Reviewed Textbooks

Mastering Strategic Management

Teaching the strategic management course can be a challenge for many professors. In most business schools, strategic management is a “capstone” course that requires students to draw on insights from various functional courses they have completed (such as marketing, finance, and accounting) in order to understand how top executives make the strategic decisions that drive whether organizations succeed or fail. Although students have taken these functional courses, many students have very little experience with major organizational choices. It is this inexperience that can undermine many students' engagement in the course.

(10 reviews)

International Relations

Stephen McGlinchey, University of the West of England

This book is designed to be a ‘Day 0' introduction to International Relations. As a beginner's guide, it has been structured to condense the most important information into the smallest space and present that information in the most accessible way. The chapters offer a broad sweep of the basic components of International Relations and the key contemporaryissues that concern the discipline. The narrative arc forms a complete circle, taking readers from no knowledge to competency. The journey starts by examining how the international system was formed and ends by reflecting that International Relations is always adapting to events and is therefore a never-ending journey of discovery. Unlike typical textbooks, there are no boxes, charts, pictures or exercises. The philosophy underpinning this book is that these things can be a distraction. This book, like others in the E-IR Foundations series, is designed to capture attention with an engaging narrative. The chapters are short, with simple paragraphs and clear sentences placing the reader inside crucial issues and debates so they can understand how things work, and where they fit in the world around them.

(12 reviews)

DC Circuits

Chad Davis, University of Oklahoma

This book covers Direct Current (DC) circuit theory and is broken up into three modules. Module 1 covers the basics for circuits that include DC sources (voltage or current) and resistors. Even though Module 1 is not very difficult, it forms the foundation for more complicated topics in modules 2 and 3 so it is important to have a firm grasp of all Module 1 topics before moving on. Module 2 covers more difficult problem solving techniques for circuits that include only DC sources and resistors. Module 3 introduces capacitors and inductors. These non-linear reactive components are analyzed in the transient and steady state regions in circuits with DC sources in Module 3. Also annexed is a two-page cheat sheet that ENGR 2431 students at University of Oklahoma can use for exams.

(7 reviews)

International Relations Theory

Stephen McGlinchey

Rosie Walters

Christian Scheinpflug

This book is designed as a foundational entry point to International Relations theory – structured to condense the most important information into the smallest space and present that information in an accessible manner. The first half of the book covers the theories that are most commonly taught in undergraduate programmes. The book then expands to present emerging approaches and offer wider perspectives. Each chapter sets out the basics of a theory whilst also applying it to a real-world event or issue, creating a lively, readable and relevant guide that will help students to see not only what theories are – but why they matter.

(2 reviews)

Ethics for A-Level

Mark Dimmock, Torquay Boys' Grammar School

Andrew Fisher, University of Nottingham

What does pleasure have to do with morality? What role, if any, should intuition have in the formation of moral theory? If something is ‘simulated', can it be immoral?

(4 reviews)

Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning

Pamela Sachant, University of North Georgia

Peggy Blood, Savannah State University

Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of Art. Authored by four USG faculty members with advance degrees in the arts, this textbooks offers up-to-date original scholarship. It includes over 400 high-quality images illustrating the history of art, its technical applications, and its many uses.

(35 reviews)

World Regional Geography

Caitlin Finlayson, University of Mary Washington

Rather than present students with a broad, novice-level introduction to geography, emphasizing places and vocabulary terms, this text approaches geography as experts understand the discipline, focusing on connections and an in-depth understanding of core themes. This thematic approach, informed by pedagogical research, provides students with an introduction to thinking geographically. Instead of repeating the same several themes each chapter, this text emphasizes depth over breadth by arranging each chapter around a central theme and then exploring that theme in detail as it applies to the particular region. In addition, while chapters are designed to stand alone and be rearranged or eliminated at the instructor's discretion, the theme of globalization and inequality unites all of the regions discussed. This core focus enables students to draw connections between regions and to better understand the interconnectedness of our world. Furthermore, the focus on both globalization and inequality helps demonstrate the real-world application of the concepts discussed. Colonialism, for instance, rather than a historical relict, becomes a force that has shaped geography and informs social justice. This thematic approach is also intended to facilitate active learning and would be suitable for a flipped or team-based learning-style course since it more easily integrates case studies and higher-order thinking than the traditional model.

(6 reviews)

Libro Libre: Beginning Spanish

Erin Huebener

Jessica Steinberg

One of the most important things we can do to hold ourselves accountable for our learning is to engage in goal setting and metacognition—a fancy term for thinking about the way we think and learn. The goals we set should be specific and achievable. Something like “Speak Spanish” is too broad, we need to focus on the steps we need to take to get there and the signs that we will see as proof of our progress.

(4 reviews)

Principles of Microeconomics

Multiple Authors, OpenStax College

Principles of Microeconomicscovers the scope and sequence for a one-semester economics course. The text also includes many current examples, including; the Keystone Pipeline, Occupy Wall Street, and debates over the minimum wage.

(9 reviews)

Mathematical Analysis I

Elias Zakon

This award-winning text carefully leads the student through the basic topics of Real Analysis. Topics include metric spaces, open and closed sets, convergent sequences, function limits and continuity, compact sets, sequences and series of functions, power series, differentiation and integration, Taylor's theorem, total variation, rectifiable arcs, and sufficient conditions of integrability. Well over 500 exercises (many with extensive hints) assist students through the material.

(1 review)