American Government

Purpose: to help other instructors teaching the same course

Common Course ID: Political Science 110 
CSU Instructor Open Textbook Adoption Portrait

Abstract: This open textbook is being utilized in a political science course for undergraduate or graduate students by Noah Zerbe, Ph.D. at Humboldt State University. The open textbook provides an exploration of the American government with the same level of breadth and depth of coverage as any traditional textbook. The main motivation to adopt an open textbook was to save students money. Most students access the open textbook as .pdfs online.

Course Title and Number - PSCI 110
Brief Description of course highlights:  PSCI 110 has no prerequisites. It meets the “US Constitution and California state and local government” general education requirement. Course catalog

Student population:  The class isn’t required for political science majors, but it is one of only four classes at HSU that meet the “US & California Government” requirement, so it’s likely taken by non-majors seeking to fulfill their GE requirements. The class is a lower division introduction course.
Learning or student outcomes:  None listed

Key challenges faced and how resolved: Not all the OER I find meets all my  expectations, but neither did all of the traditional textbooks. To mitigate this, I supplement my OER textbooks with articles and other free reading materials.

Textbook or OER/Low cost Title: American Government 2e

Brief Description: American Government 2e is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the single-semester American Government course. This title includes innovative features designed to enhance student learning, including Insider Perspective features and a Get Connected module that shows students how they can get engaged in the political process. The book provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of American Government and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them.
Authors:  Glen Krutz (Content Lead), Sylvie Waskiewicz, PhD (Lead Editor)
Student access: My OER materials are available online as .pdfs, but you can also pay to order a print copy.

Supplemental resources: I will regularly share information via my Twitter feed (@NRZ999) using the hashtag #HSUPSCI110. You are welcome to follow me on Twitter if you wish. The most recent tweets will be available at the bottom of the course Canvas page, and an achieve of tweets will be maintained through Canvas.

Cost Savings:  The last time I checked, I saw that the textbooks he used to use or would otherwise be using without OER were all around the $200 price range.
License: Creative Commons Attribution License v4.0

OER/Low Cost Adoption Process

Provide an explanation or what motivated you to use this textbook or OER/Low Cost option. FI started using OERs as I noticed the prices of textbooks slowly creeping up from $40 to somewhere around $200. I couldn’t justify charging students so much when many of them are homeless or struggling to afford food.

How did you find and select the open textbook for this course? I mentioned first hearing about OER through statewide LISTSERVs and then working from there.

Sharing Best Practices: I suggested going to an OER workshop to learn how to get started. It takes time developing the ancillary materials that often come with traditional textbooks but don’t with OER. Workshops can help you develop strategies and point you in the right direction towards OER that work for your class.

Share any curricular or pedagogical changes that you made: Since utilizing OERs in my classroom, I've been developing more open pedagogy assignments. For one of my finals in my International Studies class, students are asked to look for or create additional resources that might be helpful next time the class is taught. For example, one of his students developed a glossary for the open textbook they were using because it didn’t have one before.

Describe any challenges you experienced, and lessons learned. It is the time and energy consuming having to replace the ancillary materials that come pre-packaged with commercial textbooks that I can no longer use. These materials (like test bank questions and slides) have to sometimes be made by hand when the OER texts don’t provide them for you. They also have to be maintained and updated without any help when newer editions come out.

Noah Zerbe, Ph. D.  
Humboldt State University