Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
External
Designing Learning Experiences for Inclusivity and Diversity: Advice for Learning Designers
Keith Heggart; Mais Fatayer; Camille Dickson-Deane; Puvaneswari Arumugam · UTS ePRESS · 2024
Designing Learning Experiences for Inclusivity and Diversity stands out as a crucial guide for educators and learning designers committed to creating equitable learning environments. Grounded in the Australasian higher education experience, this book delves into the principles of universal design for learning (UDL), offering practical strategies to ensure that every student, regardless of their background or abilities, has the opportunity to succeed. This unique edited text offers a blend of theoretical insights and real-world examples. You can select from a wide range of topics including socially just pedagogy, open educational practices, the role of third-space academics and professionals, Indigenous-led learning design, designing for equity and cultural responsiveness, lived experience of disability, and working with students and staff in inclusive learning design. The book also explores the potential of digital tools and platforms to transform the learning experience. Readers will learn how to leverage technology to create interactive and engaging content that enhances learning outcomes for all students. The authors provide practical advice on integrating these technologies into the curriculum, making learning more accessible and enjoyable. Designing Learning Experiences for Inclusivity and Diversity addresses the critical role of assessment in the learning process. The book offers a comprehensive overview of various assessment methods, from formative assessments that provide ongoing feedback to summative assessments that measure overall achievement. By aligning assessment strategies with learning objectives, educators can create a more coherent and effective learning experience. Readers will find a wealth of resources, including case studies, practical tips, and reflective exercises. Whether you are a seasoned learning designer or a newcomer to the field, Designing Learning Experiences for Inclusivity and Diversity provides the knowledge and inspiration needed
External
Understanding the Whole Child: Prenatal Development through Adolescence
Jennifer Paris; Antoinette Ricardo; Dawn Rymond · College of the Canyons · 2021
An Open Educational Resources Publication by College of the Canyons
External
Strategies for Conducting Literary Research
Barry Mauer; John Venecek · University of Central Florida · 2022
This book, built in PressBooks with financial support from the UCF Digital Learning Course Redesign Initiative, contains 14 chapters, each of which contains two to six pages about the process of literary research. Pages contain learning objectives, infographics, videos, examples, key takeaways, and exercises. The course contains numerous discussion areas and quizzes. It also contains a “Foundational Materials” assignment that provides a platform for student success with whatever research project their instructor assigns. The book is highly flexible and instructors may use all or any part of the book within their own webcourse.
External
The STEM Advantage: Career Planning and Internship Strategies for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Postgraduate Students
Ben Archer · James Cook University · 2025
This comprehensive guide bridges the gap between academic learning and professional application, offering a structured framework developed through experiences of students successfully completing their internship programs. Educators and students alike will benefit from practical methodologies that transform theoretical knowledge into workplace readiness, with strategic guidance for creating personalised career trajectories and maximising internship experiences.
External
Microlearning: Engaging learning experiences made easy
Chris Kossen · University of Southern Queensland · 2025
This book is a practical ‘how to’ guidebook on how microlearning design and delivery principles and techniques can be applied to your learning materials and teaching based on my application and development of microlearning. In keeping with the practical focus of this book, theory and research literature are kept to a minimum and included where they aid practical understanding.
External
Experimental Design and Technical Writing for Engineers
Susan Ely · University of Southern Indiana · 2024
This text is intended for undergraduate engineering students completing a technical writing course. As engineers complete technical writing in conjunction with research activities, this work also includes a basic overview of experimental design and the implications of robust quantitative methodologies. Hallmarks of quantitative research, best practices in presentation of data and a brief description of the use of descriptive statistics in data analysis are also provided. Technical communications for engineers often include industry related documents like memos, executive summaries, case studies, quality and process documents, standard operating procedures and requests for proposals. These documents are discussed, in addition to formal technical reports. The text also includes best practices in engineering oral presentations and the impact of Artificial Intelligence on technical communications. Ethical implications of engineering communications are also discussed from a framework of professional integrity as defined by the National Society of Professional Engineers Code of Ethics. Students using this text should be capable of communicating, in both verbal and written formats, in a way that clearly, concisely and correctly conveys engineering principles, projects and concepts to both technical and nontechnical audiences.
External
Don’t Cheat Yourself: Scenarios to clarify collusion confusion
Katherine Seaton · La Trobe University · 2023
Ensuring academic integrity in mathematical tasks presents a unique challenge, for university students and for their assessors, and one that hitherto has been under-examined. Drawing on her twenty years of experience in mathematics education, the recent academic integrity research literature, and on what students say about why misconduct occurs, the author examines this issue head-on. Don’t Cheat Yourself: Scenarios to clarify collusion confusion facilitates intentional consideration of the nature and purpose of assessment in mathematics, and of how some types of interactions between students undermine that purpose. Pertinent and realistic scenarios are provided as prompts for discussion, through which students in mathematical disciplines can come to a better understanding of what constitutes copying and collusion, identify strategies for finding support, be warned of the short- and long-term consequences of misconduct, and be set up to learn collaboratively and work legitimately.
External
A Guide to Writing in Law School
Steven Tudor; Stephanie Falconer · Council of Australian University Librarians · 2024
A Guide to Writing in Law School is intended to help law students to develop their writing skills. Writing clearly and effectively is a vital legal skill. Lawyers use this skill daily. Law graduates need, therefore, to have a solid competency in clear and effective writing. This book aims to help students improve their writing by presenting various pieces of advice, tips, warnings and encouragement. It contains general chapters on planning, clear writing, and acknowledging your sources, as well as dedicated chapters on some of the specific writing tasks that law students undertake: case briefs, legal problem-solving, essays, and law reform submissions. With effort and practice, virtually everyone can improve their writing. A Guide to Writing in Law School is not only for students having particular difficulties. Those who already write well will find ideas here that will help them become even better writers.
External
Practical introduction to writing reviews in health research
Dell Horey; Fernanda Buenfil; Joanne Marcucci · Council of Australian University Librarians · 2024
This book is a practical guide to writing about health research, which includes elementary reviews of the research literature and simple research reports. The goal is to teach you how to write about research clearly and with confidence.
External
Leading Assessment for Inclusion
Joanna Tai; Johanna Funk; Lois Harris; Joanne Dargusch · Deakin University · 2024
Assessment should benefit all students’ learning and retention. However, current systems do not take into account the diverse characteristics, backgrounds, and situations of students. Instead, universities rely on accommodations – which are only available to specific groups – to make case-by-case adjustments, rather than proactively improving assessment designs in ways that are socio- culturally, and research informed, for the purposes of inclusion. This resource is an outcome of a project which explored assessment policy and practice across the university sector. It introduces assessment for inclusion concepts, drawing on curated resources and case study examples, to offer introductory considerations for anyone in higher education interested in being a leader in assessment for inclusion, at all levels from the classroom through to institutional decision makers. This focus on the distributed leadership of assessment for inclusion aligns with the idea that more than what individuals can achieve alone, it is also how people can lead, promote, inspire, and support others to do the same. This resource has been created with the intention to raise questions for sharing with colleagues, to facilitate the discussion of problems with inclusion in assessment, and to support the development of context-appropriate strategies around assessment design and implementation. This resource was designed to support students in the Graduate Certificate of Higher Education Learning and Teaching at Deakin University, specifically in the assessment unit, EEE741 “Designing and Implementing Assessment for Learning in Higher Education”.
External
Communication Concepts
Erin Hawley · Deakin University · 2024
Communication challenges abound in the 21st century. Communicators everywhere are struggling to connect with diverse, distracted audiences, in both urgent and everyday contexts. In other words, communication has never been more vital, but it’s becoming harder and harder to be heard. In this book, we make sense of communication. From multiple perspectives, we unpack the practices, politics, pleasures, and problems that are activated when meaning is shared across real and virtual spaces. This book will help you use the thinking tools of communication theory to understand why communication matters and how it impacts (and is impacted by) our rapidly changing world.
External
Communication and Teamwork Skills to Support Neurodiversity
Teagan Menhenett; Nick Milne; Siva Krishnan · Deakin University · 2025
A significant challenge for neurodivergent students is the transition to studying in a new environment. This book focuses on assisting students with this transition by guiding them through different learning activities and information to support the team-based learning they will engage in during their degree. The resources in this book are designed to be accessible for all students and staff, with the aim of developing an understanding of disability and neurodiversity, teamwork and communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with peers to achieve common goals. The resources shared here can be utilised within individual units to support student skill development in inclusivity, engagement with others and the capacity to contribute towards highly functional teams.
External
CALL Principles and Practices
Joy Egbert; Seyed Abdollah Shahrokni · Washington State University · 2018
This book takes as its organizing principles both the system of conditions that are known to support effective language learning and the goals that a variety of standards in the field have set out for us and our students, and what constitutes effective computer-enhanced pedagogy and why.
External
Understanding and Supporting Learners with Disabilities
Paula Lombardi · University of New Hampshire · 2019
This book is a cloned version of Understanding and Supporting Learners with Disabilities by Paula Lombardi, published using Pressbooks under a CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license. It may differ from the original.
External
The Digital Storytelling Handbook
Jordan Schugar; Chris Penny; Hannah Glatt · The Pennsylvania Alliance for Design of Open Textbooks (PA-ADOPT) · 2024
The Digital Storytelling Handbook is designed to provide an introduction to digital storytelling and its multifaceted applications in the higher education classroom space. This eTextbook gives storytellers practical tools to help them think about different reasons for making digital stories and different ways to think about using and incorporating digital stories into teaching, learning, and living. In this eTextbook, readers will also learn how experiencing digital stories — as either the author or the audience — builds cultural competence and teaches us about humanity and the human experience. Co-authored with students, this eTextbook was written in the spirit of OER with the expectation that future readers and students have an opportunity to contribute a chapter, idea, approach, or methodology of the eTextbook’s basic content.
External
The Alchemy of Assessment and Evaluation
Jessica Kahlow · Mavs Open Press · 2024
This comprehensive guide illuminates the art and science of educational assessment, blending ancient alchemical wisdom with modern AI innovations. Part one lays the foundation, exploring essential principles of assessment and evaluation and its pivotal role in shaping learning outcomes. Part two delves into diverse assessment types, from formative assessments driving real-time adjustments to summative evaluations measuring overall achievement. Part three offers expert guidance on crafting effective assessment designs, ensuring authenticity and inclusivity. Part four examines the alchemy of feedback and grading, empowering educators with strategies for constructive engagement and growth. Part five focuses on evaluations, showcasing methods to assess program effectiveness and student progress over time. Whether you’re an educator refining assessment practices or an instructional designer harnessing AI’s potential, this book equips you to turn every educational challenge into a golden opportunity.
External
Open ELA
Alexander Greengaard · Pima Community College · 2024
Open ELA is a complete course in Reading and Language Arts for instructors and self-directed learners in Adult Basic Education settings. These materials are designed to aid students in completing the GED exam and to support college and career pathways. This course includes resources for the Reading and Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science portions of the GED exam. It also includes GED Study Guides and lessons contextualized to college and career exploration and readiness. Open ELA covers six units of study: Understanding Literature, Intro to Communications, Metacognitive Reading, Film & Television Studies, Reading for Science & Social Studies, and Journalism.
External
Teaching Pronunciation with Confidence: A Resource for ESL/EFL Teachers and Learners
Agata Guskaroska; Zoë Zawadzki; John Levis · Iowa State University Digital Press · 2024
Teaching Pronunciation with Confidence is an essential resource for both English teachers and learners, designed to effectively build strong pronunciation skills and knowledge of pronunciation. This guide covers key topics, including English sounds, word stress, intonation, rhythm, prominence, connected speech, and pronunciation diagnostics to guide improvement. The book includes a wide array of interactive H5P activities and sound recordings, which can be used for classroom teaching, or homework and individual practice. These exercises provide practical experience, reinforcing the concepts covered in each chapter.
External
Amalgamation
Timothy Krause · Portland Community College · 2023
This intermediate writing course is designed for ESOL students as their first step toward academic writing in U.S. colleges. Each two-week unit integrates vocabulary, grammar, and composition in a "just in time" fashion so that students receive instruction on the key tools they need in order to accomplish new writing goals. The lessons cover a basic essay, narrative essay, process essay, and compare/contrast essay. There is also a final one-week unit devoted to editing and proofreading skills. This edition is an update and expansion of work by Delpha Thomas.
External
Advanced-Level Writing in the University Classroom and Beyond: Mindful Practices for Technical, Business, and Scientific Communication
Dawn Atkinson; Stacey Corbitt · Montana Technological University · 2026
Welcome to the 2026 edition of Advanced-Level Writing in the University Classroom and Beyond: Mindful Practices for Technical, Business, and Scientific Communication. To encourage this open textbook’s use in various undergraduate classes, it has been developed as an all-in-one resource that concentrates on technical writing, business writing, scientific writing, and technical editing. It offers a no-cost alternative to commercial products, combining practical guidance with interactive exercises and thoughtfully designed writing opportunities. If you would like to access a Word Document version of this text please email Author, Stacey Corbitt, scorbitt@mtech.edu.