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    Chemistry

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    Reviewed by JING HAO, Assistant Professor, George Fox University on 6/19/18

    Comprehensiveness rating: 5

    This book covers the material that is commonly covered General Chemistry course. The chapter layout are almost the same as other textbooks. It is a fairly comprehensive textbook.

    Content Accuracy rating: 5

    The book is quite accurate, especially for the actual teaching content, concepts and terms. Occasionally I do find errors. This is very understandable given that the book quite new to the market. The good thing about this book is that since it's an online version, it updates and correct the mistakes quite often, instead of having to publish a new edition with a high price every year.

    Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

    Unlike biology, chemistry knowledge don't change as fast, it's been pretty set for years, especially for General Chemistry. The content in this book is pretty accurate and compressively covering all basic General Chemistry knowledge and is no different from the other two most popular textbooks by Brown and Tro. It's going to be a competitive textbook on the market for years.

    Clarity rating: 5

    The book is written in a quite concise and clear manner can be easily understood.

    Consistency rating: 5

    The terms are used consistently throughout the book.

    Modularity rating: 5

    The book is clearly divided into sections and subsections. It's easy for us to assign the readings selectively given that it is impossible to cover the whole book. Sometimes, I do feel some sections are too long and can be broken down further, but it's just individual opinions.

    Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

    The book is presented in a clear, logical fashion. I like that the problems are solved in a stepwise guided module, which is quite clear compared to other textbooks. I also like how the book incorporate animation links to Openstax source which is only available to faculties for other textbooks. In addition, all the solutions to end of chapter homework problems are available for free, students don't have to purchase a solution manual.

    Interface rating: 5

    It's quite clear.

    Grammatical Errors rating: 5

    I don't see grammar mistakes, or it doesn't stand out to me.

    Cultural Relevance rating: 5

    The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It introduces scientists whenever relative.

    Comments

    Textbooks are used as a reference for college students. The percentage of students actually read the book is pretty low. If this is the case, is it worthwhile to invest a few hundred dollars on the textbooks? I think this is a great textbook itself already, it is even greater given that the it's free, and can be easily accessed in a variety of ways. Thanks to Openstax for providing this great resource for students and faculties.

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