Catalog

This Open Educational Resource (OER) carries a significant responsibility by presenting statistics through an equity lens. The metaphor of a lens is used intentionally–as the glasses one wears can have a profound effect on what one sees. The book encourages further inspection of the ways in which data is collected, interpreted, and analyzed on a variety of social justice issues, such as health disparities, hunger and food insecurity, homelessness, behavioral health (mental health and substance use), and incarceration of males of color. It also attempts to reveal how the misuse of data can reinforce inequities, for example, by stigmatizing people and labeling neighborhoods as high poverty, violent, and having poor educational opportunities. Whether an intended or unintended consequence, irresponsible data use can contribute to racist impressions of people and communities.

Additionally, there are thousands of students studying animal science, biology, education, economics, medicine, nursing, public health, psychology, and sociology who thought they would be free of mathematics and suddenly discover they have to take a statistics course in order to graduate.  Even students who are majoring in the most mathematical disciplines like physics, engineering and mathematics itself, somehow have an aversion to statistics.  Regardless of your race/ethnicity, income status, gender or your zip code, taking a statistics course is accompanied by feelings of anxiety, dread and even panic.  This book lessens the fear of statistics by transferring statistics knowledge to the real-world, and applying  statistical concepts and procedures to social justice data. In this way, the student is exposed to both statistics and its application to social justice scenarios.

The essence of this book is that quantitative skills are important for studying and understanding social injustices and inequalities. Its premise is that keeping compassion as a core value of data equity analysis changes our lens. The book helps us to stop seeing Statistics as abstract and inhuman but rather as a science that can help create a culture of empathy and understanding of social justice issues.  Having this perspective encourages us to develop sustainable solutions, prioritize the well-being of individuals, families, neighborhoods and whole communities, and just simply work towards a more equitable and just world.

This textbook provides students with guidelines for understanding writing tasks as intellectual work using Bloom’s Taxonomy and for treating the writing process as a set of variable activities that move along a trajectory from idea or assignment to a finished product. The book also includes chapters on strengthening reading strategies and on finding, evaluating, and using sources effectively.

Why Do I Have to Take This Course? A Guide to General Education developed out of many years of thinking about general education courses and curriculums. We, as university personnel, do not always succeed in explaining why we have certain requirements. Even though these courses make up a significant percentage of our college careers, there is not often time set aside to talk about general education and explore its purpose and goals. When we do not know the reason why we are doing something, it can sometimes lead to apathy and even resentment. Once we have an idea of the purpose, then we can start to appreciate and learn. It is worthwhile to spend some time thinking about these purposes, both “official” and personal ones, in order to maximize student learning.

This textbook helps students systematically study how general education requirements are developed, their history, post-graduation value, etc. It emphasizes exploration of the significance of individual learning outcomes, especially through the lens of John Lewis’ philosophy of “good, necessary trouble.” For instructors adopting this book, it is designed to assign in its entirety or in parts as instructors can choose to emphasize relevant learning outcomes. It is also designed for use by advisors, especially with advisees who express concerns over taking certain requirements.

• El Niño Entero es un libro de texto que ofrece una visión general del desarrollo, desde el útero de la madre hasta los ocho años. Comienza con una mirada a las perspectivas de la primera infancia, incluida la forma en que se ha visto a los niños tanto históricamente como transculturalmente. Hay una descripción completa de los teóricos importantes que han ayudado a profundizar y aportar claridad sobre cómo se desarrollan los niños. Estas teorías incluyen la teoría psicodinámica, conductual, cognitiva social, teoría cognitiva, humanista, inteligencia múltiple, mentalidad de crecimiento y la taxonomía de Bloom. Comprender las implicaciones de cada teoría es un conocimiento fundamental importante para el estudio del desarrollo. Los dominios del desarrollo en cada etapa se examinan junto con hitos importantes. Se da importancia a la biología del cerebro. En este texto también se incluyen algunos de los muchos factores que influyen en el desarrollo de un niño pequeño.
• The Whole Child is a textbook that gives an overview of development, beginning in the mother’s womb through the age of eight. It starts with a look at perspectives of early childhood, including how children have been viewed historically as well as cross-culturally. There is a complete overview of the important theorists that have helped to deepen and bring clarity to how children develop. These theories include psychodynamic, behavioral, social cognitive theory, cognitive theory, humanistic, multiple intelligence, growth mindset, and Bloom’s taxonomy. Understanding the implications of each theory is important foundational knowledge for the study of development. Developmental domains at each stage is examined alongside important milestones. The biology of the brain is given important consideration. Some of the many factors that influence a young child’s development are also included in this text.

Polyphony is a functional, creative, and radical resource for facilitating critical conversations about multilingualism, the politics of language, and linguistic justice in the first-year writing classroom. Moving away from conventional textbooks and composition handbooks, this book emphasizes open pedagogy, collaboration, and “polyphonic” approaches to first-year writing. The Reader includes key texts (written, audio, and video) that reflect diverse perspectives on themes like silencing/voicing, language extinction and reclamation, (in)visibility, translation, agency, and validation, among others. The Explorations section includes reading, writing, discussion, and research activities designed around each text in the Reader, and range from shorter in-class activities to longer plans that could span a week or two of class meetings. Designed for use by both instructors and students, this book is meant to be used in a variety of combinations and highlights multiple modes of writing, including personal narrative, textual analysis, argumentation, reflection, and research. Embracing a “polyphonic” approach to first-year writing, this book presents connections between texts, authors, and ideas that actively engage students and instructors in critical conversations about language, education, and the institutionalization of both.

Written by a former early intervention developmental therapist in consultation with EI parents, this text provides an updated and easily accessible framework for providing culturally responsive early intervention services. Each component of the updated framework is presented in its own chapter that includes an introduction to new concepts, necessary background information, recommendations for future practice, case studies and/or reflective tools, next steps, and linked resources. Written in practitioner friendly language with concepts and strategies that are immediately relevant to working with families with children with disabilities, this text is appropriate for pre- and in-service EI providers at all levels.

This book is written for anyone who could benefit from learning more about health, wellness, and fitness. Throughout the text, readers will learn about health and wellness, setting goals, physical activity and exercise, cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance, body composition, flexibility, nutrition, stress management, as well as self-care and sleep. In addition to providing important information about the above topics, the text also includes self-assessment assignments and self-reflection opportunities. These components allow readers to identify personal strengths and weaknesses, and utilize the information given in the chapter to determine any further course of action they would like to make.

Health, wellness, and fitness are important for everyone. This text, while applicable to all individuals from high level athletes, to non-athletes, was written with the aim to focus primarily on the latter and demonstrate how we can all make improvements, whether those be around physical activity, exercise, fitness, nutrition, self care, or sleep. Small changes over time can lead anyone in the direction of greater wellness. We are all dealt different hands in life, and we all have our history and our own experiences, but one thing we all have in common is that we can start now from wherever we are and make small changes to improve our health, wellness, and fitness.

Literary Studies for a Sustainable Future: An Introductory Course with Social Justice and Ecocriticism Intersections propels readers into the 21st century by providing intellectual spaces for both learners and educators within the realism of the web of life. Learners have opportunities to become virtuosos in ecocriticism and literary studies.

Inspired by Black feminist and legal theorist Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work on intersectionality, Indigenous storyteller and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko, and American biologist Rachel Carson, learners navigate traditional and innovative literary studies approaches to critique and understand ancient world mythology and Indigenous literature, folklore since Aesop’s Fables to the Arabian Nights, Sappho’s poetics and the feminist romance, and early modern satirical theater of Ben Johnson and William Shakespeare.

Teaching and learning experiences throughout the book challenge readers to approach the study of nature in texts as literary criticism known as ecocriticism. The aim of ecocriticism is to decenter typical anthropocentric interpretative tendencies. Learners are more informed in literary studies as a multifaceted academic journey into how texts represent human communities within landscapes and lifeforms.

This textbook opens with role models in the literary world to introduce innovative ecocritical interpretative approaches in Black, Chicano, and Indigenous Studies. Its introductory sections provide different literary texts and modalities like short film clips, folk songs, and poetry that are informed by key terms and inquiries on the correlations between the environment and instances of social injustices. These learning opportunities potentially unveil an intersectionality between literary studies and concerns with social justice that are important to every community, like those identified in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Following these initial sections on critical theory, the book is organized in three parts with formative and end of chapter assignments for both in-class and online instruction.

Shared Voices is a student-centered cultural anthropology mini textbook built with an equity lens.  We are excited to share this with you all. This book attempts to address the lack of current, reliable, and relevant resources for introductory anthropology courses that center equity and anti-racism.

We set out to create a culturally responsive and inclusive textbook with an anti-racist and global citizenry perspective. We center marginalized voices, stories, and community.  This text is a starting point for any introductory anthropology course recognizing that cultural change is constant and the familiar is cousin to the weird and unusual. A work in progress, this text aims to provide students an opportunity to build content as they explore the topics within.

Designed as a main textbook for social work courses at the bachelor’s and master’s level or for social work practitioners in the field, this work moves beyond a traditional medicalized and segregated approach (i.e., chapters organized around impairments) to the exploration of disability-specific populations, instead taking a more intersectional approach in discussing specific service areas and practice issues while weaving in stories about the lived experiences of disabled people with a range of social identities. These issues include parenting, mass incarceration, ableism, aging, and employment, among many others.

A key goal of this book is to introduce an intersectionality-informed and critically culturally competent approach to anti-oppressive social work practice with disabled people, primarily in the United States. To do this, we present an innovative practice model for social workers to use in their work with disabled people and communities, which is incorporated throughout the book in a variety of practice considerations. The main themes woven throughout our practice model are intersectionality theory, critical cultural competence, and anti-oppressive practice.