Critical Reading, Thinking, and Literacy

Purpose: to help other instructors teaching the same course

Common Course ID: READ 290
CSU Instructor Open Textbook Adoption Portrait

Abstract:  This open textbook is being utilized in a Reading course for undergraduate students by Valerie Hannah at California State University, Fullerton. The zero-cost course materials help students develop critical thinking and literacy skills. The main motivation to adopt an open textbook was to save students money, increase their engagement with the materials, include more multimedia resources and more timely resources. Most student access the zero-cost course materials on the course Canvas site.

Course Title and Number: READ 290: Critical Reading, Thinking, and Literacy

Brief Description of course highlights:  Relationship of critical reading to critical thinking. Develop critical thinking skills with application in interpretation, analysis, criticism and advocacy of ideas encountered in academic readings.

Student population: Includes a mix of first-year and upper-level students. The course has many majors, as this class counts toward the required courses for the department. Students outside the department are also common, as this course fulfills the A.3 Critical Thinking general education requirement.

Learning or student outcomes:  Develop critical thinking skills with application in interpretation, analysis, criticism and advocacy of ideas encountered in academic readings. This includes topics like considering worldviews, exploring bias, understanding diversity and equity, and the critical thinking processes needed to understand them.  

Textbook or OER/Low cost Title: Required readings are made up from a variety of zero-cost resources. 

Brief Description: A collection of materials, including YouTube videos, podcast episodes, and other free resources.

Please provide information about your resources:
Critical Thinking, Logic, and Argument: An Introduction by Eric Dayton and Kristin Rodier

Critical Thinking in Academic Research by Cindy Gruwell and Robin Ewing

Other unlimited library ebooks like
Unraveling Assumptions: A Primer for Understanding Oppression and Privilege by Karen L. Suyemoto, Roxanne A. Donovan, Grace S. Kim.

Student access:  Students accessed the resources in Canvas

Provide the cost savings from that of a traditional textbook.  $54.99 per student

OER/Low Cost Adoption Process

Provide an explanation or what motivated you to use this textbook or OER/Low Cost option. Saving students money, including more timely resources on current topics, and more multimedia resources like videos to help boost student engagement.

How did you find and select the open textbook for this course? Consulted with librarians and other library staff to upload materials to Canvas's Leganto Reading lists tool. Searching on YouTube, TitanGPT (our campus AI chatbot), and Google.

Sharing Best Practices:  The sustainability of open education relies on sharing with others. Please give suggestions for faculty who are just getting started with OER or Low Cost options. List anything you wish that you had known earlier.

Describe any key challenges you experienced, how they were resolved  and lessons learned.  Don't be afraid to ask for help!

Instructor Name - Valerie Hannah
I am a Reading and Literacy instructor at California State University, Fullerton. 

Please provide a link to your university page.
https://ed.fullerton.edu/reading/about-us/faculty/

Please describe the courses you teach I teach READ 290.

Describe your teaching philosophy and any research interests related to your discipline or teaching.  Helping students develop a love for life-long learning and transfer of skills from classroom to other courses and life