24 Jul 2026
| 24 Jul 2026
Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for SOIL (SOIL).
Teaching soil as a system: interactivity, place, plural knowledge, and AI
Abstract.
Reasoning about soil as a coupled system is a central aim of graduate training in soil science. Soil science is now often taught within broader degrees, without the specialists who once made systems teaching natural. Curriculum compression and lacking interactivity have kept systems reasoning out of many programmes. Large language models, now accessible to students, have made that absence harder to ignore. Here, we set out the design principles for an undergraduate soil science unit built around four requirements: interactivity, place, plural knowledge, and AI discernment. Interactive models, repeated landscape comparisons, Indigenous and Two-Way knowledge, and AI interrogation operationalise these requirements. Assessment, designed from intended outcomes, integrates them into one capability: place-specific reasoning from evidence. We provide a worked example that other soil science programmes can adapt.
Competing interests: At least one of the (co-)authors is a member of the editorial board of SOIL.
Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this paper. While Copernicus Publications makes every effort to include appropriate place names, the final responsibility lies with the authors. Views expressed in the text are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
