Peer Review

Cengage OpenNow English Composition 2 Reading & Learning Objectives

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Jun 6, 2022 by English

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

Students build on what they learned in Comp I and practice critical reading, deepen knowledge about and how to use academic research, develop understanding of argument and other modes of persuasion, and practice revising and editing. Content is available in PDF and Open Document formats and is licensed CC BY. Learning Objectives also are provided. Full course offering available at https://www.cengage.com/c/opennow-english-composition-ii-1e-opennow-cengage

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

The best use of the material would be a combination of in-class and homework assignments. There are many useful checklists included to guide students. The modules are text heavy and the material is dense. The text is, however, divided into useable submodules that could guide use inside and outside of the classroom.

An additional use of the material would be as the basis for an online class where the instructor could copy and paste sections of the text into an LMS. To effectively use the text for a fully online class, instructors would want to spend significant time building a structure into which they could insert chunks of the material.

Technical Requirements:

Ability to open Word or .pdf files for text and Excel file for Learning Objectives

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The purpose of the document(s) is to introduce students to college level academic inquiry, research, and writing. Modules lead readers through focusing an inquiry, conducting and using research effectively, and the entire writing process. Although the modules contain detailed explanations of plagiarism and citation formatting for MLA, the text does not address grammar or mechanics.

Overarching goal: Students will be able to write research papers (English Composition 2)

Stated objectives:

Write summaries and critiques using analytical strategies and techniques.
Develop a research plan for an academic research topic.
Evaluate research for an academic research topic.
Cite and attribute sources in MLA format.
Implement strategies for initiating the writing process.
Create a rough draft of a research paper.
Write an effective argument.
Write to persuade an audience.

Target Student Population:

The text could work for the highest levels of high school students, but seems most appropriate for a second term college composition class which focuses on research skills. Although the text presents only MLA in detail, it could easily be used in disciplines other than English where writing is an important component of the coursework; for example, it could support a Writing Across the Curriculum initiative.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

English Composition 1 (basic essay writing skills)

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The text is very thorough in its discussion of basic college level research and writing. The material is chunked in meaningful, useable segments and provides summative checklists for application of the material covered in the segments.

Concerns:

The section on citations feels outdated, citing books first (as opposed to online sources, where most students go now); information about citing any visual information is missing.
No mention of linguistic diversity or tone makes the resource feel very geared toward students who already speak and write standard English.

The only reason this could not stand alone as a introductory textbook for freshman writing courses is the lack of grammar and mechanics. Additionally, the material is static, so the MLA section is already outdated.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The clearly outlined objectives of each section make the material easy to use to support student learning. There are detailed descriptions, numerous ways to approach specific parts of writing, and meaningful examples. The material can fairly easy be dipped into in small chunks to address specific learning goals. The material could be copied and pasted into an LMS in appropriate small chunks.

Overall organization would make it easy to use as a reference book (though a table of contents would be helpful).
Content and sequencing of material with corresponding learning outcomes could provide a strong basic course structure for teaching research essay structure, process and formatting.

Concerns:

There are no interactive components to this textbook. Outcomes are clearly stated in a separate document. But one would need student activities in order to be able to measure the outcomes.
Lack of rich content contexts (e.g. specific content-based units) allows the material to be accessible, but not particularly engaging in its own right.
Table of contents is not included. This would be helpful.

The material might be a hard sell to college students who are used to more interactive and visually stimulating ways of learning. This is a static document that is all text. Giving students the 96 pages all at one go would likely overwhelm them.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

Clear organization and layout of text make scanning for information easy.

Concerns:

Table of contents is not included.
More engaging visuals and presentation would help engage more students. (Paragraph/text presentation of almost all of the material makes this most suitable to students who already have strong language skills.)
There is no interactivity built into this book. Presumably, one would get the interactive exercises by subscribing to the “full course offering” for $120.

This is not interactive material. Instead, it is a large text file to be downloaded. There is no way to move around through the document other than to scroll through the 96 page text.

Other Issues and Comments:: The material was created in 2018. MLA updated in April 2021.
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