Since its inception in 2004, VSSLR have become a nationally and internationally recognized and adopted in soil science courses and natural resource programs at various Canadian and North American universities. The web-based educational resources developed by the VSSLR group serve as the template for continual development of the more comprehensive educational packages.
The goal of Virtual Soil Science Learning Resources (VSSLR) group is to enhance soil science education through cooperation and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. The group was initiated by Dr. Maja Krzic (UBC, Vancouver) in 2004 and it has become the focal point for collaborative teaching efforts among scientists, students, and multimedia experts from 12 universities and 3 research institutions in Canada.
The VSSLR group has established an award winning record of cooperation in the development of educational material, featured at this web site. Educational tools and courses developed by the VSSLR address the following 4 topics:
- Basic soil science principles
- Soil classification
- Land-use impacts on soil quality, and
- Raising awareness about soil as an important natural resource.
We believe that there is much potential to take this collaboration to the next level of jointly offered courses and curriculum development to sustain the discipline of soil science across Canada and beyond.
Various web-based learning resources and on-line courses developed by our group are featured at this site. If you are looking for new ideas how to enhance your soil science and natural resource courses or if you are striving to gain a better understanding of basic soil processed you might find these resources useful.