Comparable outcomes in studio vs. traditional delivery of an introductory soil science course

Studio‐style course delivery involves the integration of laboratory activities with lecture elements of the course, with the goal of increasing student learning and satisfaction through directly linking laboratory and lecture concepts while focusing on active learning. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of studio delivery of an introductory soil science class at California Polytechnic State University, we first redesigned the course to integrate appropriate technology and to align lectures with laboratory activities. We then offered multiple test sections of the course, including concurrent studio and traditional lecture/laboratory sections taught by the same instructor using the same materials and activities. Student learning was measured at the end of the course with exam questions, including sets with or without direct connection to laboratory activities. Student attitudes were evaluated with a survey. Few significant differences were found between studio and traditional sections, gender, grade point average, or major. Some students seemed to struggle with the extended time commitment for each meeting of the studio‐style section, but overall, results were very positive for both styles of delivery. Careful design and delivery of the course, including aligning lecture and laboratory materials and incorporating active‐learning strategies, resulted in a high degree of satisfaction with the course, with or without integration of the laboratory and lecture components.