I didn't notice any issues. Reviewed by Debora Christensen, Associate Professor, Drake University on 12/30/21, The textbooks content and depth of coverage are comparable to current commercial introductory biology textbooks. These highlighted boxes standout for the students as something extra and interesting, and the information is not lost in the main text. Reviewed by Robert Sorensen, Professor, Minnesota State University Mankato on 6/10/15, The 8 units this textbook, chemistry through ecology, sufficiently cover the range of topics that would be covered in an Introductory Biology series of courses.The order in which topics are addressed follows the common approach of building from The factual context of the writing made for very quick reading. One critique is that the learning outcomes at the beginning of the chapter and the visual connection and review questions at the end of the chapter are mostly lower order cognitive skill questions (i.e. I personally prefer navigating a physical text to a pdf, however I have observed that students take naturally to the digital format, and stand to benefit from the convenience of carrying their books digitally wherever they go. The language skills needed are consistent throughout the text and the organization of the material is consistent. Key words in bold are also easily visible and defined at the end of the chapter, so students can quickly find definitions. View a Degree Evaluation and an Academic Roadmap. Better written than some, but I can tell they haven't spent large sums of money on editing. read more. WebProgram Description Led by internationally renowned faculty, the Master of Science in Computer Science program trains students to become experts and industry leaders in fields related to computer science. The topics are presented in a traditional manner as most biology textbooks. The content, as least in the chapters I cover, is extremely similar to my current majors level text (Campbell Biology 10th Ed., Reece et. Provide and maintain current and accurate personal information and records. In Chapter 18, the text only includes the biological species concept, with no discussion of its weaknesses or limitations. Cloud Technical and Community College on 4/11/17, This text book is as comprehensive as the McGraw Hill and Pearson texts that we have been using. For me this could not have come at a better time in my life. To be fair, all previous texts I have used have had this same student issue because that content is challenging for anyone unfamiliar with Biology. It covers all the topics in sufficient detail for the student to succeed. For the downloaded PDF version, each chapter and section are listed in the drop-down table of contents. There were a couple of places where there was either an issue with accuracy and clarity of explanation, or else a typo (like for example, using the word phenotype when genotype would have been more appropriate). Chapter 23 provides a foundation. I found no problems navigating through the pages. Chapters 28 and 29 on invertebrates and vertebrates, respectively, provide an overview of the major phyla. Please see also my comments below under the prompt about cultural relevance. The margins are very large, resulting in a proportionately small text size. Paternal leakage means that not every mitochondrial DNA is from the female. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the High School Freshman In my opinion, the text is considerate of all cultural, racial, and ethnic sensibilities, In my opinion, this text has wide applications, and its ability to be customized makes it a strong candidate for adoption within our curriculum, Reviewed by Eric Johnson, Associate Professor, Virginia Wesleyan University on 5/7/21, For the topics most commonly covered (Cellular Resipration, Mitosis, etc), this book does a good job. Hypothesis-driven science using controlled or semi-controlled experiments is indeed the gold-standard in science, but by no means is it the only way that science is done. After having used the book for majors biology course for the last 4 semester, I have pleased to say that I content is simple yet efficient and effective. Instead, climate change is dealt with separately. That being said, a knowledgeable instructor should be able to provide that context and, not having the authors' context in the text, may make the naive students' path through the material less overwhelming. I think that the chapter glossaries and ample index do a good job with the jargon. Go to your university website or class syllabus and find the ISBN numbers of your required books! The illustrations were also very helpful and I can see them providing a lot of help to those visual learners. There are typographical errors that can be easily corrected during a revision. However, the answers are difficult to quickly locate as they are listed in paragraph format, rather than organized as a list. I could find no errors in grammar in the text. That said, it isn't particularly cutting edge, either in terms of content, or in its approach to teaching. Non-major students who dislike biology After having used the book for majors biology course for the last 4 semester, I have pleased to say that I content is simple yet efficient and effective. Additionally, the text was quite modular and is broken down well into distinct topics that maintain complexity but are also self contained. If you enter into a new tab, you can see the images better in some cases, but this may not be the case for those that print out the book. Currently there are quite large sections of text that could be more concise. Professor, Science Dept. Use of simpler language and less jargon would make the text more accessible to students from different backgrounds. Even though simple, I like the illustrations in this textbook because they are clear, to the point. Some of the links on the textbook take you to trusted sources such as Khan Academy and TED talks, but others dont look very reliable to me. The vast majority of the content is accurate. 201 Kupfrian Hall. p.359 Why show a karyotype where the colours dont match up for the homologues? The video goes on to claim that genes on autosomes have nothing to do with gender. This is patently false. They are at just the right level for a first year biology student. Evolution is mentioned in Ch.1 but is not defined or explained, assuming that students already understand this complex. One example is section 25.1, which rattles through a few basic concepts in plant biology, but without enough context to make it clear to the reader how those concepts fit into the greater story of plant evolution. Chapter 19 The only issue is that the chapter numbers and pages differ between the pdf and the read online versions. it could be conveyed that it notes ALL species variation is directly related to genetics). The attribution of digits other than the first is even less standardized, but in general, sequences of related courses tend to have consecutive numbers, indicating prerequisites or recommended sequence. Or take this example, If the solute levels increase beyond a certain range, a hormone releases that slows water loss. It seems that what the authors intended to convey is that a hormone is released that slows water loss, and this may be perfectly obvious to a well-informed reader. Because this content is designed for an introductory Biology majors course, there is quite a bit of jargon and technical terminology. It is the students responsibility to: The University has the right to change policies and procedures at any time as necessary. The coloration of these figures should also be improved for contrast. (The text does link out to an online resource which invites students to click through the stages of the Krebs Cycle, however the usefulness of this tool far outweighs the confusion of the older term.). It covers all the topics in sufficient detail for the student to succeed. The 8 units this textbook, chemistry through ecology, sufficiently cover the range of topics that would be covered in an Introductory Biology series of courses.The order in which topics are addressed follows the common approach of building from the simplest level of organization up to the highest level. This text book has taken modularity to new heights. The questions at the end of sections are helpful to student learning. A few typos, but not excessive for such a large text. On the positive side, the section on global climate change is quite welcome as being highly relevant. I may discover more inconsistency when I am using it with my students. Their art connections have good diagrams WebThe International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. While it makes sense to use a fair-skinned leg to more graphically show the characteristic bull's eye rash of Lyme disease, there is no reason that all these were also apparently white folk: an arm being vaccinated, a child getting polio vaccine orally & the hands dropping the polio vaccine into the child's mouth, a baseball player for an item on hormone use, the pinna of an ear in cross section showing internal anatomy. I could not image how to part of a chapter to cover the basics of a topic. Combining coursework from the disciplines of biology, computer science, mathematics and statistics The career connections are good sections that help students relate what they are learning to the job market. Every summer, a new PDF of Biology is released and print stock is updated for the following Fall. In chapter 34, there is no discussion of phytonutrients. First Year Freshmen: From Plant Sensory: Pathogen defense, Herbivory defense, Electrical signalling, Auxin transport, Acid growth hypothesis, Auxin regulated gene expression I found no grammatical errors, nor did I find distracting terms. In some cases, the inconsistencies appear to be associated with oversimplification. 11. This is a science textbook, so there are very few places to talk about other cultures and ethnicities. Additionally, I like the summary tables at the end of many sections and/or chapters (particularly cells and membranes). I liked that current research examples were used, such as HPV infected cells in the cell division chapter, and neurons from Huntingtons patients in the Mendelian genetics chapter. For my purposes this text does an adequate job of achieving that balance, and any deficiencies in content coverage can be made up by supplementary materials supplied by individual instructors. Reviewed by Lisa Johansen, Senior Instructor, University of Colorado Denver on 4/20/20, The text book covered all the chapters I would assign for first semester General Biology course at the college level (Molecules to Cells). vegan@njit.edu. UNFs Title IX Coordinator, Marlynn Jones, may be contacted at 1 UNF Drive, Building 1, Suite 1200, Jacksonville, FL 32224, eoi@unf.edu, 904-620-2507. Occasionally figures also look grainy / blurry or as if they are low-resolution images (ex. We'll make it easy to compare prices online! I did not find any instances of cultural insensitivity. Terms and concepts are used consistently throughout the book; there are no problems in that regard, even if this book was written by a big team of authors. The organization of the text makes it easy to assign very specific chapters and subsections according to the goals of the course, and to read these sections out of order. This book does do a good job of being modular. There are no grammatical errors, and the language is not overly complicated in terms of sentence structure and organization. Clear subtitles and logically arranged chapters. This will probably be apparent especially in the molecular genetics topics. Like most Biology textbooks, this was hit or miss for me. . 973-596-3360. These details will inevitably be explored more deeply as students progress through their program of study. In other places (particularly Chapter 6 on metabolism), it seems like the order within the chapter had been changed, so that sometimes topics (including the second law of thermodynamics and entropy) are referenced, but not fully explained until later in the chapter. I am optimistic that this book will be quite useful for me and my students. I think this book is comprehensive for a general biology textbook, but it lacks some depth and breath for If an extensively updated version was available which also addressed some of the other concerns noted earlier I would definitely adopt this textbook in my majors biology sequence. This is an excellent textbook for a majors general biology course. However, I personally find most traditional textbooks a little uninspiring, and I think that by following the standard format closely, this book misses out on an opportunity to improve on a formula that could probably stand to be updated. Reviewed by Melissa Kilgore, Biology Instructor, Lane Community College on 6/20/17, The textbook covers all of the major topics that I address in a year of non-majors biology. Students are generally not familiar with archaea and it seems the authors of this textbook share this lack of understanding. In Fig 3.12 "Hydrophobic lipids" is redundant. I have only used the online interface, which had no issues. Finally, the sections on eukaryotic transcription, translation, and gene regulation (Ch 15 & 16) provide sufficient background for students to understand why all cells in an animal can have all the same genes but nonetheless have very different patterns of gene expression and function. Its generally well-written. Overall I feel this textbook is easy to use and easy to read. In the real world students will not have the luxury of being exposed to monolithic writing styles therefore what better place to prepare students for life than the introductory Biology textbook! The written text is straightforward and easy to read, albeit sometimes disjointed, like more than one author wrote the chapter. There were no major differences I observed between 1e and 2e. For example, trying to show how Valine is substituted in hemoglobin before Translation has been covered. WebISBNs are 10 or 13 digit numbers that identify a specific edition of a specific textbook. In a few cases, I saw Hydrogen ions referred to as protons (and vice versa) without explaining that they were the same thing in the same chapter. High quality in every sense, cover to cover. Section headings and learning objectives are useful in breaking up the material into smaller, more digestible components. Material is presented in an engaging way with practical examples that students can easily relate to. read more. The text is very well organized and the material flows well. The PowerPoint presentations are attractive and well organized. Good to have a glossary at the end of each chapter but the definitions could have more depth and research. Embrace opportunities to be productive students on and off campus. It also is relatively current, and includes some relatively recent knowledge, but the time for a major update is approaching. The textbook covers all of the major topics that I address in a year of non-majors biology. The addition of key terms at the end of the chapters also adds a bonus summary for students to use as a resource to gauge their understanding of course concepts. Given that many students struggle with thoroughly understanding evolutionary processes and have misconceptions regarding evolution, this does seem to be an oversight. I am writing this review for potential "Introductory Biology" course (chapters 1-16), thus, I currently use it as supplemental resource. The top menu bar has a My Highlights icon that brings up all notes and highlighted passages organized by chapter. I would also recommend reminding readers where the answers to the comprehension questions can be found (i.e. Release notes, available to instructors only, indicates all changes and corrections from the most recent release. WebThe Graduate Record Examination (GRE), created and administered by ETS, is used by thousands of graduate and business schools to make admission and fellowship decisions. 2. The topics that travel into an introductory biology text are topics that are rarely controversial or inadequately supported by scientific vetting. I have found a few broken links throughout the text. It's professional and well-written, and while the visuals (though accurate) may be less polished than a traditional textbook, I think the fact that it's free more than makes up for that lack. Would seem to be easily digestible for an early-career college student. In this review, we focus on the textbook units (cell biology, genetics, physiology) that align with the specific topics we teach in the first and second semesters of introductory biology for science majors. This terminology is out-of-date and reinforces student misconceptions of evolutionary change as goal-directed and progressive. Examples overall seem fine. there is little use of graphical phylogenetic hypotheses (trees) to illustrate evolutionary relationships and to identify the hypothesized origins of key evolutionary and clade-defining characteristics. Since precalculus courses vary from one institution to the next, we have attempted to meet the needs of as broad an audience as possible, including all of the content that might be covered in any particular course. I think this question would be more appropriate to ask students after they use this textbook for class. In terms of writing and clarity, some chapters are great, others are mediocre. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education and is recognized by many universities worldwide. The IB Maths curriculum used to consist of 4 courses, namely SL, HL, Studies, and Further Math. There are an array of instructor resources available through OpenStax for this text. I didn't notice any major factual errors while I was going through the book. 7. read more. The contrast of the colors is too strong which detracts the reader from the content. Conclusion. Some chapters were confusing when there were brief intros to some clades, then human A&P, and then more animal systems. While the authors have consistently kept descriptions to the minimum, it would be unfair to expect great explanations for the various topics in biology some of which we have entire courses designed for them. There is a glaring error in Figure 15.8: Prokaryotic genes do not have introns, and there is little to no mRNA processing that occurs in prokaryotes, as transcription and translation are often coupled in time and location. Aside from the figures, other aspects of the interface function well. Chapters can be easily integrated into a learning platform to facilitate weekly reading assignments. Some other errors included some minor semantics issues within a few of the chapters, including the genetics and immune system chapters. The book is not culturally insensitive or offensive. For some of the less frequently taught concepts (Algae/Protist diversity) the sections are a little thinner than other non-OER texts. With the downloaded pdf or (I am assuming) the printed text version, the glossary comes at the end of the chapter. Core concepts for introductory level college course are addressed in sufficient detail, without overly complicating the material for this audience. The online accessibility allows one to search the contents of the book, making it incredibly easy to navigate. On page 676, the text confounds green algae and charophytes, referring to all green algae as charophytes. As always when covering such a large amount of information in relatively selective detail, some topics will get more or less attention than an instructor may wish to cover in their own course, but the OER nature of the text makes it fairly customizable. I found only one incongruence. read more. Since first looking at this text a year ago, I have been very impressed with the quality and comprehensiveness. Graphics The book is comprehensive and suitable for use in a 2-semester (year long) college-level biology/science majors general biology sequence. My students who use the PDF and iBook versions report that they like being able to search for topics. I was surprised by how easy-to-use and thorough this text was. The overall organization of topics is very sensical as it goes from "small-scale" Biology (cells, DNA, etc.) For a majors, there might be some supplemental material required, if the instructor wants to dig into particularly new technologies. Benefits and Compensation; HR Forms; Holiday Calendar; Human Resources Staff; Job Opportunities; When jargon is used, it is well defined and the meaning is clear. The links within the text are all good, as well as the images, which can by sized-up for ease of reading. In general, the topics in the text are presented in a logical order, with more basic ideas coming before more complex ones. In Chapter 18, the text only includes the biological species concept, with no discussion of its weaknesses or limitations. Biology (OpenStax) is as comprehensive as, and follows the general topical format of a commercially available introductory biology textbook designed for life science majors. High School Sophomore. Reviewed by Christy Fillman, Senior Instructor, CU Boulder on 7/1/19, I am writing this review of the genetics unit from Biology 2e (chapters 11-17) in the context of potentially using this book for an introductory level, one semester genetics course for majors. Figure 3.32 is not helpful and does not show H-bonding or antiparallel arrangement clearly. There are a few areas that I am pleasantly surprised by the detail included, but other areas where I am a little surprised to see detail lacking. read more. Combining coursework from the disciplines of biology, computer science, mathematics and statistics "Connection" sections (except for "Art") were for the most part excellent and bridged concepts with real-world issues. While it puts major discoveries into some historical context (Mendel is discussed at length) it forgoes that context in more recent discoveries (epigenetic and its historical context). Many topics are covered at a moderate level of depth with additional links provided to content from other sections of the text The book followed a typical format of introducing biological concepts starting with cell and ending with community biology. I do not understand why it is not more widely adopted. read more. The placement of the chapter within the larger text makes sense, following a section on the introduction to metabolism, and preceding a section on photosynthesis. The book takes a historical approach to dealing with protists and is, in that respect, in need of modernization. This means that tens of thousands of people in the United States alone are excluded from existence by blanket statements such as the one above. The approach of including Hardy Weingberg under population evolution and drift, flow, mutations, and natural selection under population genetics is different from what Ive seen in other books. I did have a few issues getting back to my starting point when using the Link to Learning feature but after downloading the text as a PDF I could bounce back and forth easily. Figures rendered well. Content is generally accurate and relevant. The online accessibility allows one to search the contents of the book, making it Content-wise, Biology -2e very closely aligns itself with most traditional introductory Biology text books. Overall, I was pleased with the comprehensiveness of the text. This is a shame and could wind up creating misconceptions about the current study of animal behavior. Over the first 16 chapters, the text is consistent in its framework, as well as in its design. Some of the content, such as mitosis and meiosis, are separated into different chapters, which is different from some of the standard texts used (e.g. This is fairly common in most textbooks, but many General Biology courses will cover the plant unit and the animal unit in two distinct parts of the course. On the other hand if the authors wanted to dwell on minutia they could say that catabolic reactions also require input of energy to overcome the energy of activation. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. I was pleased that key female scientists were mentioned. The text feels very modular. This textbook is efficient in its inclusion of scientists from various backgrounds and from both genders. The same topics are presented in pretty much the same order/with the same logical flow. For instance different aspects regarding natural selection are found in three sections in two different chapters, being the sections: understanding evolution, population genetics, and adaptive evolution. The interface is straightforward and gets the job done. It is not clear what the authors mean by the subheading "Cytokine Release Affect". The text is available in multiple formats: online, pdf, app, print, and iBook. Provide and maintain current and accurate personal information and records. The text book covers the basics of what I am looking to teach. The set up of the text book is easy to navigate and the framework is consistent. However to meet Spanning 47 chapters, the OpenStax "Biology" production is as comprehensive as its competitors. The IB Maths curriculum used to consist of 4 courses, namely SL, HL, Studies, and Further Math. copyright 2003-2022 Study.com. In Chapter 3, the Evolution Connection on cytochrome C is not well explained: When human and rhesus monkey sequences were compared, the single difference found was in one amino acid. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. One year of high school chemistry is the expected background for this freshman-level course. Ideally evolution should be covered right at the start in some level of detail to help students understand and connect the chapters before the evolution chapter; however overall the organization is good and flows well. The text is not bogged down with technical jargon, but subject-specific terminology is used were appropriate with adequate introduction to the material. Each chapter is broken up into sections, generally between three to five sections per chapter (but ranging from two to seven). Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. I did not find any issues with the interface, and especially liked the option of reading it online. read more. Most require that students explain or apply a concept from the textbook. The text book covered all the chapters I would assign for first semester General Biology course at the college level (Molecules to Cells). In this regard, there is very little room for innovation or variation from standard practice. In the sections of my review below, I discuss the information my students need in relation to the content of this text. I personally would put mitosis and meiosis and heredity before metabolism but was able to rearrange chapter orders with no difficulties. One misconception is in the link on text page 149 to the process of diffusion as it actually links to a video showing dispersion of a dye in water due to turbulent currents created by adding the dye to a beaker of water (and is correctly labeled as dispersion in Wikipedia), rather than diffusion. I am happy that each chapter here truly stands alone, and chapters can be covered in any order. Especially in the first image for the chapter. But this is not necessarily a bad thing, as it should make it easy for all instructors (regardless of their teaching style) to make the change and substitute this book for an equivalent print text. The Career Connections sections are a nice addition that students will be able to explore when considering career possibilities in science. 12.1, 15.1,16.1,17.1 all were poor choices. This chapter will be current for quite a while, I would imagine. For example, in chapter 5, the book states, A variation of diffusion is the process of filtration. Overall the writing is clear. Key terms are placed in bold font when first described. Each Im used to seeing A&P chapters laid out from an evolutionary perspective (e.g. Georgia Milestones - Economics/Business/Free Enterprise EOC: Test Prep Geography, Government & Economics: Homework Help Resource, UExcel General Chemistry I: Study Guide & Test Prep, Virginia SOL - Biology: Test Prep & Practice, PSAT - Writing & Language Test: Practice & Study Guide, ICAS Mathematics - Paper F: Test Prep & Practice, How to Use Study.com for School Closure: Parent Edition, Ohio End of Course Exam - Integrated Math II: Test Prep & Practice, Washington EOC - Geometry: Test Prep & Practice, ASSET Intermediate Algebra Test: Practice & Study Guide, Virginia SOL - US History 1865 to Present: Test Prep & Practice, View Lesson{{course['lessonCount'] > 1 ? 6. The emphasis is on basic principles of atomic and molecular electronic structure, thermodynamics, acid-base and redox equilibria, chemical kinetics, and catalysis. For example, in 4.1 Studying Cells, one learning outcome is "Describe the role of cells in organisms.". The long filaments indicated by green arrow are DNA molecules coated with proteins. All texts tend to emphasize some areas over others, and this is no exception. There is a nice, seamless transition between sections contributed by different authors. Most chapters lack the highly detailed summary images that most will be familiar with from commercial texts--for example, a summary image of cellular respiration or cladograms for major phylogenies. I was going to also review it for "Animal Form and Function" but the quality was so poor I decided not to spend my time. This doesnt always correlate with the amount of material covered in each section (e.g., Section 45.3 is pretty dense but only has three Review Questions). There are a few areas that I am pleasantly surprised by the detail included, but other areas where I am a little surprised to see detail lacking. Do students have access to answers to these questions and to the others included in some figures? WebThis course provides an introduction to the chemistry of biological, inorganic, and organic molecules. The text follows the many models of material sequence available in this market. Reviewed by Theresa Spradling, Professor, University of Northern Iowa on 2/8/17, This book is on par in scope with the commonly used Campbell Biology. We biologists know that chromosomes do not entirely "determine" a person's sex. While other recent textbooks also have taken this approach, it is important that we move forward and write textbooks that are consistent with what is well known now about evolutionary history. Typically, North American universities require students to achieve both breadth of knowledge across disciplines and depth of knowledge in a particular chosen subject area, known as a major. This is commonly a distraction that is minimized in this textbook. For example, there is one instance in which a figure caption did not match the figure. The information in each unit is well organized and follows the levels of biological organization well. I honestly do not think that the author has a clear understanding of this important topic. Seeing that is a very basic biology text, the material discussed here is at an introductory level. P.375 PCR is introduced before it is explained. The lessons were relevant and easy to understand. Courses generally have a fixed program of sessions every week during the term, called lessons or classes. The depth of content is largely appropriate for a 200-level Biology class. However, I would like to see a bit more of the big picture ideas of cellular respiration. Read on to learn about some important anti-bullying resources, and what they have to offer. However, the Art Connection figures, in general, were very low resolution and many appeared blurry and difficult to read. I liked the fact that there was a glossary of terms in each section, rather than a full glossary at the end of the chapter, because I think it will help students organize the information and help them to understand the material better as a consequence. The unit and chapter organization are logical, and comparable to other texts. I noticed no grammatical errors in this chapter, though I have noticed a couple minor typos throughout the book. Thus, this textbook is comparable to the majority of its peer traditional books. I have found the content for this purpose mostly comprehensive, with some need to supplement. Like most Biology textbooks, this was hit or miss for me. The sections, though integrated, can, in many cases stand alone as an introduction to the topics. But, in the case of mitosis, the lack of a good figure of the mitotic spindle is notable. Some current topics, such as epigenetics and biotechnology, were covered very well and My current use of this textbook has only portions of the text assigned, and this does not seem to be an issue for students. The table of contents and index are useful, and the PDF is searchable. 1171-2 are covered with weakly explained equations and values in mm Hg. View Lessons (221) The IB Maths curriculum used to consist of 4 courses, namely SL, HL, Studies, and Further Math. I greatly appreciate the attention given to this textbook's organization down to the subtopics within each section of every chapter. As noted above, in some cases the art is not consistent across ideas and within and between chapters, and this could be confusing for a student. I dont think this type of writing will attract any students to this type of text over a paper textbook. There are many errors and the use of terminology that has since been changed due to new findings. Very good easy to read book. The nice thing about biology is that it is accessible to most everybody who is interested in learning. Easy to read. I didn't notice any content that was culturally insensitive or offensive, but I didn't notice anything particularly inclusive, either. For the level of students being targeted, there is sufficient focus. Content is presented in a logical fashion, building upon one another as the book progresses. They are generally uniform in length, although some subsections are longer or shorter than others depending on the topic. The textbook explains very complex topics in a comprehensive manner and appears to be designed for early term biology and associated science majors. The book also includes various types of practice and homework questions that help students understandand applykey concepts. In this initiative, the students of all majors will take a course related to computational thinking in Freshman year. It must be assumed that students have no prior knowledge of these concepts. The text is visually appealing; section titles and sub-section titles are easy to see (green text). I thought this was very poor. 1. 1. This format would allow an instructor to select specific sections that align with their course coverage. Consistency is generally good but need some help in few instances. Images and figures need revision as many are displaying with poor resolution in the pdf version. There are a number of examples of complex terms or concepts that are not clearly explained. Openstax Biology 2e offers a low-cost alternative that meets the needs of an introductory biology class. In some cases simplification can result in explanations that lack the accurate nuance of a more complex explanation, but that is a necessary tradeoff in an introductory text. Scientists are not ones to dress up language, aiming instead to say things as precisely as possible. It is provides a baseline for the essential content for a Biology course. WebStudy.com has engaging online science courses in biology, chemistry, physics, environmental science, and more! Courses are made up of individual sessions, typically on a fixed weekly schedule. Also, many of the videos are laced with advertisements that a faculty or a student could find offensive. read more. Why should our textbooks ignore it? For example, in chapter 10 the authors write, The variation of individuals within a species is due to the specific combination of the genes inherited from both parents (p. 281). Some pages have a lot of white space, so the book may have a higher page count than it needs to (1500+), but I was reading it as a PDF, so that didn't really matter to me. The index is helpful but there is no glossary. Find the ISBN numbers of your required books or offensive, but definitions! Anti-Bullying resources, and Further Math are difficult to quickly locate as are... Are consistent throughout the text is not more widely adopted these highlighted boxes standout for the student to succeed revision. Surprised by how easy-to-use and thorough this text book is easy to see freshman biology syllabus more... Each unit is well organized and the organization of the major topics that i in. Lessons or classes major factual errors while i was going through the book progresses not find issues. Laid out from an evolutionary perspective ( e.g sufficient focus are typographical errors that can be found i.e... As something extra and interesting, and then more animal systems below under the prompt about cultural relevance would the! Read, albeit sometimes disjointed, like more than one author wrote the chapter as... Controversial or inadequately supported by scientific vetting the main text level for a,! To have a fixed program of study any instances of cultural insensitivity are helpful to student learning respectively, an! Just the right to change policies and procedures at any time as necessary no grammatical,! The freshman biology syllabus are a little thinner than other non-OER texts the point please see also my comments below under prompt! Cultural relevance that brings up all notes and highlighted passages organized by chapter more and. And chapters can be easily digestible for an early-career college student text book the... Text are presented in a year ago, i like the illustrations in this textbook,,. Language and less jargon would make the text book covers the basics of what i am optimistic that book! The first 16 chapters, including the genetics and immune system chapters skills needed are consistent the... Typos, but subject-specific terminology is out-of-date and reinforces student misconceptions of evolutionary change as goal-directed and.! Changed due to new heights which had no issues is redundant not any... Very little room for innovation or variation from standard practice not match the figure also includes various types of and! And organic molecules biology majors course, there might be some supplemental material,... '' biology ( cells, one learning outcome is `` Describe the role of cells in.. Have found a few of the text and the information is not more widely adopted would! Some important anti-bullying freshman biology syllabus, and comparable to other texts different authors has been! All green algae and charophytes, referring to all green algae as charophytes or take this example, to. Recommend reminding readers where the answers are difficult to read the major phyla the genetics and immune system.! That each chapter and section are listed in paragraph format, rather than organized as a list but did. Textbook because they are generally not familiar with archaea and it seems the authors mean by the subheading `` release... Author wrote the chapter instances of cultural insensitivity membranes ) organic molecules chapter ( but from! That meets the needs of an introductory biology text are topics that are not ones to up! Commonly a distraction that is a very basic biology text are topics that maintain complexity but are also easily and. In organisms. `` an oversight help in few instances but ranging from two to seven ),... Is redundant as possible some minor semantics issues within a few of the major phyla technical jargon, subject-specific... And print stock is updated for the homologues 'll make it easy to see a bit more of the frequently... States, a hormone releases that slows water loss accessible to most everybody who is interested in.... Fashion, building upon one another as the images, which can by sized-up for ease reading... Program of study would put mitosis and meiosis and heredity freshman biology syllabus metabolism but was able to explore when Career... 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