Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Introduction to the Pedagogy of New Literacies and Applied Critical Thinking
Kacy Lovelace · Marshall University · 2024
This textbook is an introduction to information and new literacies instruction in a variety of libraries and other information-related organizations and for a variety of patrons (including K-12, ESL, special needs learners, and adult learners). Topics include the history and theoretical bases of literacy instruction, instructional program development, and pedagogical and evaluation techniques. Featuring hands-on assessments for students pursing an Instructional Technology and Library Science emphasis, this text introduces new literacies, provides a comprehensive look at literacy instruction, literacy instruction improvement, and literacy instruction lesson planning with a focus on critical thinking.
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Forest Measurements: An Applied Approach
Joan DeYoung · Open Oregon Educational Resources · 2016
This is a forest measurements textbook written for field technicians. Silvicultural applications and illustrations are provided to demonstrate the relevance of the measurements. Special “technique tips” for each skill are intended to help increase data collection accuracy and confidence. These include how to avoid common pitfalls, effective short cuts and essentials for recording field data correctly. The emphasis is on elementary skills; it is not intended to be a timber cruising guide.
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Applied Human Anatomy
Michael Nolan; John McNamara · Virginia Tech Publishing · 2022
The structure of the human body is usually considered in courses in gross anatomy. These courses typically consist of lectures by the faculty, readings in assigned textbooks and the study of photographs and illustrations in human anatomy atlases. However, as student’s progress through the curriculum and move into the more clinical or practice oriented phases, many discover that the anatomical knowledge they actually need is somewhat different from the kind they possess. What many encounter is difficulty in applying their knowledge to a clinical setting. Applied Human Anatomy was created to better integrate material that is more often than not treated separately in contemporary health care curricula. It is hoped that through this integration students will develop a deeper and more lasting knowledge and understanding of human anatomy as they are likely to need it in the evaluation and management of patients.
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Big Data for Epidemiology: Applied Data Analysis Using National Health Surveys
Tiffany Kindratt · Mavs Open Press · 2022
National data sets provide an avenue for students to practice data analytic skills while also answering meaningful research questions. This open education resource was developed to train future public health professionals how to conduct secondary data analysis of national health surveys using SAS statistical software. SAS software was selected because it is one of the most commonly used software programs used among public health departments and academia. The book includes details on how to analyze public-use data from five common national health surveys, including the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and National Health and Nutrition and Examination Survey (NHANES). All datasets and corresponding syntax files are available from the Open ICPSR Data Repository.
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Data Analysis in the Psychological Sciences: A Practical, Applied, Multimedia Approach
Leyre Castro; J. Toby Mordkoff · University of Iowa Libraries · 2023
This open resources textbook contains 10 Units that describe and explain the main concepts in statistical analysis of psychological data. In addition to conceptual descriptions and explanations of the basic analyses for descriptive statistics, this textbook also explains how to conduct those analyses with common statistical software (Excel) and open-source free software (R).
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Introduction to Applied Statistics for Psychology Students
Gordon Sarty · University of Saskatchewan · 2022
Introduction to Applied Statistics for Psychology Students, by Gordon E. Sarty (Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan) began as a textbook published in PDF format, in various editions between 2014-2017. The book was written to meet the needs of University of Saskatchewan psychology students at the undergraduate (PSY 233, PSY 234) level. In 2019-2020, funding was provided through the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning, along with technical assistance from the Distance Education Unit, to update and adapt this book, making it more widely available in an easy-to-use and more adaptable digital (Pressbooks) format. The update also made revisions so that the book could be published with a license appropriate for open educational resources (OER). OERs are defined as “teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others” (Hewlett Foundation). This textbook and other OERs like it are openly licensed using a Creative Commons license, and are offered in various digital and e-book formats free of charge. Printed editions of this book can be obtained for a nominal fee through the University of Saskatchewan bookstore.
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Applied Finite Mathematics
Rupinder Sekhon · OpenStax CNX · 2011
Applied Finite Mathematics covers topics including linear equations, matrices, linear programming, the mathematics of finance, sets and counting, probability, Markov chains, and game theory.
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Applied Combinatorics
Mitchel Keller; William Trotter · Mitchel T. Keller, William T. Trotter · 2017
Applied Combinatorics is an open-source textbook for a course covering the fundamental enumeration techniques (permutations, combinations, subsets, pigeon hole principle), recursion and mathematical induction, more advanced enumeration techniques (inclusion-exclusion, generating functions, recurrence relations, Polyá theory), discrete structures (graphs, digraphs, posets, interval orders), and discrete optimization (minimum weight spanning trees, shortest paths, network flows). There are also chapters introducing discrete probability, Ramsey theory, combinatorial applications of network flows, and a few other nuggets of discrete mathematics. Applied Combinatorics began its life as a set of course notes we developed when Mitch was a TA for a larger than usual section of Tom's MATH 3012: Applied Combinatorics course at Georgia Tech in Spring Semester 2006. Since then, the material has been greatly expanded and exercises have been added. The text has been in use for most MATH 3012 sections at Georgia Tech for several years now. Since the text has been available online for free, it has also been adopted at a number of other institutions for a wide variety of courses. In August 2016, we made the first release of Applied Combinatorics in HTML format, thanks to a conversion of the book's source from LaTeX to MathBook XML. An inexpensive print-on-demand version is also available for purchase. Find out all about ways to get the book. Since Fall 2016, Applied Combinatorics has been on the list of approved open textbooks from the American Institute of Mathematics. Applied Combinatorics is open source and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC-BY-SA).
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Applied Probability
Paul Pfeiffer · OpenStax CNX · 2009
This is a "first course" in the sense that it presumes no previous course in probability. The mathematical prerequisites are ordinary calculus and the elements of matrix algebra. A few standard series and integrals are used, and double integrals are evaluated as iterated integrals. The reader who can evaluate simple integrals can learn quickly from the examples how to deal with the iterated integrals used in the theory of expectation and conditional expectation. Appendix B provides a convenient compendium of mathematical facts used frequently in this work. And the symbolic toolbox, implementing MAPLE, may be used to evaluate integrals, if desired. In addition to an introduction to the essential features of basic probability in terms of a precise mathematical model, the work describes and employs user defined MATLAB procedures and functions (which we refer to as m-programs, or simply programs) to solve many important problems in basic probability. This should make the work useful as a stand-alone exposition as well as a supplement to any of several current textbooks. Most of the programs developed here were written in earlier versions of MATLAB, but have been revised slightly to make them quite compatible with MATLAB 7. In a few cases, alternate implementations are available in the Statistics Toolbox, but are implemented here directly from the basic MATLAB program, so that students need only that program (and the symbolic mathematics toolbox, if they desire its aid in evaluating integrals). Since machine methods require precise formulation of problems in appropriate mathematical form, it is necessary to provide some supplementary analytical material, principally the so-called minterm analysis. This material is not only important for computational purposes, but is also useful in displaying some of the structure of the relationships among events.
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Applied Discrete Structures
Alan Doerr; Kenneth Levasseur · Alan Doerr & Kenneth Levasseur · 2017
In writing this book, care was taken to use language and examples that gradually wean students from a simpleminded mechanical approach andmove them toward mathematical maturity. We also recognize that many students who hesitate to ask for help from an instructor need a readable text, and we have tried to anticipate the questions that go unasked. The wide range of examples in the text are meant to augment the "favorite examples" that most instructors have for teaching the topcs in discrete mathematics. To provide diagnostic help and encouragement, we have included solutions and/or hints to the odd-numbered exercises. These solutions include detailed answers whenever warranted and complete proofs, not just terse outlines of proofs. Our use of standard terminology and notation makes Applied Discrete Structures a valuable reference book for future courses. Although many advanced books have a short review of elementary topics, they cannot be complete. The text is divided into lecture-length sections, facilitating the organization of an instructor's presentation.Topics are presented in such a way that students' understanding can be monitored through thought-provoking exercises. The exercises require an understanding of the topics and how they are interrelated, not just a familiarity with the key words. An Instructor's Guide is available to any instructor who uses the text. It includes: Chapter-by-chapter comments on subtopics that emphasize the pitfalls to avoid; Suggested coverage times; Detailed solutions to most even-numbered exercises; Sample quizzes, exams, and final exams. This textbook has been used in classes atCasper College (WY), Grinnell College (IA), Luzurne Community College (PA), University of the Puget Sound (WA).
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Applied Developmental Systems Science: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Theories, Meta-Theories, Methods, and Interventions but Didn't Realize You Needed to Ask. An Advanced Textbook
Ellen Skinner; Thomas Kindermann; Robert Roeser · Portland State University Library · 2015
This textbook provides a toolbox, a guidebook, and an instruction manual for researchers and interventionists who want to conceptualize and study applied problems from a developmental systems perspective, and for those who want to teach their graduate (or advanced undergraduate) students how to do this. It is designed to be useful to practitioners who focus on applied developmental problems, such as improving the important developmental contexts where people live, learn, and work, including the applied professions in education, social work, counseling, health care, community development, and business, all of which at their core are concerned with optimizing the development of their students, clients, patients, workers, citizens, and others whose lives they touch.
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College ESL Writers: Applied Grammar and Composing Strategies for Success
Barbara Hall; Elizabeth Wallace · University System of Georgia · 2018
College ESL Writers: Applied Grammar and Composing Strategies for Success is designed as a comprehensive grammar and writing etext for high intermediate and advanced level non-native speakers of English. We open the text with a discussion on the sentence and then break it down into its elemental components, before reconstructing them into effective sentences with paragraphs and larger academic assignments. Following that, we provide instruction in paragraph and essay writing with several opportunities to both review the fundamentals as well as to demonstrate mastery and move on to more challenging assignments.We have structured the etext into three basic parts. Part I, Composing Strategies and Techniques, includes a sequenced discussion from composing effective sentences through paragraph and essay writing. This includes the prewriting and planning stages of writing as well as the revising and editing stage in the first five chapters. Part II, Language Use, Grammar, and Mechanics, is meant to be used as a grammar and mechanics handbook as well as the practice and review of idiomatic wording. Part III, All About Writing: Samples, Topics, and Rubrics, has chapters with additional writing topics for practice, sample student papers, and rubrics for evaluating writing.
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Applied Fluid Mechanics Lab Manual
Habib Ahmari; Shah Md Imran Kabir; Ginny Bowers · Mavs Open Press · 2019
This lab manual provides students with the theory, practical applications, objectives, and laboratory procedure of ten experiments. The manual also includes educational videos showing how student should run each experiment and a workbook for organizing data collected in the lab and preparing result tables and charts.
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Applied Business Analytics for Marketing Decision-Making
Jose Mendoza · New York University · 2026
Applied Business Analytics for Marketing Decision-Making is an applied textbook designed to help students use data, analytical methods, and visualization to support marketing and business decisions. Written for graduate students in marketing, integrated marketing, business analytics, and related professional programs, the book assumes limited prior experience with programming or statistics and emphasizes conceptual understanding, practical application, and managerial interpretation.
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Community Resilience to Climate Change: Theory, Research and Practice
Dana Hellman; Vivek Shandas · Portland State University Library · 2020
This reader is an Open Educational Resource, meant to accompany a graduate or higher-level undergraduate university course in climate change resilience, adaptation, and/or planning. While the material is geared toward students in urban and regional planning, it may also be of interest to students of urban studies, public health, geography, political science, sociology, risk management, and others. Each section of this volume includes (1) an introductory summary, (2) a reading list with full text articles, (3) student exercises meant to enhance understanding and facilitate in-class discussion, and (4) additional discussion prompts or activities for instructors to use in class. The format of materials is intended to convey key concepts, while leaving ample space for student exploration, discourse, and creativity. Lessons may culminate in an applied, imaginative final project, a sample framework of which is provided at the end of Section VI.
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Introduction to Adulthood and Aging
Maham Khan · Virginia Tech Libraries · 2026
Introduction to Adulthood and Aging (2026) is a research-based, 358-page Open Educational Resource (OER) adapted with original material added for use in Virginia Tech’s Human Development course, HD 2004: Adulthood and Aging. This text aims to spark reader ideas to address the significant global challenges and opportunities related to aging worldwide, exploring development, loss, resilience, and change and challenging common assumptions about aging. More than just a textbook, this resource is intended to spark reflection, empathy, and connection. The text is a foundation of knowledge and compassion that can be applied in both academic and personal settings, assisting readers to engage with the topic in practical and meaningful ways. Developed in response to the increasing cost of textbooks, with the goal of reducing the financial burden on students and families, Introduction to Adulthood and Aging adapts and expands the openly-licensed works of other authors. It was adapted with original content added from existing openly-licensed texts, developed as a course reader in Canvas, and has been converted into MSWord and PDF. It is shared broadly in an effort to increase access to the content. While it is freely available under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike (CC BY NC-SA) 4.0 license, the value of the content remains high, grounded in research, empathy, and a commitment to accessible education. Instructors reviewing or adopting this book for a course, please help us understand your use by filling out this form: https://bit.ly/interest_introductiontoadulthoodandaging
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Lifespan Development
Diana Riser; Rose Spielman; David Biek · OpenStax · 2024
Lifespan Development aligns to the topics and objectives of most introductory developmental psychology courses taught across departments. Grounded in foundational theories and scientific research, the text teaches students about core aspects of human development—physical, cognitive, social, emotional—across the lifespan. A primary goal of the book is to incorporate content, scholarship, and activities that explore a variety of perspectives that encourage all students to feel seen and included. Lifespan Development strives to openly address complex topics with scholarly responsibility and an effort to increase equity and inclusion in the research presented, as well as to foster student engagement in the classroom through relevant examples and applications. Focused on driving meaningful and memorable learning experiences, the narrative places concepts in contexts that give students the means to understand human development and how that knowledge can be applied to and improve their own lives and the lives of others.
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Principles of Microeconomics: Scarcity and Social Provisioning
Erik Dean; Justin Elardo; Mitch Green; Benjamin Wilson · Open Oregon Educational Resources · 2016
Principles of Microeconomics: Scarcity and Social Provisioning takes a pluralistic approach to the standard topics of an introductory microeconomics course. The text builds on the chiefly neoclassical material of the OpenStax Principles of Economics text, adding extensive content from heterodox economic thought. Emphasizing the importance of pluralism and critical thinking, the text presents the method and theory of neoclassical economics alongside critiques thereof and heterodox alternatives in both method and theory. This approach is taken from the outset of the text, where contrasting definitions of economics are discussed in the context of the various ways in which neoclassical and heterodox economists study the subject. The same approach–of theory and method, critique, and alternative theory theory and method–is taken in the study of consumption, production, and market exchange, as well as in the applied theory chapters. Historical and contemporary examples are given throughout, and both theory and application are presented with a balanced approach. This textbook will be of interest especially to instructors and students who wish to go beyond the traditional approach to the fundamentals of microeconomic theory, and explore the wider spectrum of economic thought. Instructors may contact Open Oregon Educational Resources for quiz question test banks associated with each chapter.
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The Economics of Food and Agricultural Markets
Andrew Barkley · New Prairie Press · 2016
The Second Edition of Economics of Food and Agricultural Markets (2019) is written for applied intermediate microeconomics courses. The book showcases the power of economic principles to explain and predict issues and current events in the food, agricultural, agribusiness, international trade, labor markets, and natural resource sectors. The field of agricultural economics is relevant, important and interesting. The study of market structures, also called industrial organization, provides powerful, timely, and useful tools for any individual or group making personal choices, business decisions, or public policies in food and agricultural industries. Readers will benefit from a large number of real-world examples and applications of the economic concepts under discussion. The book introduces economic principles in a succinct and reader-friendly format, providing students and instructors with a clear, up-to-date, and straightforward approach to learning how a market-based economy functions, and how to use simple economic principles for improved decision making. The principles are applied to timely, interesting, and important real-world issues through words, graphs, and simple algebra and calculus. This book is intended for students who study agricultural economics, microeconomics, rural development and/or environmental policy. The goal of the book is to encourage students to learn to “think like an economist” through application of benefits and costs to every decision, idea, and strategic decision. This objective is accomplished by including extended examples that cover a broad range of topics including the analysis of consumer decisions, supply and demand, and market efficiency; the design of pricing strategies; advertising and marketing decisions; and public policy analysis. Contents The book begins with a review and introduction of economic principles, including markets, scarcity, and the scientific method. Supply and demand are examined carefully and completely, w
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International Trade: Theory and Policy
Steve Suranovic · Saylor Foundation · 2010
International Trade: Theory and Policy is built on Steve Suranovic's belief that to understand the international economy, students need to learn how economic models are applied to real world problems. It is true what they say, that ”economists do it with models.“ That's because economic models provide insights about the world that are simply not obtainable solely by discussion of the issues. International Trade: Theory and Policy presents a variety of international trade models including the Ricardian model, the Heckscher-Ohlin model, and the monopolistic competition model. It includes trade policy analysis in both perfectly competitive and imperfectly competitive markets. The text also addresses current issues such as free trade area formation and administered protection policies. The models are developed, not by employing advanced mathematics, but rather by walking students through a detailed description of how a model's assumptions influence its conclusions. But more importantly, each model and theory is connected to real world policy issues. The main purpose of the text is to provide a thorough grounding in the arguments concerning the age-old debate about free trade versus protectionism. This text has the following unique features: The text begins with an historical overview of trade policy issues to provide context for the theory. The text concludes with a detailed economic argument supporting free trade.The welfare analysis in the Ricardian, Heckscher-Ohlin and specific factors models emphasize the redistributive effects of free trade by calculating changes in real incomes.The trade policy chapter provides a comprehensive look at many more trade policies than are found in a printed textbook. A chapter about domestic policies contains an evaluation of domestic taxes and subsidies that are often ignored in traditional trade textbooks but are increasingly important as large countries complain more about each other's domestic agriculture policies and labor and en