Wednesday, July 25, 2001

An Online Course Trains Students and Professionals in Nutrient Management By BROCK READ Title: "Water and Nutrient Management Planning for the Nursery and Greenhouse Industry" Institution: University of Maryland at College Park Instructors: John Lea-Cox, a professor of nursery research; David Ross, a professor of agricultural engineering; and Marc Teffeau, a regional extension specialist Course content: Students learn to plan plant-feeding regimens for nurseries and greenhouses, focusing on four particularly important factors in plant nutrition: soil, irrigation, fertilization, and management of surface water. The course also aims to train students in problem solving and risk assessment. "What we're really doing is taking the content and translating it into a critical-thinking process," says Mr. Lea-Cox. Target audience: Undergraduates, greenhouse and nursery professionals, and agricultural consultants all enroll. How delivered: The course balances online training with on-site work at greenhouses. Taking advantage of the diverse student body, the instructors form three-person teams consisting of an undergraduate, an agricultural consultant, and a greenhouse professional. The teams use online projects and discussion forums to piece together nutrient-management plans that are put into practice at the professionals' greenhouses. Students also complete individual assignments and quizzes on reading material that is available on the course's Web site. The course has a brick-and-mortar aspect as well: Students meet for four or five half-day sessions over the course of the 16-week class. Course requirements: Individual assignments and quizzes test students' mastery of course content, while team assignments focus on problem solving. Participation in online discussion forums is required. When offered: Spring and fall semesters Enrollment: On average, 20 to 30 students per semester Unusual features: The professors -- working with Ellen Varley, the distance-education coordinator for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland at College Park -- built the course from scratch in response to a 1998 Maryland law mandating that farmers write nutrient-management plans for their farms. Mr. Lea-Cox and his colleagues designed the course online because they doubted that nursery and greenhouse professionals would have the time to commute to the university for frequent classes. Every student in the class signs a copyright-release form, allowing the instructors to use particularly innovative management plans as teaching tools in future semesters. Instructor comment: Specific and vocational as the course might sound, Mr. Lea-Cox insists that it's aggressively interdisciplinary. "That's the strength of this course," he says. "If you're doing a team-based project, there's all sorts of roles and responsibilities that each team member can bring to the table." He also offers some advice to distance-education upstarts: "Don't underestimate the amount of development time. Don't be afraid of trying something new." U.R.L.: http://www.courses.umd.edu/public/HORT400/index.html Know of an especially interesting online course? Tell us about it in an e-mail message. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Chinese scholars with U.S. ties get prison sentences of 10 years each House committee passes anti-cloning bill opposed by many research groups Report proposes classification system for two-year colleges Ohio U. dormitory contractor is accused of using children as laborers Top jobs in college sports still go largely to white men, study finds 2 former professors look to technology to bolster scholarly presses' history offerings An online course trains students and professionals in nutrient management