Lessons learned teaching during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Incorporating change for future large science courses

Due to the COVID‐19 pandemic we were confronted with the transition of a large, on‐campus introductory soil science course into an online setting. This created several challenges, such as providing meaningful learning experiences to engage first‐ and second‐year students, and restructuring course content for the online environment. The objective of our article is to document the transition from on‐campus to online teaching and learning, through the consolidation of existing course material and the development of new resources to engage students in an introductory soil science course. We compare on‐campus, distance education, and online blended teaching and learning approaches for the same course, and provide lessons learned that may be applicable to other large introductory science courses. Our experience included the use of virtual laboratories, traditional online course materials, synchronous and asynchronous discussions, and the use of question banks for online exams. Recognizing the narrow preparation window, we focused on developing resources that provide benefits beyond COVID‐19. Core Ideas A simplified, easy‐to‐follow online course structure (e.g., weekly) was developed. Labs were redesigned for a virtual format with a focus on concepts, not procedures. Synchronous and asynchronous instruction was blended, including discussions. We limited the creation of new online resources based on their post pandemic utility.