Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Greek and Latin Roots: Part I - Latin
Peter Smith · BCcampus · 2016
Greek and Latin Roots: Part I - Latin is part one of a two part series. This series examines the systematic principles by which a large portion of English vocabulary has evolved from Latin and (to a lesser degree) from Greek. This book focuses on Latin roots. A link to the second part focusing on the Greek roots can be found below. Part I will try to impart some skill in the recognition and proper use of words derived from Latin. There is a stress on principles: although students will be continually looking at interesting individual words, their constant aim will be to discover predictable general patterns of historical development, so that they may be able to cope with new and unfamiliar words of any type that they have studied. They will be shown how to approach the problem by a procedure known as “word analysis,” which is roughly comparable to the dissection of an interesting specimen in the biology laboratory. The text assumes no previous knowledge of Latin, and does not involve the grammatical study of this language—except for a few basic features of noun and verb formation that will help students to understand the Latin legacy in English. Although there will be some attention paid to the historical interaction of Latin with English, this text is definitely not a systematic history of the English language. It focuses on only those elements within English that have been directly or indirectly affected by this classical language. In order to provide the broadest possible service to students, the text emphasizes standard English vocabulary in current use. The more exotic technical vocabulary of science and medicine can be extremely interesting, but is explored in only summary fashion. Nevertheless, this text should be of considerable value, say, to a would-be botanist or medical doctor, if only by providing the foundation for further specialized enquiry.
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A Concise Introduction to Logic
Craig DeLancey · Open SUNY · 2017
A Concise Introduction to Logic is an introduction to formal logic suitable for undergraduates taking a general education course in logic or critical thinking, and is accessible and useful to any interested in gaining a basic understanding of logic. This text takes the unique approach of teaching logic through intellectual history; the author uses examples from important and celebrated arguments in philosophy to illustrate logical principles. The text also includes a basic introduction to findings of advanced logic. As indicators of where the student could go next with logic, the book closes with an overview of advanced topics, such as the axiomatic method, set theory, Peano arithmetic, and modal logic. Throughout, the text uses brief, concise chapters that readers will find easy to read and to review.
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Compact Anthology of World Literature
Laura Getty; Kyounghye Kwon · University of North Georgia Press · 2016
A world literature class may be the first place that some students have encountered European works, let alone non-Western texts. The emphasis in this anthology, therefore, is on non-Western and European works, with only the British authors who were the most influential to European and non-Western authors (such as Shakespeare, whose works have influenced authors around the world to the present day). In a world literature class, there is no way that a student can be equally familiar with all of the societies, contexts, time periods, cultures, religions, and languages that they will encounter; even though the works presented here are translated, students will face issues such as unfamiliar names and parts of the story (such as puns) that may not translate well or at all. Since these stories are rooted in their cultures and time periods, it is necessary to know the basic context of each work to understand the expectations of the original audience. The introductions in this anthology are meant to be just that: a basic overview of what students need to know before they begin reading, with topics that students can research further. An open access literature textbook cannot be a history book at the same time, but history is the great companion of literature: The more history students know, the easier it is for them to interpret literature. These works can help students understand the present, as well. In an electronic age, with this text available to anyone with computer access around the world, it has never been more necessary to recognize and understand differences among nationalities and cultures. The literature in this anthology is foundational, in the sense that these works influenced the authors who followed them. A word to the instructor: The texts have been chosen with the idea that they can be compared and contrasted, using common themes. Rather than numerous (and therefore often random) choices of texts from various periods, these selected works are meant to make
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Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning
Pamela Sachant; Peggy Blood; Jeffery LeMieux · University of North Georgia Press · 2016
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.
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The Emergence of Irish Gothic Fiction - Histories, Origins, Theories?
Jarlath Killeen · Edinburgh University Press · 2014
Provides a new account of the emergence of Irish gothic fiction in mid-eighteenth century. This book provides a robustly theorised and thoroughly historicised account of the ‘beginnings' of Irish gothic fiction, maps the theoretical terrain covered by other critics, and puts forward a new history of the emergence of the genre in Ireland. The main argument the book makes is that the Irish gothic should be read in the context of the split in Irish Anglican public opinion that opened in the 1750s, and seen as a fictional instrument of liberal Anglican opinion in a changing political landscape. By providing a fully historicized account of the beginnings of the genre in Ireland, the book also addresses the theoretical controversies that have bedevilled discussion of the Irish gothic in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. The book gives ample space to the critical debate, and rigorously defends a reading of the Irish gothic as an Anglican, Patriot tradition. This reading demonstrates the connections between little-known Irish gothic fictions of the mid-eighteenth century (The Adventures of Miss Sophia Berkley and Longsword), and the Irish gothic tradition more generally, and also the gothic as a genre of global significance. Key Features * Examines gothic texts including Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Charles Robert Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer, (Anon), The Adventures of Miss Sophia Berkley and Thomas Leland's Longsword * Provides a rigorous and robust theory of the Irish Gothic * Reads early Irish gothic fully into the political context of mid-eighteenth century Ireland This title was made Open Access by libraries from around the world through Knowledge Unlatched.
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Ethics in Technology
Edward Weber · St. Charles Community College · 2025
The purpose of this text is to serve as an Open Education Resource (OER) designed initially to be used in a secondary or post-secondary education setting. It is intended to be a guide to facilitate focused discussions about contemporary issues of the ethical considerations related to technology evolution, development, deployment, and consumption, as well as issues (both known and unknown) of potential misuse and abuse of technology. This is not a traditional Ethics textbook in that it is not intended to provide a survey of all of the history of Ethics through the ages nor is it intended to dive deeply into any particular ethical movements or frameworks as may be the focus of other ethics studies. Rather, it is intended to focus predominantly on the concepts of applying critical and ethical thinking to issues and subsequent decisions related to our interactions with technology in the 21st century.
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Reflective Practice in Early Years Education
Sheryl Third · Fanshawe College Pressboks · 2022
This resource will provide a context that will allow the reader to consider their obligation to reflect from their own perspective and will explore how to create a practice that best suits their professional setting. This book will bring together in one place the history, the values, the skills and disposition required to be a reflective practitioner. It is a textbook with elements of a workbook, embedded are opportunities to watch, to think, to write, and to listen allowing the reader to become a purposeful and intentional reflective practitioner.
![Why Do I Have to Take This Course? A Guide to General Education [Revised Edition]](/api/files/covers/otl-1623.webp)
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Why Do I Have to Take This Course? A Guide to General Education [Revised Edition]
Kisha Tracy · ROTEL · 2024
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.
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Foundations of Education: Cultivating Diverse Perspectives
Ceci De Valdenebro; Tanya Mead; Jennifer Margolis · Open Oregon Educational Resources · 2026
Shaping and inspiring future minds is arguably the most vital work humanity can do. Preparing future educators requires us to grapple with the history of education, reflect on our own experiences and biases, and continually adapt to meet the unique needs of our students and communities—and this book was written to guide that journey.
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Introduction to Library and Information Science
Reed Hepler; David Horalek · College of Southern Idaho Pressbooks Network (CSI) · 2023
This book explores the history, present, and future of library science, both in theory and in practice. It examines the place of the librarian as arbiter of information access in a constantly-changing and modernizing global community.
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Reframing Digital Humanities: Conversations with Digital Humanists
Julian Chambliss · Michigan State University · 2021
Growing from Reframing History, a podcast about history theory and practice, Reframing Digital Humanities: Conversations with Digital Humanists, Julian Chambliss, Professor of English at Michigan State University, brings together a diverse group of digital humanities practitioners to reflect on theory and practice. From the question of public engagement and knowledge production to considerations of identity and cultural production, the conversations presented in this work shed light on the ways digital humanities offer scholars tools to ask humane questions. Are the benefits promised being achieved? Are the right tools and training available? Are we asking the right questions? In this volume, scholars deeply engaged in using digital tools reflect on their work and this dynamic academic field.
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Foundations of American Education: A Critical Lens
Melissa Wells ; Courtney Clayton · Virginia's Academic Library Consortium (VIVA) · 2021
In this survey text, readers will explore the foundations of American education through a critical lens. Topics include the teaching profession, influences on student learning, philosophical and historical foundations, structures of schools, ethical and legal issues, curriculum, classroom environment, and the path forward.
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Humanizing Science through STEAM Challenges
EunJin Bahng; John Hauptman · Iowa State University · 2021
In a science methods course during the Covid19 pandemic, 51 future elementary teachers authored children's books and then read them aloud as part of a giving-back, service-learning activity as Open Educational Resources (OER). The 51 children's stories and their accompanying audiobooks aim to integrate STEM and the Arts to humanize science and scientific inquiry with history and philosophy of science in mind.
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Building Democracy for All: Interactive Explorations of Government and Civic Life
Robert Maloy; Torrey Trust · EdTech Books · 2020
Designed as a core or supplementary text for upper elementary, middle and high school teachers and students, Building Democracy for All offers instructional ideas, interactive resources, multicultural content, and multimodal learning materials for interest-building explorations of United States government as well as students’ roles as citizens in a democratic society. It focuses on the importance of community engagement and social responsibility as understood and acted upon by middle and high school students—core themes in the 2018 Massachusetts 8th Grade Curriculum Framework, and which are found in many state history and social studies curriculum frameworks around the country. Building Democracy for All has been developed by a collaborative writing team of higher education faculty, public school teachers, educational librarians, and college students who are preparing to become history and social studies teachers. The primary editors and curators are from the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education. Contributing teachers come from school districts in the Connecticut River valley region of western Massachusetts (Amherst, Gateway, Westfield, Hampshire Regional, and Springfield). As an open resource, the book is being revised constantly by the members of the writing team to ensure timely inclusion of online resources and information.
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Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology
Richard West · EdTech Books · 2018
This book received the 2018 AECT Outstanding Book Award! "What is this field?" "Where have we come from as a discipline, and where are we going?" "What do I want to study?" These and other questions are typical for new students in the field of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. This textbook is designed to help answer these questions and provide the quickest route to understanding the history and current trends in the field. After surveying classic theories and writings, as well as more recent applications of theory and practice, students will be better prepared to chart their own course and careers within the discipline. This book is designed to support foundations courses common in departments, as well as seminars on current trends and issues.
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Introduction to Curriculum for Early Childhood Education
Jennifer Paris; Kristin Beeve; Clint Springer · College of the Canyons · 2018
Welcome to learning about how to effectively plan curriculum for young children. This textbook will address: Developing curriculum through the planning cycle Theories that inform what we know about how children learn and the best ways for teachers to support learning The three components of developmentally appropriate practice Importance and value of play and intentional teaching Different models of curriculum Process of lesson planning (documenting planned experiences for children) Physical, temporal, and social environments that set the stage for children’s learning Appropriate guidance techniques to support children’s behaviors as the self-regulation abilities mature. Planning for preschool-aged children in specific domains including Physical development Language and literacy Math Science Creative (the visual and performing arts) Diversity (social science and history) Health and safety How curriculum planning for infants and toddlers is different from planning for older children Supporting school-aged children’s learning and development in out-of-school time through curriculum planning Making children’s learning visible through documentation and assessment
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Reading With My Eyes Open: Embracing the critical and the personal in language pedagogy
Gerdi Quist · Ubiquity Press · 2013
Untangling the various approaches to language teaching and their history, Gerdi Quist maps recent thinking in language studies at university. Using an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, drawn from educational philosophy, cultural studies, intercultural studies and language pedagogy, the author discusses the many tensions and currents in contemporary language teaching. The author puts forward an alternative pedagogy, that of a cultuurtekst-perspective, which engages learners at complex linguistic and cultural levels. In discussing the case study in which this approach is tested, the author develops her argument for embracing various critical perspectives through the personal engagement of students. From the start the author acknowledges her own engaged position as a language teacher in a liberal humanistic educational environment. She adopts a self-critical perspective through which her engagement with adverse student reaction leads to deepening insights both for the author and her students as part of the non-linear process of learning. Gerdi Quist teaches Dutch language and lectures on multiculturalism and intercultural communication. Recent publications included a book chapter and journal articles on language pedagogy and intercultural communication.
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Chinese Rhetoric and Writing: An Introduction for Language Teachers
Andy Kirkpatrick; Zhichang Xu · WAC Clearinghouse · 2012
The authors of Chinese Rhetoric and Writing offer a response to the argument that Chinese students' academic writing in English is influenced by "culturally nuanced rhetorical baggage that is uniquely Chinese and hard to eradicate." Noting that this argument draws from "an essentially monolingual and Anglo-centric view of writing," they point out that the rapid growth in the use of English worldwide calls for "a radical reassessment of what English is in today's world." The result is a book that provides teachers of writing, and in particular those involved in the teaching of English academic writing to Chinese students, an introduction to key stages in the development of Chinese rhetoric, a wide-ranging field with a history of several thousand years. Understanding this important rhetorical tradition provides a strong foundation for assessing and responding to the writing of this growing group of students.
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The Centrality of Style
Mike Duncan; Star M. Vanguri · WAC Clearinghouse · 2013
InThe Centrality of Style, editors Mike Duncan and Star Medzerian Vanguri argue that style is a central concern of composition studies even as they demonstrate that some of the most compelling work in the area has emerged from the margins of the field. Calling attention to this paradox in his foreword to the collection, Paul Butler observes, "Many of the chapters work within the liminal space in which style serves as both a centralizing and decentralizing force in rhetoric and composition. Clearly, the authors and editors have made an invaluable contribution in their collection by exposing the paradoxical nature of a canon that continues to play a vital role in our disciplinary history."
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Teaching Autoethnography: Personal Writing in the Classroom
Melissa Tombro · Open SUNY · 2016
Teaching Autoethnography: Personal Writing in the Classroom is dedicated to the practice of immersive ethnographic and autoethnographic writing that encourages authors to participate in the communities about which they write. This book draws not only on critical qualitative inquiry methods such as interview and observation, but also on theories and sensibilities from creative writing and performance studies, which encourage self-reflection and narrative composition. Concepts from qualitative inquiry studies, which examine everyday life, are combined with approaches to the creation of character and scene to help writers develop engaging narratives that examine chosen subcultures and the author's position in relation to her research subjects. The book brings together a brief history of first-person qualitative research and writing from the past forty years, examining the evolution of nonfiction and qualitative approaches in relation to the personal essay. A selection of recent student writing in the genre as well as reflective student essays on the experience of conducting research in the classroom is presented in the context of exercises for coursework and beyond. Also explored in detail are guidelines for interviewing and identifying subjects and techniques for creating informed sketches and images that engage the reader. This book provides approaches anyone can use to explore their communities and write about them first-hand. The methods presented can be used for a single assignment in a larger course or to guide an entire semester through many levels and varieties of informed personal writing.