PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

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  Sharing Stories of Hope and Transformation in U.S. Higher Education: An eReader by Portland State University Students

  Óscar Fernández and David Peterson del Mar

  This eReader showcases stories of hope and transformation written by diverse students enrolled in University Studies courses at Portland State University. The goal is to motivate first-year and transfer students to see that, in higher education, they are not alone in their personal, familial, and academic struggles—and personal, familial, and educational achievements.

  ...  Read More
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  #OnYGo

  Géraldine Blattner, Amanda Dalola, and Stéphanie Roulon

  #OnYGo is an innovative first-year French language e-textbook, designed as Open Educational Resource (OER), for learning beginning French (equivalent to one year at an American university). It is inspired by a remix of task-based, multiliteracies and communicative approaches, which provides students with opportunities to engage with French language and culture in a variety of contexts and situations, across a range of modalities. Through a wide range of activities, students develop ...  Read More

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  Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí!

  Jenny Ceciliano and Lisa Notman

  Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí! focuses on the development of communication skills in interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes while centering student voices. Activities engage learners in real exchanges of information on topics that are relevant to adult students. In addition to language-acquisition learning outcomes, this text supports learning outcomes in diversity, equity, inclusion, cultural sustainability, and social justice.

  Print on Demand
  Standard print copy (paperback)
  ...  Read More

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  Basic Concepts of Structural Design for Architecture Students

  Anahita Khodadadi

  This book aims to narrate fundamental concepts of structural design to architecture students such that they have minimum involvement with math problem-solving. Within this book, students learn about different types of loads, forces and vector addition, the concept of equilibrium, internal forces, geometrical and material properties of structural elements, and rules of thumb for estimating the proportion of some structural systems such as catenary cables and arches, trusses, and frame ...  Read More

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  Introduction to Mathematical Analysis I - 3rd Edition

  Beatriz Lafferriere, Gerardo Lafferriere, and Mau Nam Nguyen

  Video lectures explaining problem solving strategies are available

  Our goal in this set of lecture notes is to provide students with a strong foundation in mathematical analysis. Such a foundation is crucial for future study of deeper topics of analysis. Students should be familiar with most of the concepts presented here after completing the calculus sequence. However, these concepts will be reinforced through rigorous proofs.

  The lecture ...  Read More

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  Urban Literacy: Learning to Read the City Around You

  Leanne Claire Serbulo

  This book introduces students to the basic concepts of urban studies. It is an interdisciplinary text that was developed for lower-division undergraduate students. The book is organized into thematic chapters that explore different aspects of urban life, such as the environment, housing, and culture. Each chapter introduces a new way of conceptualizing the city, presents core theories and concepts, and provides examples and case studies from cities around the globe ...  Read More

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  An Introduction to Number Theory

  J. J. P. Veerman

  These notes are intended for a graduate course in Number Theory. No prior familiarity with number theory is assumed.

  Chapters 1-14 represent almost 3 trimesters of the course. Eventually we intend to publish a full year (3 trimesters) course on number theory. The current content represents courses the author taught in the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.

  It is a work in progress. If you have questions or comments, please ...  Read More

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  PDX Protests, Summer 2020: A Syllabus and Timeline

  Francheska Cannone, Nate Belcik, Macy Franken, Kelly Green, Sarah Harris, Philippe Kerstens, Vicky White, and Katrine Barber

  This syllabus and timeline of the protests organized in Portland throughout the summer and early fall of 2020 was compiled and written by Portland State University students enrolled in Professor Katrine Barber’s HST 4/593, Introduction to Public History in Fall 2020. It was prepared in partnership with the Oregon State University Press and presented to them at the conclusion of the course. It combines local Portland journalism with a number ...  Read More

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  CITOYEN.NE.S: Conversation en Français

  Annabelle Dolidon

  CITOYEN.NE.S is a French language method for the conversation class at the intermediate/ advanced level. Content and activities are built around the concepts of diversity, inclusivity and equity, and engage students to practice French while questioning and participating in the world they live in – to be full citizens whatever their background, their race or their gender identity. As the French spelling of the title indicates, the book embraces écriture ...  Read More

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  Decoding the 1920s: A Reader for Advanced Learners of Russian

  Nila Friedberg

  Adopt/Adapt
  If you are an instructor adopting or adapting this open educational resource, please fill out this form.

  To contact Nila Friedberg, please see her Portland State University profile page.

  Abstract
  The materials presented in this book were developed for an advanced-level content-based Russian language course at Portland State University entitled “Russian Literature of the Twentieth Century: The 1920s.” Literature of this period is ...  Read More

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  Navigating the Space Between Us

  Robert Gould

  Navigating the Space Between Us - Finding Connection, while Embracing the Continua of Difference: A Dilemma Driven Conflict Analysis was developed as an upper division undergraduate textbook for a conflict resolution CR 310U Values and Ethics course (required for a PSU bachelor's degree in CR) and adaptable to a conflict resolution CR 513 graduate course (required for PSU master's degree in CR). Its intended audience are students from Portland State ...  Read More

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  Human Development

  Portland State University. Human Development Teaching and Learning Group

  This open textbook is designed for Human Development, a core Psychology course. This course provides a bird’s eye view of major milestones and developmental tasks during each age period, starting at conception and ending with old age.

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  OER Guide for WR 227 Instructors: Using Open Educational Resources (OERs) in WR 227 Courses

  Sarah Read, Jordana Bowen, and Henry Covey

  The "OER Guide for WR 227 Instructors: Using Open Educational Resources (OERs) in WR 227 Courses" aims to help instructors make sense of and sort the massively decentralized and varying content of existing OERs available to support technical and professional writing courses. This guide is intended as a resource for introductory technical writing course instructors to adapt an existing course to integrate OER resources, or, to build a new course ...  Read More

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  Mostly Harmless Statistics

  Rachel Webb

  This text is for an introductory level probability and statistics course with an intermediate algebra prerequisite. The focus of the text follows the American Statistical Association’s Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE). Software examples provided for Microsoft Excel, TI-84 & TI-89 calculators. A formula packet and pdf version of the text are available on the website http://mostlyharmlessstatistics.com. Students new to probability and statistics are ...  Read More

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  The Balance of Personality

  Chris Allen

  This open access textbook was developed as an upper division undergraduate textbook for theories of personality. Its intended audience are students from Portland State University enrolled in Psychology 432 Personality course. The chapters are shorter than some personality textbooks and in this particular course Psy 432 the textbook is combined with other readings including scientific articles on personality. This open access textbook may be of interest to other courses interested ...  Read More

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  Literary Form and Analysis: Instructional Materials for English 300

  Josh Epstein

  This OER packet comprises instructional materials used for ENG 300: Literary Forms and Analysis, a "gateway" course for the English major and minor at Portland State University. It includes handouts, exercises, and a sample syllabus for this course, emphasizing skills of "close reading" and formal analysis, as well as the scholarly study of genre (poetry, fiction, drama, and film). The syllabus and handouts offered in this packet represent only one ...  Read More

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  Lectures on Mathematical Computing with Python

  Jay Gopalakrishnan

  This open resource is a collection of class activities for use in undergraduate courses aimed at teaching mathematical computing, and computational thinking in general, using the python programming language. It was developed for a second-year course (MTH 271) revamped for a new undergraduate program in data science at Portland State University. The activities are designed to guide students' use of python modules effectively for scientific computation, data analysis, and visualization.

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  Climate Toolkit: A Resource Manual for Science and Action - Version 2.0

  Frank Granshaw

  The Climate Toolkit is a resource manual designed to help the reader navigate the complex and perplexing issue of climate change by providing tools and strategies to explore the underlying science. As such it contains a collection of activities that make use of readily available on-line resources developed by research groups and public agencies. These include web-based climate models, climate data archives, interactive atlases, policy papers, and “solution” catalogs. Unlike ...  Read More

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  Community Resilience to Climate Change: Theory, Research and Practice

  Dana E. Hellman and Vivek Shandas

  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 ...  Read More

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  Paranormal Psychology: PSY410

  Larry R. Martinez

  This OER packet contains the course materials for PSY410: Paranormal Psychology. Although often dismissed as a pseudoscience, there are many things we can learn about human beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors by studying phenomena that our current science cannot explain. The course begins with a history of real scientific studies that have been conducted to try and determine whether things like extrasensory perception, telepathy, and telekinesis are real phenomena, with a ...  Read More

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  Relativity Lite: A Pictorial Translation of Einstein’s Theories of Motion and Gravity

  Jack C. Straton

  Relativity Lite is designed for the General Astronomy sequence (PH 361-2U, SCI 315-6U) whose primary book glosses over Special Relativity and General Relativity while trying to explain the Cosmology that is based on those subjects. Relativity Lite translates the mathematical equations conventional relativity texts rely upon into pictures that are readily understood and contain within them the mathematical essentials. This book provides the comprehensive coverage needed to understand, in sufficient ...  Read More

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  Inferring and Explaining

  Jeffery L. Johnson

  Inferring and Explaining is a book in practical epistemology. It examines the notion of evidence and assumes that good evidence is the essence of rational thinking. Evidence is the cornerstone of the natural, social, and behavioral sciences. But it is equally central to almost all academic pursuits and, perhaps most importantly, to the basic need to live an intelligent and reflective life.

  The book further assumes that a particular model ...  Read More

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  Daily Departures: Speed Reading Passages for English Language Learners

  Regina D. Weaver

  Daily Departures: Speed Reading Passages for English Language Learners is a collection of twenty 200-225 word reading passages written primarily within the 1,000-word level of the New General Service List and designed to provide fluency support for English language learners at the Waystage level of the Common European Framework Reference.

  Adopt/Adapt
  This textbook was imported into Pressbooks on July 1, 2020, to make it easier for instructors ...  Read More

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  EmpoWord: A Student-Centered Anthology & Handbook for College Writers

  Shane Abrams

  EmpoWord is a reader and rhetoric that champions the possibilities of student writing. The textbook uses actual student writing to exemplify effective writing strategies, celebrating dedicated college writing students to encourage and instruct their successors: the students in your class.

  Through both creative and traditional activities, readers are encouraged to explore a variety of rhetorical situations to become more critical agents of reading, writing, speaking, and listening in all facets ...  Read More

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  Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 3

  Emiko Konomi

  This is the final book in a three book series and includes Lessons 9 - 10. Book 1 and Book 2 are also available for download.

  This textbook is designed for beginning learners who want to learn basic Japanese for the purpose of living and working in Japan. Unlike textbooks written primarily for students, whose content largely centers on student life, this book focuses ...  Read More