This project developed a new textbook to support AGRON 1820: Introduction to Soil Science. The open textbook was developed to serve as a complete resource, with visualizations and videos that meet the needs of students entering the Agronomy program at Iowa State. In addition to developing this textbook, the project also included outreach to other Iowa community colleges that transfer introductory soil science into Iowa State.
By developing this OER, Anderson ensured that students would continue to have access to their course content after they completed AGRON 1820, and allowed non-traditional audiences access to some of the materials, like high school instructors for soil judging or practicing professionals in the field who wanted to review material for professional exams.
Since its development, the Introduction to Soil Science lab manual has been widely adopted, including not just Iowa institutions, but also larger universities across and outside of the United States.
Citation: Anderson, A. (2023). Introduction to Soil Science. Iowa State University Digital Press. https://doi.org/10.31274/isudp.2022.123
Note: Since this mini-grant was completed, the author has completed a second edition of this textbook, available at https://doi.org/10.31274/isudp.2025.201