Faculty Showcase: Social Sciences
Learn how faculty are adopting free and open etextbooks in their courses. The faculty describe the etextbook they are using, the course they are teaching – sharing their syllabus and teaching strategies, and how they have adopted and integrated the free and open etextbook into their course. Many faculty describe their students' responses to using the etextbook as well.
Vera Kennedy from West Hills Community College, CA
eTextbook: Introduction to Sociology by OpenStax College
Course Description:
Soc 1 is an introduction to the sociological concepts and theoretical perspectives of sociology and their application to the fundamental problems of social life. The course includes an overview of sociological explanations, methods, and findings in social structure, group dynamics, socialization, social stratification culture, social change, and global dynamics.
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"The major motivation in adopting this textbook was to save students money, without sacrificing the quality of the content. I was impressed by OpenStax, and I thought I could work with it because the quality was equivalent to published textbooks. We had to get the approval from the curriculum committee, as we all have to use the same book. We can also use the supplements, if desired."
Anne Marenco from College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, CA
eTextbook: Sociology Online Text
Course Description:
Examines small group interactions and cultural patterns of American and other societies using the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological principles and applications to explain how values, roles, norms, social interaction, and social inequality as well as other concepts influence individuals, groups, and society.
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"Adopting the open textbook has not created any challenges other than finding the time to revise the book every two years."
Eric Strayer from Hartnell Community College, Salinas, CA
eTextbook: Introduction to Sociology by OpenStax College
Course Description:
A general introduction to the study of socialinteraction and the organization of modernsociety. Topics include culture; social structure; socialization; deviance and crime; class, ethnicity, and gender; social institutions; collective behavior and social movements; and demography and urbanization.
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"Most of my students are low-income and work full or part-time and I would like to see them put their bucks into a laptop or tablet and have every teacher find them online free or inexpensive books. "
Heather Wylie from Shasta College, CA
eTextbook: Introduction to Sociology by OpenStax College
Course Description:
This course examines the basics of sociology--the study of society. Sociology examines the interactions among social institutions, cultures, groups, and individuals. This course will focus on how unequal power relations organize the social world and shape individual lives, and how individuals negotiate their lives in different social and economic contexts. The course will examine a broad array of topics using a variety of theoretical perspectives and sociological research methods. The primary goal of this course is to recognize how people's experiences are shaped by social forces and reshaped through human action. This course may be offered in a distance learning format.
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"Given the high level of students living at or below the poverty line and first generation college students, I felt it was very important to increase student access to course materials. I found OpenStax through personal research into OER materials that met the needs of my courses."
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