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I am interested to learn who is using this text.

OER Mini Grant Text Review Juan-John “Doc” Rivera, Ph.D. Professor, EOPS Counselor San Diego City College 11-26-18 This synopsis compares College Success with On Course by Skip Downing (8th edition). A comprehensive review can be found on the San Diego City College web site at https://tinyurl.com/ycpl6ydd. Both texts are helpful. OER's College Success is a good alternative that could provide a quality personal growth experience similar to what is more readily supported through the On Course text but at no cost (or around $10 if printed), if students do not have to pay for supplementary materials. College Success provides self-assessment activities, yet the student is able to objectify the information at arm’s length as compared to the On Course Journal Entry feature, where students use newly-acquired knowledge, dive deeper into themselves, and find places they can fundamentally change and grow. This feature is primarily written from a White perspective and could be improved by making it more culturally relevant and inclusive. If the professor does not develop significant journal entry like guidance for students, On Course is by far the more useful text. Without well developed journal entry like content, College Success has limited ability to equip for the kind of change I have seen in my students. Both texts could benefit from stronger links between content and the implications for how content is best taught to promote social justice, and from a recognition and response to the reality that content and institutional and pedagogical practices can be oppressive to many students. Both texts could be strengthened by presenting content in ways that result in the professor self-evaluating and adjusting methods for enhanced social justice competency, classroom praxis, and project-based learning, as well as that result in students acquiring knowledge and developing behavior and skills that enable them to transform their lives and enable them to become more effective advocates for greater social justice. Both texts could be improved by referencing generational differences. For example, some studies have found that compared to Millennials, the newest generation, Gen Z, expect to work harder, would rather have working WIFI than working bathrooms, and think it’s better to do things yourself rather than collaborate with others. Examples like these represent significant differences between generations that have significant implications for how new generation texts are written and how content is taught. A printed copy of College Success could cost at least $10. I’ve seen used copies of On Course 7th edition for $10, but the updated 8th edition is as high as $77. Considering costs, and with the instructor providing effective supplementary materials and impactful journal activities, College Success is a good alternative that could provide a quality personal growth experience similar to what is more readily supported through the On Course text, especially if students do not have to pay for supplementary materials.