Reading and Writing Successfully in College: A Guide for Students

Reviewed by Zana Combiths, Instructor, Radford University on 10/23/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The Writing Process is covered well. I would like more on grammar and practice with common grammar problems and punctuation errors.
I would also like to see more on argument strategies in the main text (without so much clicking around).

Content Accuracy rating: 4

As far as I can tell, the author is unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The publishers seem to invite others to add to the text. I don't think I would take my time to do that.

Clarity rating: 3

I found too much jargon that would be above the grasp of my typical students in introductory composition courses. For example, the "cognitive process" and coverage of Bloom's Taxonomy would be out of reach for my students.

Consistency rating: 3

The textbook is consistent; however, some sections seem out of place in order of importance.

Modularity rating: 4

Yes, I believe some sections would be useful at times during the courses and could be easily found by using the contents bar. I found that the text is somewhat overly self-referential, and students would most likely not be reading for that much time.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

I think students are not interested in Bloom's Taxonomy in my courses. Shorter versions of how we read and comprehend would suit my needs better.
The order works for the most part.

Interface rating: 4

The use of the highlighted activities and key points in boxes works well. Sometimes, I believe I would recommend to students that they pay special attention to those boxes.
I had no problem navigating once I had the entire publication uploaded. The navigation bars at the bottom of the pages were particularly helpful to me.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not see any errors in grammar. I would prefer if an author of a textbook stayed out of the text. For example, leave out "I" when explaining.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

I did not see any cultural references at all, but I am not sure that the readings and the commentary throughout would be accessible to my students. The level of information and wording is often above their backgrounds in education.

Comments

I am interested in the Open Education access to books on Composition, but I would like to see less text - my students do not read! More examples and activities would be useful. The activities that you do have would work for my students sometimes.

Reviewed by Rhonda Italiano, Professor, North Hennepin Community College on 5/31/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text covers all areas of reading strategies from pre-reading to annotation and note-taking. That information is then tied to writing strategies and how they will help students become better writers.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Content was very accurate. All references were noted. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for a teacher to write a completely unbiased text.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Examples were relevant and timely, yet not so specific that they will need to be revised every year or two.

Clarity rating: 5

Well done. The Zone of Proximal Development is explained in the beginning of the text and broken down for the reader. That trend continues throughout the text.

Consistency rating: 5

Author used terms and examples consistently throughout the entire text.

Modularity rating: 5

The author definitely took their own advice here. Chunking was well done. Sections were broken into concise sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I appreciated the topics and the logic that was used to arrange them in the text.

Interface rating: 5

Charts were well placed. No navigational issues noted.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

There were a few typos in the beginning of the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Well done. I especially appreciated the attention paid to Indigenous Peoples and the land acknowledgement at the beginning of the text.

Comments

I was impressed that the author had her text tested by colleagues and former students. All angles were covered.
The text included words of advice to students and invitations to pause and react to the material they were reading. This will be a great resource to college reading and writing instructors everywhere.

Reviewed by Angelica Rivera, Director, Northeastern Illinois University on 5/4/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The textbook entitled "Reading and Writing Successfully in College: A Guide for Students" is comprehensive in nature and is well organized. It is divided into 3 Parts: I. Successful College Reading: Reading effectively, creating an optimal setting for reading, examining a sample assignment, using pre-reading strategies, annotating and note taking II. Doing Intellectual work: Understanding Bloom’s Taxonomy, understanding writing assignments as intellectual work, examining sample assignments and III. Writing Process in College, which consists of Thinking about the Writing Process, Pre-writing and Drafting and getting feedback and IV. Writing with Sources: Understanding source types, Finding and Evaluating sources, paraphrasing and quoting, and citing sources.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The “Reading and Writing Successfully in College: A Guide for Students" textbook is well-researched and provides accurate details on how to read, write, revise, and cite.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is relevant to college writing, shows that writing is a process, and is a skill that all students can learn if they focus on how to read, write and revise. This book can be updated to include changing trends and current information.

Clarity rating: 5

The textbook is well-written and easy to use. The material is accessible for students, and the Table of Contents and book is well organized and detailed. Students have great visuals, such as pictures and graphics, to keep the reader interested.

Consistency rating: 5

The structure of the book is easy to follow, the chapters are brief and to the point and are consistent with the Table of Contents.

Modularity rating: 5

The textbook is broken into sections that are easy to read with student profiles, examples, charts/graphics and pictures. The author does this consistently throughout the book.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics and chapters are well organized throughout the book. Once again, the Table of Contents does an excellent job of outlining the sections and topics. The information is clearly written, logical, and flows throughout the book. The end of the book provides detailed information on how to cite sources correctly and give authors their due credit.

Interface rating: 5

The textbook is well done and easy to navigate. It has no issues with the interface and is accessible and easy to use.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The textbook entitled, “Reading and Writing Successfully in College: A Guide for Students" textbook is well written and I did not identify any visible grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book is culturally relevant as it includes a Land Acknowledgement, which includes the Native tribe that resides in this region and has students from diverse backgrounds who have provided feedback on assignments. It makes students from different backgrounds feel seen and included.

Comments

Given the accessible nature of this book and how intentional the author of this book has been in sharing and revising their best writing practices, I feel compelled to use this book during the Fall semester for the Academic Seminar that I teach. I would also like my students to use it as a reference and guide as they transition from high school to college.