Open educational resources have replaced traditional textbooks in many courses at the College resulting in significant cost savings for students. Faculty in biology, math, economics and other departments have adopted open textbooks. Professor Derek Turner, in the philosophy department, has written an open textbook, Form and Content: An Introduction to Formal Logic, for his introductory logic class. The book is published with a Creative Commons license that allows the public to use the book for free with attribution of the author. Professor Turner was a 2019 recipient of the Information Services Open Educational Resources Grant which provides funding and staff support to faculty who wish to integrate OER into a course.
Professor Turner:
“For many years, I had used one of the standard popular textbooks in my logic classes. But the publisher kept issuing new editions and adding bells and whistles that no one needed, while steadily raising the price. Logic is something that should be accessible to anyone who takes an interest in studying it. So, I decided a couple of years to write a textbook that students at Connecticut College, or anywhere, could access for free. The book also differs from other standard textbooks in its reliance on fun, low-stakes examples involving dinosaurs, my dog and his friends, etc. The sillier the content, the easier it is to see the logical form.”
Form and Content can be accessed on Digital Commons: https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/oer/1/
