TY - JOUR
T1 - Promoting Learning by Inquiry Among Undergraduates in Soil Sciences: Scaffolding From Project-based Courses to Student-Staff Research Grants by the National Research Agency in Oman
AU - Al-Ismaily, Said
AU - Kacimov, Anvar
AU - Al-Maktoumi, Ali
PY - 2016/4/1
Y1 - 2016/4/1
N2 - Three strategies in a soil science undergraduate programme with
inquiry-based learning (IBL) principles at Sultan Qaboos University,
Oman, are presented. The first strategy scaffolds courses into three
phases: with direct instructional guidance, structured IBL, and finally,
guided to open IBL. The second strategy involves extra-curricular
activities of undergraduates, viz. conducting workshops on soils for
pupils in grades 7-9 with their teachers. The third strategy promotes
the teaching-research nexus through collaboration between the
undergraduates and faculty within a student-supporting,
government-funded programme through 1-year long research grants of up to
5,500 US/project. The efficiency of the strategies was evaluated by
students' evaluations of courses and instructors and questionnaire-based
surveys. Statistics of students' responses in teaching evaluations of
IBL courses showed a significantly higher level of satisfaction compared
with regular courses taught in the department and college. In surveys of
other constituencies of the program, viz. the secondary schools, more
than 90% of respondents "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that they had
learned new information/secrets about soils. The indicators of success
in the third strategy are: winning a highly competitive grant and,
moreover, earning an even more competitive annual national award for the
best executed research project. The two top graduates of the IBL soil
programme progressed into the MSc programme with the university and
national scholarships. Key words: inquiry based learning, soil science
undergraduate program, scaffold of courses, outreach activities,
teaching-research nexus, evaluation of program's efficiency
AB - Three strategies in a soil science undergraduate programme with
inquiry-based learning (IBL) principles at Sultan Qaboos University,
Oman, are presented. The first strategy scaffolds courses into three
phases: with direct instructional guidance, structured IBL, and finally,
guided to open IBL. The second strategy involves extra-curricular
activities of undergraduates, viz. conducting workshops on soils for
pupils in grades 7-9 with their teachers. The third strategy promotes
the teaching-research nexus through collaboration between the
undergraduates and faculty within a student-supporting,
government-funded programme through 1-year long research grants of up to
5,500 US/project. The efficiency of the strategies was evaluated by
students' evaluations of courses and instructors and questionnaire-based
surveys. Statistics of students' responses in teaching evaluations of
IBL courses showed a significantly higher level of satisfaction compared
with regular courses taught in the department and college. In surveys of
other constituencies of the program, viz. the secondary schools, more
than 90% of respondents "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that they had
learned new information/secrets about soils. The indicators of success
in the third strategy are: winning a highly competitive grant and,
moreover, earning an even more competitive annual national award for the
best executed research project. The two top graduates of the IBL soil
programme progressed into the MSc programme with the university and
national scholarships. Key words: inquiry based learning, soil science
undergraduate program, scaffold of courses, outreach activities,
teaching-research nexus, evaluation of program's efficiency
M3 - Article
VL - 18
JO - EGU General Assembly 2016, held 17-22 April, 2016 in Vienna Austria
JF - EGU General Assembly 2016, held 17-22 April, 2016 in Vienna Austria
ER -