Introduction to Media Studies is designed for students who have grown up in a rapidly changing global multimedia environment and want to become more literate and critical consumers and producers of media. Through an interdisciplinary comparative and historical lens, the course defines “media” broadly as including oral, print, performance, photographic, broadcast, cinematic, and digital cultural forms and practices. The course looks at the nature of mediated communication, the functions of media, the history of transformations in media and the institutions that help define media’s place in society. This year’s course will focus on issues of network culture and media convergence, addressing such subjects as Intellectual Property, peer2peer authoring, blogging, and game modification.

Set of open educational resources related to the field of Cognitive Psychology. Mostly adapted from various other OER sources.

Word Count: 88792

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Word Count: 89051

Included H5P activities: 1

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Introduction to Paleoanthropology covers the various species and subspecies that gave rise to human beings. Paleoanthropology is a subdiscipline of physical anthropology that focuses on the fossil record of humans and non-human primates.

This course explores the nature of meaning and truth, and their bearing on the use of language in communication. No knowledge of logic or linguistics is presupposed.

This book, titled "Introduction to Phonetics for Communication Sciences," has been specifically designed to cater to the undergraduate phonetics course in the field of communication sciences and disorders. Its primary goal is to enable students to grasp the intricacies of speech sounds by utilizing their knowledge of anatomy and physiology, which are directly relevant to speech production. Consequently, this book incorporates a selection of foundational information extracted from an OER anatomy and physiology textbook by Levitt, Guigneaux, and Zemlin (2021), "Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology for Communication Sciences, Edition 2.1" for review.

The purpose of this textbook is to comprehensively address the coursework requirements, allowing for the customization of learning objectives to assist aspiring Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) effectively. In response to the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, the authors took the initiative to create their first Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook on anatomy and physiology. By reducing the financial burden associated with study materials, this initiative aims to facilitate the progress of rising SLPs toward their certification without any interruptions caused by financial constraints. The authors view the development of OER materials as an ongoing endeavor driven by their commitment to supporting future colleagues in the field.

This book incorporates images, illustrations, and information from various OER that allow others to adopt or remix their information in part or whole. The information from other OER sources is color-coded in black ink, and the content developed by the authors is presented in blue ink. Citations for all images, illustrations, and information that the authors do not originate are provided on each page. The authors sincerely appreciate the work of those who have shared their valuable resources under Creative Commons (CC) license.

The authors of this textbook aspire to ignite a sense of fascination in beginning learners as they delve into the captivating realm of speech production. With this goal in mind, the authors have made this textbook readily accessible to future colleagues who seek to acquire foundational scientific knowledge that can be applied in serving individuals with communication disorders.

June S. Levitt, Ph.D., LDT, CCC-SLP
Sarah L. Guigneaux, M.S., CCC-SLP

May 2024

This course serves as an introduction to the current research questions in phonological theory. Topics include metrical and prosodic structure, features and their phonetic basis in speech, acquisition and parsing, phonological domains, morphology, and language change and reconstruction. Activities include problem solving, squibs, and data collection.

The high cost of textbooks prevents many students from succeeding. Textbook prices have gone up 3 times the rate of inflation in the past 30 years. New textbook editions are a scam. Textbooks have become a way to shift the cost of teacher salaries onto the student. The change in Jurmain's Introduction to Biological Anthropology from 2009 to 2011 was to search and replace the word “hominid” for the word “hominin”, and raise the price 20%. Many students will not buy their textbooks (Kingkade 2013), and struggle through class, reading at the library. Other students will order cheap copies online but get the wrong edition, or discounted shipping where it arrives halfway through the semester. Textbooks have become a barrier to student success.

Assigning free online textbooks is one solution. Much of the high cost of textbooks comes from color printing, but black-and-white and text-heavy books are poor options for our predominantly visual learners. Online textbooks allow for unlimited, large, color graphics. For the price of a new textbook, a student can buy a text reader (kindle, ipad, tablet, surface, etc.) or a used laptop. There may still be problems with students' access to high speed internet. The monthly fee for a cable modem service is expensive, but free WiFi is becoming more and more widely available. The new downtown San Diego library is a good example.

Unfortunately, in 2011 when I started this, there were no free online textbook available for Introduction to Physical Anthropology. Probably the closest were Dennis O'Neil's Biological Anthropology Tutorials from Palomar College, Wikipedia's Biological Anthropology and Introduction to Paleoanthropology textbooks, and Augustín Fuentes primatology class notes (no longer available), and I borrowed from these, especially O'Neil. I found most of these sources written in the style of an encyclopedia, and tried to make the textbook more approachable by including my own voice whenever possible.

Some students may lack the necessary computer skills to use an online textbook. Hopefully, the recent increases in funding for basic skills will help. Gone are the good old days whence we scribed our homework on tablets of wet clay. Students must learn computer skills to survive academically and professionally, and the printed textbook is becoming a relic of a bygone age. Information Communication and Technology Literacy is a component of most institutional goals. The more students practice current electronic research techniques, the better prepared they will be for the rest of their academic and professional life.

I previously encouraged students to use their textbook as the main source for my take-home tests, but I found that many students start with the internet as their first source of answers, and then fall-back on the textbook if the info doesn't show up immediately in a search engine. I've come to realize that this is not always bad, as they often discover more current information than the textbook. For rapidly changing issues, such as how many genes are in the human genome, how closely we are related to Neandertals, Homo naledi, or the Cerruti Mastadon eaters, the information available on sites such as Wikipedia is often more accurate than the typical textbook written three to ten years ago.

This introductory course helps students learn to pose questions and analyze problems in the field of planning in developing countries. Not arguing for one “right” approach, the course draws on grounded empirical experiences - historical and recent - to help students navigate the way they approach their future work in developing-country governments, NGOs and international organizations.

This course is intended as an introduction to the field of political economy. It is the first part of a two-part sequence in political economy, along with 14.773 Political Economy: Institutions and Development. Combined, the purpose of the two classes is to give you both a sense of the frontier research topics and a good command of the tools in the area.

This course is intended as an introduction to political philosophy as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition. Three broad themes that are central to understanding political life are focused upon: the polis experience (Plato, Aristotle), the sovereign state (Machiavelli, Hobbes), constitutional government (Locke), and democracy (Rousseau, Tocqueville). The way in which different political philosophies have given expression to various forms of political institutions and our ways of life are examined throughout the course.

Designed to meet the scope and sequence of your course, OpenStax Introduction to Political Science provides a strong foundation in global political systems, exploring how and why political realities unfold. Rich with examples of individual and national social action, this text emphasizes students’ role in the political sphere and equips them to be active and informed participants in civil society. Learn more about what this free, openly-licensed textbook has to offer you and your students.

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods, 1st edition, is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.

Authors:
- Josh Franco, Cuyamaca College
- Charlotte Lee, Berkeley City College
- Kau Vue, Fresno City College
- Dino Bozonelos, Victor Valley College
- Masa Omae, San Diego City College
- Steven Cauchon, Imperial Valley College

PDF Version ISBN: 978-1-7351980-0-2

An Introduction to Politics proposes to chart a path that is at once a little more brief, concise and in between than those textbooks currently on the market. As this class is usually taught to freshmen, there is little to be gained and much to be lost with overloading a text with too much minutiae of the ins and outs of politics. Covering too much will, in the end, be covering too little if students don’t read or give up on reading the book. Politics is a great story—the story of human existence. A successful textbook needs to tell that story.

This survey course can be used by students who are looking to take just one general overview course or by those who want to go on to more advanced study in any of the subfields that comprise the political science discipline, such as American politics, comparative politics, international politics, or political theory. The goal of this course is to introduce the student to the discipline's concepts, terminology, and methods and to explore instances of applied political science through real world examples. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Describe and evaluate the concepts of power, legitimacy, and authority; Discuss the origins and developments of the nation-state; Distinguish between traditional and behavioral approaches to the study of politics; Discuss general approaches to the study of politics, such as political philosophy, political systems theory, and political economy; Describe and discuss the political socialization process; Examine the nature of political participation from a comparative perspective; Discuss the nature of public opinion from a comparative perspective; Identify the different types of electoral systems and be able to assess the implications of those systems; Identify the role and functions of political parties; Identify the different types of party systems from a comparative perspective; Describe and evaluate the general principles of presidential and parliamentary political systems; Describe and compare the essential features of at least three governments of Western Europe; Identify and evaluate the principles of authoritarian and totalitarian governments; Discuss the concepts of political development and problems facing developing nations; Discuss and explain the origins and principles of democratic capitalism, democratic socialism, Marxist socialism, national socialism, fascism, and third world ideologies; Describe the origins, development, and principles of international law; Identify and assess the influence of major international organizations; Describe and analyze the causes of international conflict; Analyze current critical issues in international relationships. (Political Science 101)

This work has been superseded by Introduction to Statistics in the Psychological Sciences available from https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/25/.

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We are constantly bombarded by information, and finding a way to filter that information in an objective way is crucial to surviving this onslaught with your sanity intact. This is what statistics, and logic we use in it, enables us to do. Through the lens of statistics, we learn to find the signal hidden in the noise when it is there and to know when an apparent trend or pattern is really just randomness. The study of statistics involves math and relies upon calculations of numbers. But it also relies heavily on how the numbers are chosen and how the statistics are interpreted.

This work was created as part of the University of Missouri’s Affordable and Open Access Educational Resources Initiative (https://www.umsystem.edu/ums/aa/oer). The contents of this work have been adapted from the following Open Access Resources: Online Statistics Education: A Multimedia Course of Study (http://onlinestatbook.com/). Project Leader: David M. Lane, Rice University. Changes to the original works were made by Dr. Garett C. Foster in the Department of Psychological Sciences to tailor the text to fit the needs of the introductory statistics course for psychology majors at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Materials from the original sources have been combined, reorganized, and added to by the current author, and any conceptual, mathematical, or typographical errors are the responsibility of the current author.

Short Description:
This introductory psychology course covers a survey of information and theory. Topics include the brain and behavior, research methods, learning, consciousness, motivation, emotion, human growth and development, personality, abnormal behavior and psychotherapy, social cognition, and understanding.

Long Description:
This introductory psychology course covers a survey of information and theory. Topics include the brain and behavior, research methods, learning, consciousness, motivation, emotion, human growth and development, personality, abnormal behavior and psychotherapy, social cognition, and understanding.

Word Count: 321689

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Short Description:
This introductory course provides a comprehensive coverage of core concepts grounded in both classic studies and current and emerging research, including coverage of the DSM-5 in discussions of psychological disorders. A heutagogical instructional design requires that students in the course provide much of the substantive content and teaching presence. Student led discussions provide the opportunity for an engaging and personally relevant exploration of the discipline.

Long Description:
Provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of psychology and understand how those concepts apply to their lives. A comprehensive coverage of core concepts is grounded in both classic studies and current and emerging research, including coverage of the DSM-5 in discussions of psychological disorders. Incorporates discussions that reflect the diversity within the discipline, as well as the diversity of cultures and communities across the globe.

Word Count: 334014

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