Soil science education in university students of different careers: a case study of an Ecuadorian university

Abstract

Nowadays the learning of Soil Science is a topic of upmost im- portance in the academic environment of Latin America. This study was carried out in the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja at southern Ecuador. The fo- cus of this research was to assess the academic performance of students of an introductory course of Soil Science from different university careers. The as- sessment of the academic performance was based on a written test and an aca- demic online work plus the participation in a forum. The used score scale to evaluate the course had a base of 40 points, and 28 points was the minimum to approve the course. The results showed that irrespectively of the academic ca- reer, it is possible to get a positive impact in students since most of them ap- proved the course, which demonstrate that the learning of the basic knowledge to understand the importance and sustainable management of soils could be a topic of holistic interest in the academy independently of professions.