Material Detail

This open textbook is being utilized in a Sociology and Criminology & Justice Studies Career Readiness course for undergraduate students by Flor Saldana at Cal-State University San Marcos. The open and unlimited user textbooks provide readings to introduce students to career readiness and professional growth. Material covers career road maps, career success skills, assessing/exploring the self in connection to careers, resumes/cover letters/interviewing, building an online brand, building and managing networks, graduate school, mentorship, career readiness resources, and gaining experience by taking action in multiple career readiness tasks. The main motivation to adopt open textbooks was reduce course costs for students. Most students in the CSU system are working students and decreasing the burden of education costs was the main driver to have a zero-cost course. Most students access the open textbooks in their Library Reserves list available through the library.

The California State University and MERLOT have partnered to showcase how and why faculty have adopted Open Educational Resources (OER) to facilitate equitable access to their students’ course materials. This Faculty Showcase represent Open Educational Practices where faculty are sharing their "know-how" for adopting OER in their courses.