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Peer Review

Contemporary Families: An Equity Lens

Reviewed:
Sep 19, 2022 by Sociology
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.8 stars
Content Quality: 4.8 stars
Effectiveness: 4.8 stars
Ease of Use: 5.0 stars
Overview:

This is an OER textbook that covers equity of contemporary families based on the questions: “What do families need?” and “How do society and institutions support or get in the way of families getting what they need?”.  The focus of the text is on current American families.  It also covers how families have evolved, what the practices are of immigrant cultures in America and how other countries develop systems that affect families. The text also utilizes emperical research and data that are collected in a variety of ways.  The data is analyzed and presented to further understanding.

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

In class, Individual, Lecture

Technical Requirements:

Basic computer skills.  Material was accessed using google chrome and accessibility was checked using google read and write.  It can be accessed via an internet browser (with links to video clips) or PDF reader. 

Identify Major Learning Goals:

1.  Students will have a better understanding of equity in the social structure of the American family.  2. Students will be able to better understand how privilege, power, oppression, and discrimination impact the equity of American families.|3.  Students will be able to identify key theoretical perspectives related to equity of families in America.  4.  Students will be able to identify key sociological concepts related to equity of families in America.

Target Student Population:

Social Science, High School, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Basic computer skills and social science concepts. 

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

The book is generally appropriate in explaining concepts and perspectives related to families. Emphasis is placed on social constructionism (identity construction), inequality, and social justice. 

Concerns:
  • More elaborate discussion of Marxist and materialist perspectives on families and intimate relations (particularly Engels and Marxist feminists) is needed. 
  • Deeper discussion on the sociological studies on the racial-ethnic and sexual complexities of families, particularly related to Chicanx/Latinx, Middle Eastern, queer of color, trans-folks of color, and other families.
  • Introductory discussion on poor and marginalized families located in Third World (globally poor) countries is needed.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

Identifies learning objectives for each section (chapter) through active reading questions. Organized to cover basics of material first and builds on those basic concepts through the rest of the text.  There is a foundation for curriculum integration and assessment measurement opportunities.  Chapters contain bolded key terms, clear section titles, and figures (charts) and photos.

Concerns:

As an open access textbook it is lacking learning resources such as chapter summaries and review questions.  Instructors using this book would need lesson plans to link concepts across chapters and guide discussion facilitation.   

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

This is an easy to navigate OER Text.  Basic website navigation is all that is needed to access the material.  Definition links are incorporated within the text via hovering over bold terms option, links to additional resources are built in and videos are embedded for concept learning and support.  Illustrations are provided where appropriate and the design offers interactivity within each section.  In general, the book is visually interesting and easy to navigate. The layout is clear and consistent.  The internet version ensures universal design for learning. 

Concerns:

Screen reader used picks up information in text but does not catch the imbedded hyperlinks or videos.

Other Issues and Comments:

Sections of chapters 4, 7, and 9 and all of chapters 1 and 2 were viewed for the purposes of this peer review.

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