Update on the Non-profit Project to Produce and Disseminate a Free, Open-source Astro 101 Textbook and Resource Hub
Abstract
OpenStax (a nonprofit organization based at Rice University) has been working with senior authors Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, and Sidney Wolff, and about 70 other members of the astronomical community, to produce a competitive, free, open-source Astro 101 textbook. (This is part of a national program to develop free textbooks in every main field in which students take intro classes, and thus help reduce the accelerating cost of a college education.) Approximately 500 instructors and 200,000 students are using the Astronomy textbook this year. It can be seen and downloaded in a variety of formats at http://openstax.org/details/astronomy. A number of ancillary resources have been produced, including a bank of over 1000 multiple-choice questions and a wide range of essay type questions. The answers are behind a fire-wall for registered adopters (but registration is also free, once instructor status is verified). In addition, an Open Education Resource Hub has been assembled for the book, where authors and adopters can share resources. Some 25 resources have already been posted, including a list of free on-line videos to go with each chapter (with links), a list of free on-line lab manuals and lab exercises at the level of the book, resources about the contributions of women to astronomy and the issues they face, an introductory manual for the free Stellarium planetarium software, a primer for first-time instructors, sample syllabi, etc.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #234
- Pub Date:
- June 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23422402F