LibGuides: OER by Discipline: General Education Curriculum (GEC)

The following are only a few examples of OER textbooks and supplemental materials. Please email Arielle Vaverka at aevaverka@txwes.edu if you'd like to learn more about OER, if you'd like to suggest materials to have added to this list, or if you need help finding other no-or low-cost resources.

BIO 1410

BIO 1420

Biology 2e on OpenStax
Concepts of Biology on OpenStax
General Biology I: Survey of Cellular Biology on Open Textbook Library
General Biology II: Survey of Molecular Life and Genetics on Open Textbook Library

BIO 2401

Anatomy and Physiology on OpenStax
Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology - Australian Edition on Open Textbook Library
Human Anatomy Lab Manual on Open Textbook Library

BioInteractive
Multimedia resources that engage students in exploring the living world.
OpenStax Science
Peer-reviewed science textbooks from OpenStax.
Open Textbook Library Biology
Biology textbooks from the Open Textbook Library.
Virtual Lab and Science Resource Directory
Lists of free science resources designed to support remote science education.
Wikimedia Commons
A database of 27,108,942 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute.
PraxiLabs
Virtual labs for Chemistry, Biology, and Physics.

Chemistry

Courses
Additional resources

CHE 1415

CHEM 1416

Chemistry 2e on OpenStax
Chemistry: Atoms First 2e on OpenStax
The Basics of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry on Open Textbook Library
Principles of Modern Chemistry on LibreTexts

The ChemCollective
A collection of virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities, tutorials, and concept tests.
OpenStax Science
Peer-reviewed science textbooks from OpenStax.
Open Textbook Library Chemistry
Chemistry textbooks from the Open Textbook Library.
PhET Interactive Chemistry Simulations
PhET provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations.
Virtual Lab and Science Resource Directory
Lists of free science resources designed to support remote science education.
PraxiLabs
Virtual labs for Chemistry, Biology, and Physics.

English

Courses
Additional resources

ENG 1301 & ENG 1302	You, Writing! A Guide to College Composition on Open Textbook Library Let's Get Writing on Open Textbook Library English Composition: Connect, Collaborate, Communicate on Open Textbook Library Oregon Writes Open Writing Textbook on Open Textbook Library
ENG 2324	Write or Left: Intro to Creative Writing on MERLOT
ENG 2326	Writing the Nation: A Concise Introduction to American Literature 1865 to Present on Open Textbook Library Becoming America: An Exploration of American Literature from Precolonial to Post-Revolution on Open Textbook Library
ENG 2327	World Literature I: Beginnings to 1650 on Open Textbook Library Compact Anthology of World Literature on Open Textbook Library
ENG 2328	British Literature I Anthology: From Middle Ages to Neoclassicism and the Eighteenth Century on Open Textbook Library British Literature II: Romantic Era to Twentieth Century and Beyond on Open Textbook Library

English Composition I - Lumen Learning
This course develops students’ writing at the college level, using materials organized around essential parts of the academic writing process. Key topics include rhetorical situations; the editing process; types and modes of academic writing; the research process; citation practices; informative and persuasive writing.
English Composition II - Lumen Learning
This course teaches research skills by emphasizing the development of advanced analytical/critical reading skills, proficiency in investigative research, and the writing of persuasive prose including documented and researched argumentative essays.
Introduction to Literature - Lumen Learning
This collection is not a “course.” It is a collection of materials designed to assist instructors in teaching and presenting the concepts of Introduction to Literature. Instructors are urged to pick and choose the items that will add to their lesson plans; then instructors can make these items available to students through the LMS, in-class presentations, or even as hand-outs. The material can be used in conjunction with other items instructors find or prepare, or the material can be used as a sole source for the class.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is an online library of eBooks in the public domain, including fiction, non-fiction, classics, law, and technical.
Writing Commons
A free, comprehensive, peer-reviewed, award-winning Open Text for students and faculty in college-level courses that require writing and research.

Exercise Science

Courses
Additional resources

EXS 1220

Fitness Concepts on LibreTexts
Concepts of Fitness and Wellness on OER Commons
Human Nutrition: 2020 Edition on Open Textbook Library
Health Education on Open Textbook Library

Beyond Happiness: Flourishing
This open short course is offered through Oregon State University (OSU) Open Oregon State. The learning modules in this short course are open, self-study learning modules with no live instructor, facilitator, or enrollment requirements, as these self-paced modules are made publicly visible (student data will remain private) in Canvas. Modules include mental health and well-being, purpose(career) well-being, mindset, personal strengths, and mindfulness meditation

Health Professions

Courses
Additional Resources

FNP 6232

FNP 8232

The Fundamentals of Healthcare Administration: Navigating Challenges and Coordinating Care on Open Textbook Library

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Hosted by the Digital Commons Network. This Open access site has full-text articles searchable by subdisciplines, publishing institution, and author.

History

Courses
Additional resources

HIS 2301	World History: Cultures, States, and Societies to 1500 on OER Commons Boundless World History on OER Commons
HIS 2303	Boundless World History on OER Commons Modern World History on Open Textbook Library World History in the Early Modern and Modern Eras (1600 - Present) on OER Commons
HIS 2321	U.S. History on OpenStax The American Yawp Vol I: To 1877 on Open Textbook Library Slavery to Liberation: The African American Experience on Open Textbook Library Boundless US History on OER Commons Western Civilization: A Concise History - Volume 1 on OER Commons
HIS 2324	The American Yawp Vol II: Since 1877 on Open Textbook Library Slavery to Liberation: The African American Experience on Open Textbook Library Western Civilization Since 1648 on OER Commons Western Civilization: A Concise History - Volume 2 on OER Commons Western Civilization: A Concise History - Volume 3 on OER Commons

Civil Rights History Project
Oral histories and interviews from and by the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture with relevance to the Civil Rights movement to obtain justice, freedom and equality for African Americans and to record and make widely accessible new interviews with people who participated in the struggle.
Experiencing War
The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.
Open Textbook Library History
History textbooks form the Open Textbook Library.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is an online library of eBooks in the public domain, including fiction, non-fiction, classics, law, and technical.
Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories
The recordings of former slaves in Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories took place between 1932 and 1975 in nine states. It is important to note that all of the interviewees spoke sixty or more years after the end of their enslavement, and it is their full lives that are reflected in these recordings. The individuals documented in this presentation have much to say about living as African Americans from the 1870s to the 1930s, and beyond.

International Studies

Courses
Additional resources

IST 2300

Beyond Race: Cultural influences on Human Social Life on Open Textbook Library
Intercultural Learning: Critical preparation for international student travel on Open Textbook Library
Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology on Open Textbook Library

Centre for International Studies Podcasts
The Centre for International Studies (CIS) serves as a focal point for advanced research in International Relations at the University of Oxford.

Mass Communication

Courses
Additional resources

MCO 1302

Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication on Open Textbook Library
Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies on Open Textbook Library
Mass Communication, Media, and Culture on LibreTexts
Media, Society, Culture, and You on Open Textbook Library

Open Textbook Library Journalism, Media Studies, and Communication
Journalism, Media Studies, and Communication textbooks from Open Textbook Library
Journalism, 'Fake News' & Disinformation: Handbook for Journalism Education and Training
From UNESCO, this handbook is designed to give journalism educators
and trainers, along with students of journalism, a framework and lessons to help
navigate the issues associated with ‘fake news’.
Media History Digital Library
A free online resource, featuring millions of pages of books and magazines from the histories of film, broadcasting, and recorded sound.
Journalism Commons
Hosted by the Digital Commons Network. This Open access site has full-text articles searchable by subdisciplines, publishing institution, and author.

Math

Courses
Additional resources

MAT 1302

College Algebra from OpenStax

MAT 1304

Math in Society: Mathematics for liberal arts majors on Open Textbook Libray

MyOpenMath
An online course management and assessment system for mathematics and other quantitative fields. MyOpenMath’s focus is providing rich algorithmically generated assessment to support the use of free, open textbooks.
OpenStax Math
Peer-reviewed math textbook from OpenStax.
Open Textbook Library Math
Math textbooks from the Open Textbook Library.
PhET Interactive Math Simulations
PhET provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations.
Virtual Lab and Science Resource Directory
Lists of free science resources designed to support remote science education.
WolframAlpha Demonstrations
Demonstrations can be used to enliven a classroom or visualize complex concepts, while others shed new light on cutting-edge ideas from academic and industrial workgroups. Each is reviewed and edited by experts for content, clarity, presentation, quality, and reliability.
MathTheWorld
A math project from faculty at BYU dedicated to bringing real life context to math!

Natural Applied Science

Courses
Additional resources

NSC 1402

Astronomy on OpenStax
Relativity Lite: A Pictorial Translation of Einstein's Theories of Motion and Gravity on Open Textbook Library

Animations for Physics and Astonomy
This is a growing collection of (primarily 3-D) animations of concepts, principles and processes in introductory physics and conceptual astronomy.
Formation of Stars
Star Formation page from the
Hubble Space Telescope, with links to images and information.
UW Astronomy Education Clearnighouse
The Clearinghouse provides a way for astronomy educators to share assignments, activities, and teaching tips. This material is made available under a Creative Commons license that allows you to adapt it as you like, as long as you credit the authors and use it for non-commercial purposes.
Virtual Lab and Science Resource Directory
Lists of free science resources designed to support remote science education.

Philosophy

Courses
Additional resources

PHI 2301	A Friendly Introduction to Mathematical Logic from American Institute of Mathematics An Introduction to Formal Logic on Open Textbook Library A Concise Introduction to Logic on Open Textbook Library Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking on Open Textbook Library Fundamental Methods of Logic on Open Textbook Library
PHI 2321	Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion on OER Commons An Introduction to Philosophy on Open Textbook Library Modern Philosophy on Open Textbook Library

Cosmos and History
This is a is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal of natural and social philosophy.
Open Textbook Library Philosophy
Philosophy and Logic textbooks from the Open Textbook Library.
Philosophy Podcasts
Podcasts from University of Oxford Faculty of Philosophy.
PhilPapers
A comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy maintained by the community of philosophers.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is an online library of eBooks in the public domain, including fiction, non-fiction, classics, law, and technical.

Physics

Courses
Additional resources

PHY 1410	University Physics Volume 1 on OpenStax University Physics I: Classical Mechanics on Open Textbook Library
PHY 1402	University Physics Volume 2 on OpenStax University Physics Volume 3 on OpenStax
PHY 1410	College Physics on OpenStax

Open Textbook Library Physics
Physics textbooks from the Open Textbook Library.
PhET Interactive Physics Simulations
PhET provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations.
Virtual Lab and Science Resource Directory
Lists of free science resources designed to support remote science education.
PraxiLabs
Virtual labs for Chemistry, Biology, and Physics.

Political Science

Courses
Additional resources

POL 2311

American Government and Politics in the Information Age on Open Textbook Library
American Government 2e on OpenStax
Attenuated Democracy: A Critical Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics on Open Textbook Library

Government/Political Science and Law OERTX
Various open resources on Government/Political Science and Law from OERTX.
govinfo
govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
Texas Government
This is a complete course on Texas State and local government, available through OER Commons.

Psychology

Courses
Additional resources

PSY 1301

Psychology 2e on OpenStax
Discover Psychology 2.0: A Brief Introductory Text on Open Textbook Library
Introduction to Psychology: The Full Noba Collection on Open Textbook Library

BrainFacts
A public information initiative of The Kavli Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and the Society for Neuroscience – global nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing brain research.
Noba Project
Noba is a free online platform that provides high-quality, flexibly structured textbooks and educational materials.
Open Textbook Library Psychology
Psychology textbooks from the Open Textbook Library.

Religion

Courses
Additional Resources

REL 1311	Early Judaism, part 1 on OER Commons Early Judaism, part 2 on OER Commons
REL 1312	Introduction to New Testament History and Literature on OER Commons Why Study Orthodox Christianity? on OER Commons Studying the Bible: The Tanakh and Early Christian Writings on Open Textbook Library
REL 1313	Ethics on OER Commons Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics on OER Commons Philosophical Ethics on Open Textbook Library
REL 1321	World Religions: The Spirit Searching on Open Textbook Library The Five Major World Religions on OER Commons Global Citizenship, Cultural Citizenship and World Religions in Religious Education on OER Commons Sacred Texts of World Religions on OER Commons Six Ways of Being Religious on Open Textbook Library

REL 1323

Religion Today: Themes and Issues on OER Commons
Women in Ministry and Leadership: An Anthology on OER Commons

Open Culture
Get free Religion courses online from the world’s leading universities. You can download these audio & video courses straight to your computer or mp3 player.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is an online library of eBooks in the public domain, including fiction, non-fiction, classics, law, and technical.
Ubiquity Press
Open access publisher of peer-reviewed academic journals, books and data.

School of Business

Courses
Additional resources

BUA 1301	Fundamentals of Business - 3rd Edition on Open Textbook Library Introduction to Business on Open Textbook Library
ECO 2305	Principles of Economics 2e on OpenStax Principles of Macroeconomics 2e on OpenStax
FIN 1325	Personal Finance on Open Textbook Library

EconPapers
EconPapers provides access to RePEc, the world's largest collection of on-line Economics working papers, journal articles and software.
An honest look at the personal finance crisis
A TEDxVCU talk, author Elizabeth White opens up an honest conversation about financial trouble and offers practical advice for how to live a richly textured life on a limited income.
Introduction to Business
This Introduction to Business course develops students’ understanding of business fundamentals with learning design structured around timely, real-world case studies and examples.
Personal Finances Tracker
A free personal finances tracker that is downloadable.

Sociology

Courses
Additional resources

SOC 1302	The Art of Being Human: A Textbook for Cultural Anthropology on Open Textbook Library Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology on Open Textbook Library
SOC 2301	Introduction to Sociology 3e on OpenStax Introduction to Sociology 2e on OpenStax Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World on Open Textbook Library
SOC 2302	Social Problems: Continuity and Change on Open Textbook Library

Open Textbook Library Sociology
Sociology textbooks from the Open Textbook Library.
The Sociological Cinema
A resource for using video and pop culture to teach and learn sociology.
A Sociology Experiment
What if a group of the most creative, passionate writers and teachers of Sociology got together to write the chapters of a new kind of textbook? What if they offered those chapters directly to students for $1?
Criminology Commons
Hosted by the Digital Commons Network. This Open access site has full-text articles searchable by subdisciplines, publishing institution, and author.

Speech

Courses

SPC 1301

Fundamentals of Public Speaking on OER Commons
Public Speaking: The Virtual Text from the Public Speaking Project
Stand Up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking on Open Textbook Library
Exploring Public Speaking - 4th Edition on Open Textbook Library
It's About Them: Public Speaking in the 21st Century on Open Textbook Library
Speak Out, Call In on Open Textbook Library

Lists compiled by former and current librarians at Texas Wesleyan University

These are suggestions only. You the professor, as the expert in your field, are responsible for evaluating materials used in your classes.