No Limits

Reviewed by Brenda Williams, Part-time Faculty, Lane Community College on 9/6/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book covers a good first term view for students. It gives students an idea of things they need to think about - advising, time, financial , self care, and using their resources.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

It does reference UTA a bit but otherwise the information is pretty general for any college student.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Yes it is up-to-date and straightforward

Clarity rating: 5

I think it is an easy read and doesn't use confusing jargon.

Consistency rating: 5

Yes it is consistent with the framework. You can expect colored textboxes for lists to separate it from a text.

Modularity rating: 5

Each header has a pretty small amount of text after it. It was broken up well.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I think it was well laid out and went in a logical format.

Interface rating: 4

I had no problem with distortion or any issues. I had to figure out the navagiation. I didn't see buttons at the bottom so I had scroll up to find the contents and then realized that I also had to press the + sign to get into the chapter.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I didn't see any errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I do not think it was culturally insensitive.

Reviewed by Rebecca Steen, Academic Advisor II/Adjunct Faculty, Rogue Community College on 1/2/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

“No Limits” is an OER that covers student success and first year experience for both freshman and transfer students. I found the text to be comprehensive and covered several important subjects that would be relevant for courses such as 'College Success and Survival' as well as 'Transfer Success'. Peer teaching is encouraged and helpful tips and activities are included in each chapter for the instructor to guide the students with meaningful connections to the material. Excellent review on academic support services and resources available to students.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Content is accurate and error-free but comes from a perspective created through the lens of the University of Texas at Arlington. This would not be complicated to adapt to the specific institution that uses the OER. The content is still valuable as it addresses how students have individual needs and that there are resources students should seek out to find support through their academic endeavors. The topics of faculty expectations for students and academic advising are relevant and accurate at any higher education institution.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This OER remained relevant as each chapter worked through topics that students commonly have questions about and encourages a curriculum that engages students. Chapters covered campus life, academic self-management, active learning, avoiding hazards as a student, healthy living, career exploration, financial management and campus resources. Text provides helpful hints for academic advising including an understanding of the student responsibility compared to the advisors responsibility.

Clarity rating: 5

A robust glossary of terms is included and the text was written in a very approachable manner. Much of the content stimulates questions that students often ask and then answers those questions which makes the material relatable to college students at varying levels. The entire OER encourages the students to be open to new ideas and concepts within the academic realm and also engages the student with an assignment to develop a plan to get involved with campus/college life in some way to create a sense of belonging and connection.

Consistency rating: 5

Terminology and framework of the text stayed consistent. Each chapter covered the main idea with supporting details and multiple activities, thought-provoking questions, charts, or graphs were used to bring depth of understanding to each concept. Chapter 4 covered academic self-management which included personal attitude, motivation, goal setting, time management techniques and ways to develop skills for better studying. Long term goals are broken down into multiple SMART sub-goals.

Modularity rating: 5

The OER was broken into appropriate subjects that were individual chapters that all interconnected in a way that supported the overall goal of the text. Each chapter could be worked through on a weekly basis and swapped with another as needed. There is plenty of supporting references to assert the validity of the concepts presented in "No Limits". Chapter 5 covered active learning which included tips for active listening (lectures) and visual maps/charts to develop active learning skills from reading textbooks.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Chapter 1 is specific to the University of Texas at Arlington so I would recommend that content be replaced with information pertaining to the higher education institution that is using the OER. Chapter 2, 'About a University' may also need some adjustments if students are taking the course at a community college and have no intention of transferring (one idea would be to compare a community college and university). Chapters 3-10 are all topics that are presented in a logical, clear fashion and would be useful to any new (freshman) or transfer student.

Interface rating: 5

The text had no interface issues or navigation problems. All of the images and charts were clearly displayed and easy to print as handouts. No links were broken.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contained no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text was not offensive and covers the topic of Embracing Diversity. The text covered topics that included different learning styles and also included the importance of respect and healthy relationships for oneself, peers, professors/instructors, and staff. Chapter 6 covered ways to avoid hazards such as procrastination and the language was appropriate in addressing test anxiety and how to deal with it as well as the importance of academic integrity.

Comments

The OER "No Limits" stresses the responsibility of the student to actively engage in their education but also addresses students' individual needs and where to find resources to support themselves through their education. The chapter on healthy living was such an important topic that most students don't receive during their education; teaching people how to be healthy through mind, body and in social contexts.

Reviewed by Kaitlyn B, Faculty, New Student Experience, Valencia College on 6/1/20, updated 6/3/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

No Limits, is comprehensive to the subject matters pertaining to the topic. Chapters 4 – 9 certainly embody the student experience. This Open Source Textbook has great visuals, activity and personality tests along the way. The text is set up in an easy, quick flow manner; really getting to the core of the lesson. Chapter 7 is vital part of college culture for success and I find is rarely discussed.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Accuracy seemed relevant. I feel students would connect to the topics and see themselves and/or peers in the examples.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This text is relevant to today's and future times with discussion on: Self-Management, Active Learning, and Avoiding Hazards, Healthy Living, Self and Career Exploration, Financial Management. The remaining chapters could reflect that in which college is using the textbook for longevity appeal. Nice easy read for students.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is clear and concise. Students should be able to navigate easily. Keeping in mind the text could be tailored to fit the needs of the institution.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistency from chapter to chapter including relevant activities and topics for discussion.

Modularity rating: 5

I could easily pull certain materials from each chapter as needed to fit the needs of my course, to meet the learning outcomes. The text could be be reorganized into modules, or units as needed. The flow of the subjects could be adjusted. Modality, of online, mixed mode or face-to-to-face this text is flexible.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Very organized in terms of structure and flow. Text is logical and and clearly written. I would have the flexibility of reorganizing to match up with the other topics in my class and align them a bit better.

Interface rating: 4

Easy to navigate between chapters. No errors, or links were broken that I reviewed. If anything more images could be added for more examples.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors that were found.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Culturally from generation to generation we can always improve out examples and be more inclusive of the student body. However this text was not culturally insensitive or offensive.

Comments

This is an easy read, with great information for college students in an array of college level courses, not just First Year students. Information was relevant and can be tailored to meet the course learning outcomes.

Reviewed by Marva solomon, Instructor/ Counselor, Lane Community College on 1/5/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This textbook titled 'No Limits' is very comprehensive. Chapters 3-10 provides much valuable and easy to read information. The chapters are relatively easy to navigate. The chapters on Time management, Self- and Career Exploration,financial management and Campus Resources gives valuable information for students who live on campus and commuter students to utilize on their college life journey. This book incorporates some success strategies by the author of 'On Course' by Skip Downing. Particularly the information on the chart of Victim and Creator. This chart can be used as a tool to motivate students to be successful in college.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

No errors were seen in text. The content seem to be accurate. this book is a good line for student success.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This book can be easily updated. for example each college using this book can edit and update their student resources. Topics such as Financial Self-Management, Self- and Career Exploration may require some minimum updating overtime/tailoring the instructor to suit their college.

Clarity rating: 5

This book a comprehensive book. Great for Students at any stage of their college life. The first two chapters offers some valuable information about what to expect in college. . Although these two chapters are specific to the college mentioned in the book, the information can be be used tailored to suit any college institution.

Consistency rating: 5

This textbook is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework. There is uniformity throughout the book. The charts graphs, inventories are follow a general style and layout.

Modularity rating: 5

This text book has about ten chapters that can easily be divided into smaller sections/modules with ease.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Yes, this textbook is presented in a logical, clear fashion. The chapters flow well. i would not rearrange them. A first year experience student could benefit greatly from this book and should have no trouble navigating and comprehending the strategies for succes layed out here in this book.

Interface rating: 5

No navigation problems discovered. All images are easy to access and read.
The links to assessments, questionnaire are easy to access. No broken links.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors detected.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This textbook is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. An instructor can use this textbook as a template to create topics that could be relevant to the population of students they serve. It would be important to become familiar with the various ethnic students on your campus as well as. chapter 7 covers topics on Exercise and Diet, Sleep, Stress, Mental Health, Alcohol, Drugs, Sex and Sexual Health. All of these topics could be of value to all students regardless of ethnicity or sexual orientation. An instructor who is culturally aware and culturally sensitive can work with any student using this textbook.

Comments

An excellent book for all college students who are attending a two year college or a four year college. I would recommend this book to students even if they are not in a colege success course.

Reviewed by Jennifer Seely, Associate Professor, Earlham College on 6/18/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This text provides essential and useful information for first-year students coming to UT Arlington. Some sections very complete with background research, rubrics for understanding, and worksheets for students to fill out. All headings are listed in table of contents, but glossary appears to be a more general glossary of useful terms for life at UTA, rather than terms used in the book itself. There is no index, and one might be useful for a student who does not realize that information about types of student loans could be found under "Planning for the Cost of School" or have a pre-existing knowledge of the elements of Bloom's Taxonomy, for example.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

To the best of this reader's knowledge the information is accurate and unbiased. With multiple authors and a wide range of content, it would be difficult to know whether the information about the psychology of stress is as up to date as that about wireless access on campus, for example. However, the clear goal is to offer students in UTA's set of first-year experience courses the best and most accurate information to support their academic and co-curricular success.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

With respect to contact information, campus resources, and links, updates to the text should be easy and straightforward to implement. Moreover, some sections of the book are clearly under the purview of specific university offices and divisions, such as the sections on Libraries and Faculty Expectations, which provides a sense of ownership and responsibility for the content of specific chapters or sections.

Clarity rating: 4

For the most part, the text is appropriately written to be accessible to first year college students making the transition from high school to college. Given the range of experience that students may bring to their college experience, some elements may appear too rudimentary, while others do employ some jargon or technical terminology related to background research about critical thinking or financial planning, for example. The instruction that accompanies the text for the first year courses would be needed in any case, to give context to what seems obvious, and practice and additional clarity to what seems technical.

Consistency rating: 4

Overall the book is consistent, especially in establishing what students can expect from a university experience that will be different from their high school experience. It is particularly consistent throughout in structuring each section with general information and background research first, and then what is specific to the UTA student experience (including people and offices to contact) second. Hopefully this means that during the first year courses students have content to learn from, and the book can become a reference manual or handbook for their remaining years at UTA.

Modularity rating: 5

The text contains many headings and chapter divisions that should help instruction and navigation. Moreover, sections may contain activities, "thought questions", tips, and worksheets that could be assigned at different points during the course, depending on the emphasis the students and instructors wish to put on a particular aspect of the student experience.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The text puts general academic information ahead of student life information, but specific information about student work habits and success comes after information about co-curricular leadership and campus involvement. Is this to benefit students, or university retention? Or does this reflect the structure of the first year course content? It is not necessarily clear to the (non-UTA) reader without more context. Otherwise, the flow of the text is logical and clear in focusing on academics and campus life before turning to details about pitfalls, self-care, and finances.

Interface rating: 5

The interface was easy to navigate, with minimal distortions. There may be a few inconsistencies in style from section to section, but overall the text is very readable.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Very few grammatical and proofreading errors, probably reflecting the fact that the text had a previous version before moving to open text format.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

Because the text focuses on the universality of a student's first year experience at UTA, it risks overlooking the particular needs of subgroups of students, including ethnic and racial minorities, athletes, LGBTQ+ populations, and international students, to name a few. What is a UTA student to do if she feels marginalized (or called out) as part of a collaborative learning experience or club sport, for example? Advice on sexual health also seems entirely geared toward consensual relationships, with only a listed resource to address any problem of sexual violence. While these issues may feel controversial on some corners of campus, to not address them can signal to students that these concerns are less valid than the concerns that are explicitly mentioned in the text.

Comments

I applaud the UTA for putting this information together in one text to support their first year experience courses, and making the information free to students and easily updated and expanded in this open text format. Information about how to succeed in college should be universally accessible, and UTA has set an excellent example here. I very much appreciated the idea that a new edition could include first-hand accounts from current students, uploaded by the students themselves, with photos (though I don't see any included in this version, yet). Live links to offices and additional materials, worksheets and quizzes to help with advising and planning are also welcome, especially with the context (which later can serve as reference) that a text provides. As an outsider to the UTA campus community, I am grateful for the opportunity to read and evaluate this material because it made me think critically about the content and delivery of such information on my own campus, and whether we might borrow from this example to bring parallel information to our own first year students.