Distance education in soil science: Reaching the nontraditional student

The Open University of the Netherlands provides academic programs for open distance education. The courses that make up the programs are developed for adult students who are not able to attend courses at regular universities. A description is given of a soil science course offered by the Department of Natural Sciences. The course consists of printed material, allowing study to take place at home, and makes use of interactive learning materials. The central theme of the course is the variety of function of soils, within the perspective of environmental issues in the Netherlands. To enable the students to develop, in a distance-learning mode, the problem-solving skills needed in environmental soil research, an interactive video program forms an integral part of the course. It provides opportunities to the students to acquire and to analyze information from a number of sources, including soil-process models and Geographical Information Systems (GIS).