Soils Laboratory Manual - K-State Edition

Reviewed by Douglas Kowalewski, Associate Professor / Faculty Fellow for Research, Worcester State University on 6/2/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Intro to soil science can be taught in numerous ways but the breadth in the lab manual should be appreciated by students and instructors. First chapters (Safety training and Chemistry /Math review) sets a foundation and relays expectations faculty have for students enrolled in the class; laying a foundation addresses a common issue faculty face and I appreciate the text allows the place and space to provide this important framework.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not find issues here but I wasn’t familiar with “0” and “-“ being used as links to other parts of the ebook (see page 75 first sentence “In 0 we developed…”). I appreciate the links however (I just wasn't sure where I was going to be linked to!)

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Methods described are up to date. Most labs are geared towards a Kansas study site but customization to other geographic regions should be possible without much effort. Authors may want to avoid “understanding” in the SROs and substitute a more assessable verb.

Clarity rating: 5

Text is clear and terminology is well defined.

Consistency rating: 5

Definitely! This is due to a well-organized lab manual as each lab includes Objectives, Materials, Readings, Prelab Assignment and Introduction.

Modularity rating: 5

As a lab manual the text is obviously easily dividable. Minor point, it would have been easier to browse if the authors included a header / footer listing the lab number and name.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Well organized (see consistency) but I it might be helpful if labs list the multiple activities on the first lab sheet allowing the students a roadmap of what will be accomplished that week. It would also be helpful for all necessary materials to be listed in an appendix so instructors can view resources necessary for adopting the lab manual.

Interface rating: 4

Header and footer would be appreciated. Soil textbooks tend to look antiquated and this no different. In such a descriptive science it would have been helpful to have more images (granted this is a lab manual versus a text book). It may be beneficial to number or label each equation for easy reference.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No issues here.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No issues here.

Comments

Glad to see the OER lab manual lists recommended readings that are also OER.

Reviewed by Wjdan Sahi, Associate Professor, Western Michigan University on 4/29/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This textbook covered some soil lab tests which are useful for Geological and Environmental Sciences students. This text clearly explained the strategy of the course with the objectives and the materials of the soil tests with a focus on Kansas state. However, this course's strategy can be used for any other place with updating for some materials such as online quizzes. This textbook will be a comprehensive text if it includes other soil tests such as the direct shear test of soil, unconfined compression test, triaxial tests in clay, consolidation test, plastic limit test, shrinkage limit test...etc which are useful for Geotechnical and Civil engineering students.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

No errors were noticed; however, the citation and the accessed date for some references in the references list mentioned in 2019 and 2020, while the textbook published in 2017.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

It is relevant to Geotechnical Engineering, and Geological and Environmental Sciences. The Content of the textbook was up-to-date and organized in a way that can be quickly updated.

Clarity rating: 4

The clarity of the textbook was good and the attached references in clickable links were helpful. However, the equations were not numbered, chemical compounds were not defined, and the sections in attached long references, that the reader needs to read, were not specified. Also, the picture of the apparatus for each test was not provided, symbols of some parameters were not mentioned, and an introduction of the textbook’s objective was not provided.

Consistency rating: 4

The textbook was consistent; however, the font of the conversion factors and formulas in page 135 was different than the font of the whole textbook. Furthermore, the last two pages in the textbook were not numbered.

Modularity rating: 5

The textbook was easy to read and follow.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics in the textbook were presented in a logical and clear style.

Interface rating: 4

Some figures were not clear with an unreadable font. The cover image of the textbook was not fully related to the title of the textbook. However, the textbook was easy to navigate in the browser and as a pdf.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors were detected in the textbook.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No cultural issues were noticed in the textbook.

Comments

No further comments.