This textbook is intended to support courses that bridge the divide between mathematics typically encountered in U.S. high school curricula and the practical problems that natural resource students might engage with in their disciplinary coursework and professional internships.
Material Type: Textbook
"Perspectives of Aquatic Toxicology" is a Wikibook created in Aquatic Toxicology course (A ECL 444/544X / TOX 444/544X) taught by Dr Boris Jovanovic at Iowa State University in Spring 2019. This course adopted open pedagogy practices that included the integration of a renewable assignment whereby students contributed to the creation of this Wikibook. The topics covered in this edition (2019) include: Aquatic Toxicity Tests, Bio-transformations of Xenobiotics, and Micro-plastic Pollution in the Aquatic Environment. Future students taking the Aquatic Toxicology course will contribute to this collective work and help increase the coverage of the topics related to the interaction between anthropogenic chemicals and aquatic ecosystems.
Material Type: Textbook
The Soils Laboratory Manual, K-State Edition is designed for students in undergraduate, introductory soil science courses, and highlights the many aspects of soil science, including: soil genesis and classification, soil physical properties, soil-water interaction, soil biology, soil chemistry, and soil fertility. The lab manual includes 15 different laboratories, each one starting with an introduction and pre-lab assignment, followed by in-lab activities, and complimented by post-lab assignment. In-lab activities involve field trips, experiments, observation stations, or problem sets. Post-lab assignments include online quizzes, problem sets, or laboratory summary reports.
Material Type: Textbook
This textbook provides an introduction to plant genetics and biotechnology for the advancement of agriculture. A clear and structured introduction to the topic for learners new to the field of genetics, the book includes: an introduction to the life cycle of the cell, DNA and how it relates to genes and chromosomes, DNA analysis, recombinant DNA, biotechnology, and transmission genetics.
Material Type: Textbook
The Plant Breeding E-Learning in Africa (PBEA) e-modules were originally developed as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Contract No. 24576. Building on Iowa State University’s expertise with online plant breeding education, the PBEA e-modules were developed for use in curricula to train African students in the management of crop breeding programs for public, local, and international organizations. The authors of this textbook series adapted and built upon the PBEA modules to develop a series of textbooks covering individual topic areas. It is our hope that this project will facilitate wider dissemination and reuse of the PBEA modules’ content. Crop Genetics provides an introduction to the genetic concepts of reproductive systems, recombination, mutation, segregation and linkage analysis, inbreeding, quantitative inheritance, fertility regulation, population genetics and polyploidy.
Material Type: Textbook, Unit of Study
This book focuses on genomics and plant biotechnology approaches used in plant breeding, the analysis of genomic data, and their application in quality control measures. The application of alternative genomic technologies to enhance conventional breeding strategies is also presented.
Material Type: Textbook
Why do affluent, liberal, and design-rich cities like Minneapolis have some of the biggest racial disparities in the country? How can designers help to create more equitable communities? Introduction to Design Equity, an open access book for students and professionals, maps design processes and products against equity research to highlight the pitfalls and potentials of design as a tool for building social justice.
Material Type: Full Course, Textbook
This OER course is for the beginning level of both architecture and interior design students who learn computer graphic communication software. The author developed multiple tutorials to teach three computer graphic applications, AutoCAD, Revit, and Enscape. AutoCAD is an essential computer drafting software which is 2D drawing software. Revit is a Building Information Modeling software, which is 3D based modeling software. Lastly, Enscape is a real-time rendering, animation, and virtual reality plug-in for users' 4D experiences.
Material Type: Assessment, Full Course, Lecture Notes, Reading, Textbook
Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of Art. Authored by four USG faculty members with advance degrees in the arts, this textbooks offers up-to-date original scholarship. It includes over 400 high-quality images illustrating the history of art, its technical applications, and its many uses. Combining the best elements of both a traditional textbook and a reader, it introduces such issues in art as its meaning and purpose; its meaning and purpose; its structure, material, and form; and its diverse effects on our lives. Its digital nature allows students to follow links to applicable sources and videos, expanding the students’ educational experiences beyond the textbook. Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning provides a new and free alternative to traditional textbooks, making it an invaluable resource in our modern age of technology and advancement.
Material Type: Textbook
smARThistory.org is a free multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional and static art history textbook.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture, Lecture Notes, Reading, Textbook
American English Sounds is a web resource that allows English as a Second Language (ESL) students to practice perceiving and producing the sounds of American English in order to improve their pronunciation.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
The materials in this project are specifically designed for a third-year Spanish Writing course, offering guidance to instructors on how to develop each of the four modules that constitute the course: Description, narration, argumentation, and exposition. For each of the modules, a variety of resources are presented, including peer review training sessions, classroom activities, handouts to guide students’ writing processes, and peer review guidelines. These resources follow the methodology of writing through workshops (“Talleres”) and may be used in support of the current course materials (i.e., textbook “Taller de Escritores”). The OER resources are also helpful for students, because they provide clear guidance on how to write and peer review each of the essays, and they further specify the assessment rubrics according to the curricular contents of the of the Spanish Writing course.
Material Type: Assessment, Homework/Assignment, Lesson, Reading, Student Guide, Unit of Study
The Korean Activity Book 1 is designed to provide various useful materials for practicing Korean. This book is ideal for learners at the Novice Low to Novice High levels who want to practice writing and pronouncing hangeul, communicate in Korean by creating sentences using basic grammar and vocabulary, and understand and create simple conversations that are useful in everyday conversations. The Korean Activity Book 1 is not a textbook, so it does not include lengthy explanations on grammar or vocabulary. However, it includes a lot of resources of natural conversations and useful vocabularies that are commonly used in contemporary Korean. It also includes useful tips to clarify confusing structures and words & expressions to novice level learners.
Material Type: Textbook
Iowa State University's Languages and Cultures for the Professions (LCP) program allows students to pursue a professional track degree—in the College of Business, the College of Agriculture, or the College of Engineering—while at the same time pursuing a second major in their chosen language in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (within the Department of World Languages and Cultures). But, it’s not just a language that students enrolled in this program are learning. LCP students are gaining the skills to be successful cultural entrepreneurs; they are not only able to communicate in a second language, but they become culturally competent and develop the skills to succeed in multicultural and multilingual professional settings. In this video, LCP graduates and current students share what it means to them to be culturally competent global professionals.
Material Type: Case Study
Iowa State University's Languages and Cultures for the Professions (LCP) program allows students to pursue a professional track degree—in the College of Business, the College of Agriculture, or the College of Engineering—while at the same time pursuing a second major in their chosen language in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (within the Department of World Languages and Cultures). But, it’s not just a language that students enrolled in this program are learning. LCP students are gaining the skills to be successful cultural entrepreneurs; they are not only able to communicate in a second language, but they become culturally competent and develop the skills to succeed in multicultural and multilingual professional settings. In this video, LCP graduates and students discuss experiences that helped them to feel confident in multilingual professional settings.
Material Type: Case Study
Iowa State University's Languages and Cultures for the Professions (LCP) program allows students to pursue a professional track degree—in the College of Business, the College of Agriculture, or the College of Engineering—while at the same time pursuing a second major in their chosen language in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (within the Department of World Languages and Cultures). But, it’s not just a language that students enrolled in this program are learning. LCP students are gaining the skills to be successful cultural entrepreneurs; they are not only able to communicate in a second language, but they become culturally competent and develop the skills to succeed in multicultural and multilingual professional settings. In this video, global professionals share about their current positions and workplace culture.
Material Type: Case Study
Welcome to Oral Communication for Non-native Speakers of English! This digital book is meant to serve an instructional tool for both learners and teachers in the field of pronunciation. Topics covered include vowel and consonant sounds, word stress, thought groups, prominence, and intonation. The book has been constructed to be either a self-paced instructional tool for learners or a classroom material for speaking or pronunciation courses.
Material Type: Textbook
Salón de clase, Intermediate Spanish for Education Professionals is a comprehensive intermediate Spanish open access textbook with reading, listening, speaking, and writing practice for students who have an interest and/or intend to pursue a career in the field of Education (teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists, social workers, support staff members, paraprofessionals, among others). This Open Education Resource (OER) aims to explore the role of Spanish language and Spanish speakers in the American education system, as well as to improve student communicative abilities in Spanish. Salón de clase integrates interactive activities (h5p), video interviews with Spanish speakers to present authentic materials, and topics related to education. Grammar is not presented as a standalone topic, but it is seemly integrated into all parts of this book. For more details go to: https://salondeclase.sites.uiowa.edu/
Material Type: Textbook
This is an online Swahili course for beginners that is proficient-based built to improve listening, speaking, writing and reading skills. This course uses authentic video that helps to understand the culture of Swahili speaking countries in Eastern Africa. Students will acquire basic skills for beginning level of studying Swahili as a foreign language such as greeting, shopping, transportation, food, and family. You will have an opportunity to listen and practice speaking the language at your own pace. You may need to follow up with and instructor near you for any help. The course DOES NOT count toward any college credits but enable students and teachers of Swahili as a foreign language to use it as additional material to what they are learning in their classrooms.
Material Type: Full Course
The Beginning Korean 1 textbook is designed for elementary Korean learners to practice and learn how to communicate in Korean. It provides basic grammar, vocabulary, and discourse information that are essential to beginning level students.
Material Type: Textbook
