Introduction to Human Sexuality

Reviewed by Penny Quinn, Associate Professor, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College on 12/14/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The concepts are divided over twenty chapters of informational categories, which allows for full coverage in a 16-week instructional format. Content addresses not only the more common aspects of Gender, Sexual Orientation, Attraction, Intimacy, STD's, and Conception & Contraception, but also provides significant content to expose students to the issues of Sexual Trauma, Sex Work, and Paraphilias. Very nice breadth provided.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found no inaccurate content

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The conceptual focus addresses the needs of today's student interested in better understanding human sexuality.

Clarity rating: 5

Written clearly with well-defined learning outcomes.

Consistency rating: 5

Consistency was evident.

Modularity rating: 5

Great division of content easily digestible.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Well organized with a professional feel to the finished product

Interface rating: 5

Wonderful inclusion of video content!

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No errors noted

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Inclusive

Comments

Very nice "feel" to the delivery of content that presents professionally.

Could be benefitted by addition of a glossary.

Reviewed by Yuliana Zaikman, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi on 11/8/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book seems to be very straightforward and concise, which I very much appreciate. There are a lot of terms and all of them are defined using language suitable for students. The incorporation of theories in every chapter is really good.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found the content to be accurate and unbiased. The inclusion of non-cis straight perspective is refreshing and encouraging.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text is written recently as there are references to COVID pandemic. The general approach taken is with relevance to the day to day lives, which could be very beneficial for the student reader.

Clarity rating: 5

The textbook presents clear definitions for all the terms. It even has a whole chapter on those.

Consistency rating: 5

I found the text to be consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 4

I would say the modularity is good. Quite a bit of subheadings and it divides it into very manageable sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text is organized in a clear way. The two parts of the textbook are interesting, and for those who teach only one semester of human sexuality will need to figure out how to organize the chapters from both parts.

Interface rating: 4

There were a few media elements that were not loading. For example in Chapter 4, "Image from Pussypedia.net" was not loading. I also wished some of the images you could click on to make larger for readability purposes. For example, the "diagram of the menstrual cycle"
Interpersonal Strategies in Chapter 5 the font is not consistent in the Table.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I didn't notice any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I feel that the text is written with a high level of cultural sensitivity. For example, the author includes a note such as: "Some of the language in this chapter is still held in the binary; that is girl/boy or male/female. This is concurrent with a lot of medical literature. Importantly, however, even biological sex is found on a continuum so there are variations of genital structure and presentation that defies the binary, which is critical to note." Also, they have a whole section on indigenous perspectives which I feel is not always present in other textbooks.

Comments

I have been wanting an OER textbook for my human sexuality course for the longest time. I was so happy to see that there is one now available. Reading through this textbook made me extra excited for the next time I will be teaching this class and I am looking forward to adopting this textbook for my class. My only concern is the lack of supplemental materials for the instructor, though not the biggest issue, will require additional work to recreate all the slides, quiz/exam questions, and activities to line up with this textbook.