accrediting body Certified Professional Soil Scientist) were held to discuss the survey findings and responsive actions required. It was recognised that the soil science teaching context was strongly influenced by local staff expertise and local environmental factors, and that students had limited opportunity to engage with the circumstances elsewhere in Australia. As far as possible in the short timeframe, an intention was to develop joint units of study whereby the students could participate in investigating soil science issues away from their own location. Realistically this endeavour requires a long-term approach and the engagement of a wider range of institutions teaching soil science. Highlights of the project There were outcomes from the project that were intended and some that were unexpected. A major highlight was discovering the strength of the soil science community of practice and the willingness of all stakeholders to participate in the project to benefit soil science education and to continue with post-project activities. This includes expressions of interest from universities not originally involved with the project. Notable highlights are: • Strength of the soil science community of practice • Development and publication of the Soil Science Teaching Principles • The utilisation of sequential action-learning cycles to develop the outcomes • Forums that were effective, engaging and learning experiences for all stakeholders • Willingness of forum participants to engage in reflective practices • Participation of external learning and teaching experts from other disciplines A national soil science curriculum 4 • Highly successful introduction of soil science higher education as a symposium at the World Congress of Soil Science • Publication of outcomes at conferences and in journals • Contribution to professional body practices, such as the Australian Society of Soil Science Inc. (ASSSI), International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), and accrediting bodies such as Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPSS) Recommendations The recommendations given here are synthesised from the input of all stakeholders through surveys and forums. These recommendations also draw on the Soil Science Teaching Principles (Field et al., 2011) which were created during the project. Recommendation 1: Utilise the soil science teaching principles developed during the project because they reflect the views of all stakeholders. Recommendation 2: The contribution of professionals in industry represents an opportunity for further demonstrating soil science relevance, practical application, and provision of real-life scenarios to enable problem-based learning. Recommendation 3: Ensure engagement with activities that address the core body of knowledge required by industry and the application of scientific rigour to analytical techniques and meaningful interpretation of results. Recommendation 4: Involve industry through a variety of appropriate methods, including placement of students, guest lectures, mentoring, suggestions and support for projects, and curriculum advice. Recommendation 5: Utilise