An open annotated bibliography for soil and water conservation: A case study

Abstract

The rising cost of textbooks is a barrier to higher education for many students. Open textbooks are one potential solution, though few open textbooks exist for agriculture and natural science disciplines. Here, I present a case study examining my selection of assigned reading material for a college course on soil and water conservation. Potential options included three commercial textbooks or using an assortment of alternative reading assignments in place of a traditional textbook. I chose to use alternative reading assignments, which include extension publications, government reports, and other similar and free resources available online. This led to the creation of an open annotated bibliography, Soil and Water Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography. An overview of the annotated bibliography development, content, and classroom use is presented. Soil and Water Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography serves as a resource for students and practitioners of soil and water conservation, and as an example of an alternative approach for developing open textbooks that enhance natural sciences education.

Soil science education: A multinational look at current perspectives

“…The high cost of textbooks is a hindrance to students. There are few open-source textbooks available for soil science (Moorberg, 2020), but recent additions include Moorberg (2019) and Krzic et al (2021), which address soil and water conservation and introductory soil science from a Canadian perspective, respectively. There are also open access Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education resources, such as Clark (2007) and Magdoff and van Es (2021) that have been used as textbooks for soil science classes by some faculty, at least in the United States.…”

“…The high cost of textbooks is a hindrance to students. There are few open‐source textbooks available for soil science (Moorberg, 2020), but recent additions include Moorberg (2019) and Krzic et al. (2021), which address soil and water conservation and introductory soil science from a Canadian perspective, respectively.…”

“…There are also open access Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education resources, such as Clark (2007) and Magdoff and van Es (2021) that have been used as textbooks for soil science classes by some faculty, at least in the United States. The motivation behind the development of open access textbooks often includes the desire to provide students access to important resources in a way that does not disadvantage students who are unable to afford traditional textbooks (Moorberg, 2020). In addition to formal textbooks, soil science education has experienced a massive increase in blogs and internet sites related to soil.…”

“…In addition to formal textbooks, soil science education has experienced a massive increase in blogs and internet sites related to soil. These can also be used as resources if they are of high quality (Margenot et al., 2016; Moorberg, 2020).…”

Introduction to Enhancing Natural Sciences Education in Postsecondary Settings

“…A group of articles in this special section focus on the experiential learning and enhancement of student engagement. Topics of those articles range from real‐world case studies (Krzic, Brown, & Bomke, 2020; Moorberg, 2020) to incorporation of field work (Jelinski, Perrone, Blair, & Fabian, 2020; Lekies, 2020) and development of drawing and field journals (Merkle, Barber, & Carling, 2020). Other examples of enhancing natural science education include development of innovative assignments and exercises (Brevik, 2020; Culbert, 2020; Howe & Barrientos‐Velazquez, 2020).…”