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Microeconomics: Theory Through Applications
No full textRussell Cooper and Andrew John have written an economics text aimed directly at students from its very inception. You\u27re thinking/ ”Yeah/ sure. I\u27ve heard that before.“ This textbook/ Microeconomics: Theory Through Applications/ centers around student needs and expectations through two premises: … Students are motivated to study economics if they see that it relates to their own lives. … Students learn best from an inductive approach/ in which they are first confronted with a problem/ and then led through the process of solving that problem. Many books claim to present economics in a way that is digestible for students; Russell and Andrew have truly created one from scratch. This textbook will assist you in increasing students\u27 economic literacy both by developing their aptitude for economic thinking and by presenting key insights about economics that every educated individual should know. How? Russell and Andrew have done three things in this text to accomplish that goal: 1. Applications Ahead of Theory: They present all the theory that is standard in Principles books. But by beginning with applications/ students get to learn why this theory is needed. The authors take the kind of material that other authors put in ”applications boxes“ and place it at the heart of their book. Each chapter is built around a particular business or policy application/ such as minimum wages/ the stock exchange/ and auctions. Why take this approach? Traditional courses focus too much on abstract theory relative to the interests and capabilities of the average undergraduate. Students are rarely engaged and the formal theory is never integrated into the way students think about economic issues. And traditional books are organized around theoretical constructs that mean nothing to students. The authors\u27 applications-first approach ensures that students will not see chapters with titles like ”Cost Functions“ or ”Short-Run Fluctuations“. They introduce tools and ideas as and when they are needed. Each chapter is designed with two goals. First/ the application upon which the chapter is built provides a ”hook“ that gets students\u27 attention. Second/ the application is a suitable vehicle a vehicle for teaching the principles of economics. 2. Learning through Repetition: Important tools appear over and over again/ allowing students to learn from repetition and to see how one framework can be useful in many different contexts. Each piece of economic theory in this text is first introduced and explained in the context of a specific application. Most are re-used in other chapters/ so students see them in action on multiple occasions. As students progress through the book/ they accumulate a set of techniques and ideas. These are collected separately in a ”toolkit“ that provides students with an easy reference and also gives them a condensed summary of economic principles for examination preparation. 3. A Student\u27s Table of Contents vs. An Instructor\u27s Table of Contents: There is no further proof that Russell and Andrew have created a book aimed specifically at educating students about economics than their two tables of contents. The Student\u27s Table of Contents speaks to students/ piquing their interest to involve them in the economics/ and a Instructor\u27s Table of Contents with the economics to better help you organize your teaching—and frankly/ you don\u27t need to get excited by economics/ you already are.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1019/thumbnail.jp
Organizational Behavior
No full textOrganizational Behavior bridges the gap between theory and practice with a distinct experiential approach. On average/ a worker in the USA will change jobs 10 times in 20 years. In order to succeed in this type of career situation/ individuals need to be armed with the tools necessary to be life-long learners. To that end/ this book is not be about giving students all the answers to every situation they may encounter when they start their first job or as they continue up the career ladder. Instead/ this book gives students the vocabulary/ framework/ and critical thinking skills necessary to diagnose situations/ ask tough questions/ evaluate the answers received/ and to act in an effective and ethical manner regardless of situational characteristics. Often/ students taking OB either do not understand how important knowledge of OB can be to their professional careers/ or they DO understand and they want to put that knowledge into practice. Organizational Behavior takes a more experiential angle to the material to meet both of those needs. The experiential approach can be incorporated in the classroom primarily through the OB Toolbox. This feature brings life to the concepts and allows students to not only see how the OB theories unfold/ but to practice them/ as well.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1021/thumbnail.jp
Programming Languages: Application and Interpretation - Version Second Edition
No full textUnlike some other textbooks/ this one does not follow a top-down narrative. Rather it has the flow of a conversation/ with backtracking. We will often build up programs incrementally/ just as a pair of programmers would. We will include mistakes/ not because I don\u27t know the answer/ but because this is the best way for you to learn. Including mistakes makes it impossible for you to read passively: you must instead engage with the material/ because you can never be sure of the veracity of what you\u27re reading. At the end/ you\u27ll always get to the right answer. However/ this non-linear path is more frustrating in the short term (you will often be tempted to say/ “Just tell me the answer/ already!”)/ and it makes the book a poor reference guide (you can\u27t open up to a random page and be sure what it says is correct). However/ that feeling of frustration is the sensation of learning. I don\u27t know of a way around it. At various points you will encounter this: ExerciseThis is an exercise. Do try it. This is a traditional textbook exercise. It\u27s something you need to do on your own. If you\u27re using this book as part of a course/ this may very well have been assigned as homework. In contrast/ you will also find exercise-like questions that look like this: Do Now!There\u27s an activity here! Do you see it? When you get to one of these/ stop. Read/ think/ and formulate an answer before you proceed. You must do this because this is actually an exercise/ but the answer is already in the book—most often in the text immediately following (i.e./ in the part you\u27re reading right now)—or is something you can determine for yourself by running a program. If you just read on/ you\u27ll see the answer without having thought about it (or not see it at all/ if the instructions are to run a program)/ so you will get to neither (a) test your knowledge/ nor (b) improve your intuitions. In other words/ these are additional/ explicit attempts to encourage active learning. Ultimately/ however/ I can only encourage it; it\u27s up to you to practice it. The main programming language used in this book is Racket. Like with all operating systems/ however/ Racket actually supports a host of programming languages/ so you must tell Racket which language you\u27re programming in. This textbook has been used in classes at: Brown University/ Cal Poly/ Columbus State University/ Northeastern University/ NYU/ Reed College/ UC-San Diego/ UC-Santa Cruz/ University of Rhode Island/ University of Utah/ Westmont College/ Williams College/ Worcester Polytechnic Institute.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1026/thumbnail.jp
Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World
No full textThe founders of sociology in the United States wanted to make a difference. A central aim of the sociologists of the Chicago school was to use sociological knowledge to achieve social reform. A related aim of sociologists like Jane Addams/ W.E.B. DuBois/ and Ida B. Wells-Barnett and others since was to use sociological knowledge to understand and alleviate gender/ racial/ and class inequality. It is no accident that many sociology instructors and students are first drawn to sociology because they want to learn a body of knowledge that could help them make a difference in the world at large. Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World is designed for this audience. It presents a sociological understanding of society but also a sociological perspective on how to change society/ while maintaining the structure and contents of the best mainstream texts. Several pedagogical features of the book convey the sociological perspective and change theme: Almost every chapter begins with a Social Issues in the News story from recent media coverage that recounts an event related to the chapter\u27s topic and proceeds with thought-provoking discussion about the social issue related to the event. Additional discussion elsewhere in the chapter helps students understand the basis for this issue and related issues. This dual treatment of the news story will help students appreciate the relevance of sociology for newsworthy events and issues. Three types of boxes in almost every chapter reflect the U.S. founders\u27 emphasis on sociology and social justice. The first box/ Sociology Making a Difference/ discusses a social issue related to the chapter\u27s topic and shows how sociological insights and findings have been used/ or could be used/ to address the issue and achieve social reform. The second box/ Learning from Other Societies/ discusses the experience in another nation(s) regarding a social issue related to the chapter; this box helps students appreciate what has worked and not worked in other nations regarding the issue and thus better understand how social reform might be achieved in the United States. The third box/ What Sociology Suggests/ summarizes social policies grounded in sociological theory and research that hold strong potential for addressing issues discussed in the chapter. In addition/ many chapters contain tables called Theory Snapshots. These tables provide a quick reference tool for students to understand the varying theoretical approaches to the sociological topic that the chapter is discussing. Finally/ almost every chapter ends with a Using Sociology vignette that presents a hypothetical scenario concerning an issue or topic from the chapter and asks students to use the chapter\u27s material in a decision-making role involving social change. These vignettes help students connect the chapter\u27s discussion with real-life situations and/ in turn/ to better appreciate the relevance of sociological knowledge for social reform. Drawing on these features and other discussion throughout the book/ a brief and unique final chapter/ Conclusion: Understanding and Changing the Social World/ sums up what students have learned about society and themselves and reviews the relevance of sociology for achieving social change. Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World makes sociology relevant for today\u27s students by balancing traditional coverage with a fresh approach that ironically takes them back to sociology\u27s American roots in the use of sociological knowledge for social reform.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1029/thumbnail.jp
The Basics of General/ Organic/ and Biological Chemistry
No full textThe Basics of General/ Organic/ and Biological Chemistry by David W. Ball/ John W. Hill/ and Rhonda J. Scott is for the one-semester General/ Organic and Biological Chemistry course. The authors designed this textbook from the ground up to meet the needs of a one-semester course. It is 20 chapters in length and approximately 350-400 pages; just the right breadth and depth for instructors to teach and students to grasp. In addition/ The Basics of General/ Organic/ and Biological Chemistry is written not by one chemist/ but THREE chemistry professors with specific/ complimentary research and teaching areas. David W. Ball\u27s specialty is physical chemistry/ John W. Hill\u27s is organic chemistry/ and finally/ Rhonda J. Scott\u27s background is in enzyme and peptide chemistry. These three authors have the expertise to identify and present only the most important material for students to learn in the GOB Chemistry course. These experienced authors have ensured their text has ample in-text examples/ and ”Test Yourself“ questions following the examples so students can immediately check their comprehension. The end-of-chapter exercises will be paired/ with one answered in the back of the text so homework can easily be assigned and self-checked. The Basics of General/ Organic/ and Biological Chemistry by David W. Ball/ John W. Hill/ and Rhonda J. Scott is the right text for you and your students if you are looking for a GOB textbook with just the right amount of coverage without overdoing the concepts and overwhelming your students.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1031/thumbnail.jp
Principles of Social Psychology
No full textHave you ever had trouble teaching the various topics of social psychology and fitting them together to form a coherent field? Unnamed Author felt like he was presenting a laundry list of ideas/ research studies/ and phenomena/ rather than an integrated set of principles and knowledge. He wondered how his students could be expected to remember and understand the many phenomena that social psychologists study? How could they tell what was most important? It was then that he realized a fresh approach to a Social Psychology textbook was needed to structure and integrate student learning; thus/ Principles of Social Psychology was born. This textbook is based on a critical thinking approach/ and its aim is to get students thinking actively and conceptually – with a greater focus on the forest than the trees. Yes/ there are right and wrong answers/ but the answers are not the only thing. What is perhaps even more important is how students get to the answers – the thinking process itself. To help students better grasp the big picture of social psychology/ and to provide you with a theme that you can use to organize your lectures/ Unnamed Author\u27s text has a consistent pedagogy across the chapters. The presentation is organized around two underlying principles that are essential to social psychology: Person and Situation (the classic treatment)The ABCs of social psychology (Affect/ Behavior/ and Cognition) The author believes these dimensions are fundamental/ that they are extremely heuristic/ and that they are what he hopes your students (and his) will learn and remember. You may find that this organization represents a more explicit representation of what you\u27re already doing in your lectures. Although the pedagogy is consistent/ it is not constraining. You can and will use these dimensions more in some lectures than in others/ and you will find them more useful for some topics than others. But they will always work for you when you are ready for them. Perhaps most important/ a focus on these dimensions helps us bridge the gap between the textbook/ the real-life experiences of our students/ and our class presentations. It is almost impossible to can\u27t cover every phenomenon in your lectures – you can naturally let the textbook fill in the details. The goal of Principles of Social Psychology is to allow you to rest assured that the text has provided your students with the foundations– the fundamental language of social psychology – from which you can build as you see fit. And when you turn to ask students to apply their learning to real life/ you can know that they will be doing this as social psychologists do – using a basic underlying framework. A note about the organization of this text: it moves systematically from lower to higher levels of analysis – a method that makes sense to students. On the other hand/ Unnamed Author insists/ the chapter order should not constrain you – choose a different order if you wish. Chapter 1 presents an introduction to social psychology and the research methods in social psychology/ Chapter 2 presents the fundamental principles of social cognition/ and Chapter 3 focuses on social affect. The remainder of the text is organized around three levels of analysis/ moving systematically from the individual level (Chapters 4-6)/ to the level of social interaction (Chapters 7-10) to the group and cultural level (Chapters 11-13). Rather than relying on “modules” or “appendices” of applied materials/ this text integrates applied concepts into the text itself. This approach is consistent with the underlying theme that if students learn to think like social psychologists they will easily and naturally apply that knowledge to any and all applications. The following applications are woven throughout the text: Business and Consumer behavior Environment Health Law It is the thinking like a social psychologist theme/ structured approach and new pedagogy (like research foci and Social Psychology in the Public Interest)/ that will make teaching and learning Social Psychology from this textbook an even more exciting and rewarding endeavor.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1059/thumbnail.jp
Physical Modeling in MATLAB
No full textMost books that use MATLAB are aimed at readers who know how to program. This book is for people who have never programmed before. As a result/ the order of presentation is unusual. The book starts with scalar values and works up to vectors and matrices very gradually. This approach is good for beginning programmers/ because it is hard to understand composite objects until you understand basic programming semantics. But there are problems: The MATLAB documentation is written in terms of matrices/ and so are the error messages. To mitigate this problem/ the book explains the necessary vocabulary early and deciphers some of the messages that beginners find confusing. Many of the examples in the first half of the book are non-standard MATLAB. I address this problem in the second half by translating the examples into a more idiomatic style. The book puts a lot of emphasis on functions/ in part because they are an important tool for controlling program complexity/ and also because they are useful for working with MATLAB tools like fzero and ode45. I assume that readers know calculus/ differential equations/ and physics/ but not linear algebra. I explain the math as I go along/ but the descriptions might not be enough for someone who hasn\u27t seen the material before. There are small exercises within each chapter/ and a few larger exercises at the end of some chapters.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1066/thumbnail.jp
Fundamentals of Compressible Flow Mechanics
No full textThis book deals with an introduction to the flow of compressible substances (gases). The main difference between compressible flow and almost incompressible flow is not the fact that compressibility has to be considered. Rather/ the difference is in two phenomena that do not exist in incompressible flow. The first phenomenon is the very sharp discontinuity (jump) in the flow in properties. The second phenomenon is the choking of the flow. Choking is when downstream variations don\u27t effect the flow. Though choking occurs in certain pipe flows in astronomy/ there also are situations of choking in general (external) flow.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1069/thumbnail.jp
Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation
No full textWith “Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation”/ first and second-year college students are introduced to this expanding new field/ comprehensively exploring the essential concepts from every branch of knowledge – including engineering and the applied arts/ natural and social sciences/ and the humanities. As sustainability is a multi-disciplinary area of study/ the text is the product of multiple authors drawn from the diverse faculty of the University of Illinois: each chapter is written by a recognized expert in the field. This text is designed to introduce the reader to the essential concepts of sustainability. This subject is of vital importance seeking as it does to uncover the principles of the long-term welfare of all the peoples of the planet but is only peripherally served by existing college textbooks. The content is intended to be useful for both a broad-based introductory class on sustainability and as a useful supplement to specialist courses which wish to review the sustainability dimensions of their areas of study. By covering a wide range of topics with a uniformity of style/ and by including glossaries/ review questions/ case studies/ and links to further resources/ the text has sufficient range to perform as the core resource for a semester course. Students who cover the material in the book will be conversant in the language and concepts of sustainability/ and will be equipped for further study in sustainable planning/ policy/ economics/ climate/ ecology/ infrastructure/ and more. Furthermore/ the modular design allows individual chapters and sections to be easily appropriated without the purchase of a whole new text. This allows educators to easily bring sustainability concepts/ references/ and case studies into their area of study. This appropriation works particularly well as the text is free downloadable to anyone who wishes to use it. Furthermore/ readers are encouraged to work with the text. Provided there is attribution to the source/ users can adapt/ add to/ revise and republish the text to meet their own needs. Because sustainability is a cross-disciplinary field of study/ producing this text has required the bringing together over twenty experts from a variety of fields. This enables us to cover all of the foundational components of sustainability: understanding our motivations requires the humanities/ measuring the challenges of sustainability requires knowledge of the sciences (both natural and social)/ and building solutions requires technical insight into systems (such as provided by engineering/ planning/ and management). Readers accustomed to textbooks that present material in a unitary voice might be surprised to find in this one statements that do not always agree. Here/ for example/ cautious claims about climate change stand beside sweeping pronouncements predicting future social upheaval engendered by a warming world. And a chapter that includes market-based solutions to environmental problems coexists with others that call for increased government control. Such diversity of thought characterizes many of the fields of inquiry represented in the book; by including it/ we invite users to engage in the sort of critical thinking a serious study of sustainability requires. It is our sincerest hope that this work is shared freely and widely/ as we all struggle to understand and solve the enormous environmental challenges of our time.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1073/thumbnail.jp
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation
No full textThis is not a comprehensive citation reference work. Its limited aim is to serve as a tutorial onhow to cite the most widely referenced types of U.S. legal material/ taking account of localnorms and the changes in citation practice forced by the shift from print to electronic sources.It begins with an introductory unit. That is followed immediately by one on how to cite thecategories of authority that comprise a majority of the citations in briefs and legalmemoranda. Using the full table of contents one can proceed through this material insequence. The third unit/ organized around illustrative examples/ is intended to be used eitherfor review and reinforcement of the prior how to sections or as an alternative approach tothem. One can start with it since the illustrative examples for each document type are linkedback to the relevant how to principles. The sections on abbreviations and omissions/ on typeface (italics and underlining)/ and onhow citations fit into the larger project of legal writing that follow all support the precedingunits. They are accessible independently and also/ where appriopriate/ via links from theearlier sections. Finally/ there are a series of cross reference tables tying this introduction tothe two major legal citation reference works and to state-specific citation rules and practices. The work is also designed to be used by those confronting a specific citation issue. For suchpurposes the table of contents provides one path to the relevant material. Another/ to whichthe bar at the top of each major section provides ready access/ is a topical index. This index isalphabetically arrayed and more detailed than the table of contents. Finally/ the searchfunction in your e-book reader software should allow an even narrower inquiry/ such as oneseeking the abbreviation for a specific word (e.g./institute) or illustrative citations for aparticular state/ Ohio/ say. If the device on which you are reading this e-book allows it/ the pdf format will enable you toprint or to copy and paste portions/ large or small/ into other documents. However/ since thev work is filled with linked cross references and both the table of contents and index rely onthem/ most will find a print copy far less useful than the electronic original.https://mds.marshall.edu/oa-textbooks/1076/thumbnail.jp