General Biology
General Biology
Concepts of Biology
Common Course ID: BIOL 130S
CCC Instructor Open Textbook Adoption Portrait
Abstract: This open textbook is being utilized in a general biology course for undergraduates by Wendy Riggs, M.S. and other biology instructors at College of the Redwoods. The book provides interesting applications of biology concepts with rich illustrations. Reducing costs for students was an important motivation to use the book, particularly as most are non-majors taking it as a science elective or for health careers. Students can access the textbook at the publisher's site in the format that best meets their needs, but it is also posted as a PDF at the college.
Reviews: This book has been reviewed by a CCC faculty member and a CSU faculty member from within the California higher education systems. There is also an Accessibility Evaluation.
About the Textbook
Description:
This textbook is designed for the introductory biology course for nonmajors taught at most two- and four-year colleges. The scope, sequence, and level of the program are designed to match typical course syllabi in the market. Concepts of Biology includes interesting applications, features a rich art program, and conveys the major themes of biology.
Authors:
- Samantha Fowler, Clayton State University
- Rebecca Roush, Sandhills Community College
- James Wise, Hampton University
Formats:
This textbook is available for free online, as a PDF and as Bookshare. You can also purchase the book on iTunes for $4.99 and as a printed book for $29.
Supplemental Resources:
Online homework tools and interactive study guides for students and faculty are provided. Faculty-only resources such as solutions and slides are also available.
Peer Reviews:
This book has been reviewed by a CCC faculty member and a CSU faculty member from within the California higher education systems. There is also an Accessibility Evaluation.
Cost Savings:
Students can experience significant savings depending on previous textbook selections. Biology: A Guide to the Natural World by David Krogh was the previous course text. This book is currently $125 from Amazon and was more expensive in our bookstore. Nine sections of General Biology are offered each semester, serving over 200 students. This is a potential annual savings for students of $50,000.
Accessibility and Diversity Statement from Publisher:
Not all formats of the textbook have been evaluated, but the most recent version of this open textbook is available in Bookshare format which supports Daisy and Braille-Ready-Format (BRF).
License:
Except where otherwise noted, Concepts in Biology by OpenStax College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even commercially, as long as they credit the author for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.
About the Course
BIOL 1: General Biology
Description:
An introductory course in life science dealing with basic biological concepts including molecular and cell biology, metabolism, heredity, evolution, ecology, natural history, and biodiversity.
Note: This course is designed for non-science majors and nursing/health occupation students. It is not open to students who have completed or who are currently enrolled in BIOL-3.
Recommended: ENGL-150
GE Credit: 4 units lecture/lab, UC and CSU transfer
Learning Outcomes:
- Apply the scientific method to critically evaluate observable phenomena.
- Describe attributes of life and how cells fulfill these characteristics.
- Relate the mechanisms of evolutionary change to the production of biological diversity.
Curricular Changes:
The only thing that changed in this class was the use of a free textbook. Nothing else changed, and although our instructors are interested in innovative pedagogy, this is possible with OER and without it.
Teaching and Learning Impact:
- More faculty collaboration: Yes
- Wider range of materials: Yes
- Student learning improved: Same
- Student retention improved: Not assessed
- Any unexpected results: None
Our General Biology instructors are definitely collaborating more as they all use the OER course materials that I have put together. There is some evidence that student retention is better with the use of the open materials (from the Kaleidoscope OER grant evaluation), but there has been no institutional assessment of this. There is, however, anecdotal evidence that OER has not decreased student success in the course.
Sample Assignment:
Evolution and Natural Selection Lab
This lab was put together by Dr. Jeff Hogue, one of our bio instructors. The lab has questions that students answer, and we discuss these in class. They also complete a weekly quiz that will have multiple choice questions dealing with the lab experience.
Syllabus
This is the syllabus I used for the Spring 2015 class.
Textbook Adoption
OER Adoption Process
I am very interested in reducing textbook costs, especially in a course where most of the students are non-majors. In 2011, I participated in Kaleidoscope (Next Generation Learning Challenge grant) project and worked on a team of Biologists to find OER for our non-majors course. At that time, our options were extremely limited and our group cobbled together a set of resources that we were partially happy with. However, within a year, OpenStax College came out with a non-majors biology textbook that is of excellent quality. Even though I had been offering a free, cobbled-together textbook, with the arrival of Concepts of Biology, it suddenly became much easier to use OER!
In my first iteration of OER, we could not offer students a printed copy of the book. However, once we adopted Concepts of Biology, we were able to create a customized copy of the text and order printed copies through Lulu.com. Our bookstore was incredibly supportive of our efforts to reduce student cost.
Student Access:
A PDF of the textbook is posted in the course management system. Students are able to purchase the book for about $30 from the bookstore, if they want a printed copy. They are given the OpenStax College website address so they can access the text in whichever format works best for them.
Student Feedback or Participation:
When students find out they don’t have to pay for the textbook, they throw a little party in our classrooms. They LOVE it.
I am a biology instructor at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, CA. I have been teaching at College of the Redwoods for 5 years and have taught Zoology, Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, Human Biology, and General Biology. I get fired up about active learning and free textbooks.
I have also been coordinating OER for the Biology department as it begins to utilize OER in many of its classes including Cell Biology, Zoology, and General Biology. In spring 2014, I gave a workshop before school started to share my experiences with open resources more widely.