PDXOpen is an open access textbook publishing initiative to support Portland State faculty developing open access textbooks.
We work with faculty authors to publish high-quality open access textbooks designed specifically for their courses, that are free to students at our university and to anyone throughout the world.
Learn More: Open Access Textbooks
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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 of their lives. Straightforward and readable instruction sections introduce key vocabulary, concepts, and strategies. Three culminating assignments (Descriptive Personal Narrative; Text-Wrestling Analysis; Persuasive Research Essay) give students a chance to show their learning while also practicing rhetorical awareness techniques for future writing situations.
This textbook is designed for students of first- and second-year college composition courses (in Oregon, WR-115, 121, 122, and 222), but it is also a great tool for college prep students, more advanced writers, or independent learners. Early teachers are encouraged to use the textbook to support them in curriculum design, and experienced teachers can use it to supplement their tried-and-true methods.
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Transition with Purpose: Pathways from English Language to Academic Study
Michele Miller and Anne Greenhoe
This Open Access Textbook will guide students through their English language to academic degree studies.
Part one of this textbook is a guide for moving from ESL study to academic study at Portland State University*. It includes the resources students will use to understand policies and processes governing their degree study and their transition to academic coursework.
Part two focuses on how academic skills are used across various disciplines and is comprised of activities and assignments designed to practice these skills.
Key elements include culture and expectations in an American university, transferring academic skills from ESL to content-specific academic courses, and helpful exercises to be academically successful.
*While much of the content of this book relates specifically to Portland State University, it is our hope that the structure of the text and the activities within it may inspire adaptations to fit the needs of other colleges and universities.
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Sons et lettres: A Pronunciation Method for Intermediate-level French
Stephen Walton
Sons et lettres provides a set of classroom materials to train students to hear and produce the sounds of French and to recognize the regular spellings used to represent those sounds in print. The materials are inspired by a desire to help students feel more confident about their French pronunciation and more at home saying the many French words, familiar and unfamiliar, which they encounter in their studies, in French media and in their travels. In our experience, students are not given sufficient preparation to successfully decipher and pronounce French words. These materials are intended to fill that gap and to clear away the confusion that English speakers often feel when they see French words with seemingly mysterious combinations of letters. An accompanying instructor’s manual is forthcoming.
The associated website is an integral part of the method, providing extensive listening and speaking exercises. The Sons et lettres website address is: https://sons-et-lettres.com/
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Communication Beginnings: An Introductory Listening and Speaking Text for English Language Learners
Della Jean Abrahams
This textbook is designed for beginning-intermediate English language learners. It is composed of 7 chapters, each of which covers specific speaking and listening learning objectives and includes dialogues, interviews, discussions and conversation activities. Each chapter also focuses on 10 target words from the New General Service List of English vocabulary. The textbook includes an audio component that consists of recorded conversations of native and non-native English speakers, as well as links to additional listening resources on the web.
Audio files are also available online: https://media.pdx.edu/tag/tagid/communication%20beginnings
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
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Arabic and English Sentence Patterns: A Comparative Guide
Cliff Breedlove
This text explores verb time, tense, aspect, and mood through comparison of Arabic and English sentence patterns. It includes examples of the Arabic patterns from classical and popular sources so Arabic students can learn by explanation and example how to formulate cohesive and grammatically correct sentence structure.
While this guide is intended mainly for English-speaking students studying Arabic, the charts also provide a quick reference of English sentence patterns for Arabic speakers.
The book is designed as a supplement.
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Histoires d'Avenirs: Science-fiction pour le cours de français niveaux intermédiaire et avancé
Annabelle Dolidon and Stéphanie Roulon
Histoires d’Avenirs est un manuel basé sur neuf nouvelles de science fiction française qui s’adresse à un public d’apprenants étrangers (de niveaux intermédiaire et avancé) mais aussi à un public natif voulant approfondir ses connaissances de la science-fiction moderne - après un chapitre préliminaire qui rappelle les bases historiques du genre. Le manuel propose une approche holistique (stylistique, linguistique, et interculturelle) et sollicite une pensée critique au travers d’activités de lecture, interprétation, conversation, recherche et présentations, dans un double objectif : développer les compétences en français sur des sujets contemporains au travers de la fiction; et faire découvrir la science-fiction française et francophone aux apprenants étrangers.
Additional short stories are available below:
Les Bulles:
http://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/les-bulles/Carte Blanche:
http://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/carteblancheLes Miens:
https://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/lesmiens/Ceux Qui Marchent:
https://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/ceuxquimarchent/L'Anniversaire de Caroline:
https://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/anniversaire-de-caroline/Craqueur:
https://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/craqueurstory/Ce qui n’est pas nommé:
http://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/ce-qui-nest-pas-nomme/Les Années Métalliques:
http://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/les-annees-metalliques/ -
Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 2
Emiko Konomi
This is the second book in a three book series. The first book is available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.15760/pdxopen-4
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 more on social and professional life beyond school.
As a beginning level textbook, this book includes many elementary grammar patterns (Japanese Language Proficiency Test Levels 5 and 4), but the vocabulary and situations are selected specifically for working adults. Explanations are kept concise so as to only cover key points. The main focus is on oral communication and the accompanying audio is to be used extensively. This textbook can be used for self-study, as part of an online course, or as a traditional college course.
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Leyendas y arquetipos del Romanticismo español, Segunda edición
Robert Sanders
Leyendas y arquetipos del Romanticismo español is an introduction to nineteenth-century Spanish literature with a thematic focus on legends and archetypes. It presents Romanticism in the context of nineteenth-century literary and social movements. It is designed as a first anthology for intermediate Spanish students at American universities. Although brief, it includes poetry, drama in verse and short story. The works have been selected for their literary interest and the social importance of their themes. They are all by canonical authors.
New for the Second Edition: over 4000 vocabulary, historical and cultural annotations to facilitate reading and comprehension.
The Prologue and chapter introductions use circumlocution to facilitate comprehension, and include concrete examples of the concepts presented. The author biographies are brief and should not be used as study materials, but rather as starting points for students’ own exploration. Many students prefer following their own interests when researching author biographies, and the internet makes accessible a plethora of bibliographic resources, such as the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, the Centro Virtual Cervantes of the Cervantes Institute, or the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica of the Spanish National Library. Student participation in the selection of topics and sources emphasizes the investigative process and leads to richer class discussions.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
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How to be a Successful Organic Chemist
Alexander H. Sandtorv
How to be a successful organic chemist is meant as an introductory text for undergraduates taking organic chemistry teaching labs. The text is a clear and practical introduction to safety, chemical handling, organic chemistry techniques, and lab reports.
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Korean Through Folktales
KyungAh Yoon
Korean Through Folktales consists of four chapters and each centers on a famous Korean folktale. The lessons and values that famous folktales teach are embedded and permeated in various aspects of the Koran culture. Using folktales in the curriculum will provide an engaging way to expose students to a slice of the target culture that native Koreans are naturally exposed to at an early age. Through the selected folktales and various activities offered in the book, students can gain cultural knowledge and insights into traditional and cultural values while they are given linguistic lessons to reinforce their acquired skills and to apply the learned materials in an integrated approach.
Korean Through Folktales is designed to accompany 1st-year, 2nd-year, and 3rd-year Korean courses offered at Portland State University. However, any Korean teacher can adopt this book to supplement his/her course materials at elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels.
There are four chapters in the book. Each chapter will note main themes of a widely known folktale introduced in the chapter, followed by the links to several videos to watch and get a gist or a background of the story. The ensuing section will introduce important elements and symbolism embedded in the story so as to provide insights and to enhance the depth of appreciation. After that, three versions of the folktale are presented for different levels, followed by grammar lessons, exercises, and tasks.
Traces of folktales and allusions to them are evident in cultural products that many students enjoy, such as dramas, movies, and music. Therefore, knowledge in folktales will help students make cultural connections as well as enrich their experience of learning the Korean language.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
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PDX Journeys: Studying and Living in the US, Low-Intermediate Novel and Textbook for University ESL Students
Amber Bliss Calderón
Each unit begins with a chapter of fiction about a teacher and students in one ESL class. Reading comprehension and reading skills exercises follow. Prefix and suffix vocabulary-focus exercises are included. Academic Word List vocabulary exercises help students build a strong foundation in both receptive and productive knowledge. The following chapters in each unit expand on unit themes through non-fiction articles focusing on academic preparation, international experiences, and cultural adjustment. Vocabulary is repeated and comprehension and reading skills are further practiced.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
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Introduction to Mathematical Analysis I - Second Edition
Beatriz Lafferriere, Gerardo Lafferriere, and Nguyen Mau Nam
Video lectures explaining problem solving strategies are available: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGJo63ncs176uw8WQSrL-Kg/videos
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 notes contain topics of real analysis usually covered in a 10-week course: the completeness axiom, sequences and convergence, continuity, and differentiation. The lecture notes also contain many well-selected exercises of various levels. Although these topics are written in a more abstract way compared with those available in some textbooks, teachers can choose to simplify them depending on the background of the students. For instance, rather than introducing the topology of the real line to students, related topological concepts can be replaced by more familiar concepts such as open and closed intervals. Some other topics such as lower and upper semicontinuity, differentiation of convex functions, and generalized differentiation of non-differentiable convex functions can be used as optional mathematical projects. In this way, the lecture notes are suitable for teaching students of different backgrounds.
The second edition includes a number of improvements based on recommendations from students and colleagues and on our own experience teaching the course over the last several years.
In this edition we streamlined the narrative in several sections, added more proofs, many examples worked out in detail, and numerous new exercises. In all we added over 50 examples in the main text and 100 exercises (counting parts).
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Leyendas y arquetipos del Romanticismo español
Robert Sanders
This edition has been superseded. The 2nd edition is available here: https://doi.org/10.15760/pdxopen-10
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From MSA to CA: A Beginner's Guide for Transitioning into Colloquial Arabic
Lina Gomaa
This book is for students who have studied Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) for one year or more and would like to learn colloquial Arabic basics using their knowledge of MSA. It aims at transitioning learners from Novice Mid level to Intermediate Low through presenting situations useful for living in an Arab country. The book has several features including hyperlinks, practice dialogues with open answers, cultural tips, and more.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
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Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 1
Emiko Konomi
This is the first book in a three book series. The second book is available here: https://doi.org/10.15760/pdxopen-14
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 more on social and professional life beyond school.
As a beginning level textbook, this book includes many elementary grammar patterns (Japanese Language Proficiency Test Levels 5 and 4), but the vocabulary and situations are selected specifically for working adults. Explanations are kept concise so as to only cover key points. The main focus is on oral communication and the accompanying audio is to be used extensively. This textbook can be used for self-study, as part of an online course, or as a traditional college course.
Audio files are also available online: https://media.pdx.edu/tag/tagid/beginning%20japanese%201
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Introduction to Mathematical Analysis (First Edition)
Beatriz Lafferriere, Gerardo Lafferriere, and Nguyen Mau Nam
This edition has been superseded. The 2nd edition is available here: https://doi.org/10.15760/pdxopen-9
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Comprehensive Individualized Curriculum and Instructional Design
Samuel Sennott, Sheldon Loman, Kristy Lee Park, Luis F. Pérez, Michael J. Kennedy, John Romig, and Wendy J. Rodgers
This online textbook addresses the population of individuals with disabilities that experience complex lifelong needs across multiple areas in their lives. Drs. Sennott and Loman drafted this book (along with the help from some friends) with the hope of providing pertinent, practical, and current resources to future special educators who plan to serve individuals with complex disabilities.
Chapter 1: Guiding Principles for Developing Comprehensive and Meaningful Instruction for Individuals with Complex Needs by Sheldon L. Loman, provides readers with practical resources to develop their repertoire of tools for designing supports for individuals with significant needs.
Chapter 2: Naturalistic AAC Communication Intervention by Samuel Sennott, introduces the reader to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and shares specific intervention resources including the innovative naturalistic strategy: MODELER.
Chapter 3: Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis to Teach by Kristy Lee Park, provides an overview and examples of research-based approaches of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
Chapter 4: Developing Function-based Interventions by Sheldon Loman, shares a practical guide for the use of research-based critical features to design positive behavioral interventions based on the reasons why students engage in problem behaviors (i.e., function of student behavior).
Chapter 5: iOS 8 Accessibility by Luis F. Pérez, presents the latest information on the accessibility of mobile devices using the iOS 8 Apple operating system. This chapter embeds multiple video examples for improving the accessibility for mobile devices with this newest operating system.
Chapter 6: Using Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAPs) to Improve Vocabulary Instruction and Learning for Students with Disabilities and Their Teachers by Michael J. Kennedy, John Romig, and Wendy J. Rodgers, introduce a multimedia-based tool that can be created by teachers with technology they already have on their computers. In this chapter they provide examples of high-quality multimedia and step-by-step instructions for production.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
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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 A. Skinner, Thomas A. Kindermann, Robert W. Roeser, Cathleen L. Smith, Andrew J. Mashburn, and Joel Steele
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.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
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Gender and Sexualities: An Inquiry
Jason Gary Damron and Vicki L. Reitenauer
Gender and Sexualities: An Inquiry was created to accompany UNST 231 Sophomore Inquiry: Gender and Sexualities at Portland State University.
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Spatial Thinking in Planning Practice: An Introduction to GIS
Yiping Fang, Vivek Shandas, and Eugenio Arriaga Cordero
The goals of this textbook are to help students acquire the technical skills of using software and managing a database, and develop research skills of collecting data, analyzing information and presenting results. We emphasize that the need to investigate the potential and practicality of GIS technologies in a typical planning setting and evaluate its possible applications. GIS may not be necessary (or useful) for every planning application, and we anticipate these readings to provide the necessary foundation for discerning its appropriate use. Therefore, this textbook attempts to facilitate spatial thinking focusing more on open-ended planning questions, which require judgment and exploration, while developing the analytical capacity for understanding a variety of local and regional planning challenges.
While this textbook provides the background for understanding the concepts in GIS as applicable to urban and regional planning, it is best when accompanied by a hands-on tutorial, which will enable readers to develop an in-depth understanding of the specific planning applications of GIS. Chapters in this text book are either composed by the editors using Creative Common materials, or linked to a book chapter scanned copy in the library reserve. In the end of each chapter, we also provided several discussion questions, together with contextual applications through some web links.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
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Preadvanced Japanese
Emiko Konomi
This textbook is designed for students who have intermediate competency in Japanese, roughly at Level 2 on the ILR (The Interagency Language Roundtable) proficiency scale, and are working on reaching Level 3.
This textbook can be used for self-study, as part of online course, and in a traditional classroom setting. It is comprised of four chapters, intended to be covered in one term of a quarter system.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook