The evaluation of a drinking water and human health course developed to broaden soil science offerings and enrollment

Abstract

Enrollment in soil science courses at land grant universities in the United States has been stagnant or declining for the last 20 years and this trend is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a newly developed course in drinking water and human health (DWHH) that was designed to widen soil science course offerings and attract students from other areas of natural resource sciences at the University of Idaho (UI). The DWHH course was first offered in 2004. Total enrollment in this class was initially 32 students; however, enrollment has grown significantly over the 20-year period to 72 students in spring 2023. The average enrollment of the 14 times this course was taught was 41.5 students. Because student demand was high, the course changed from an alternate year class (2004–2014) to an annual class in 2016. The course was only taught live on the Moscow campus until 2014. When the course was transformed into an online class, its enrollment became dominated by place-based students. Most students taking the class in the last 5 years have been off campus graduate students enrolled in non-thesis Master of Science degree programs. Course evaluations indicated that students that have taken this class are more satisfied with the course content, course materials, course organization, and the work requirement than the average course taught on campus at UI. This course has been popular and will continue to be an important course offering.