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Peer Review

Principles of Biology

Reviewed:

Dec 31, 2022 by Biology
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.8 stars
Content Quality: 4.8 stars
Effectiveness: 5.0 stars
Ease of Use: 5.0 stars
Overview:

The Principles of Biology sequence (BI 211, 212 and 213) introduces biology as a scientific discipline for students planning to major in biology and other science disciplines. Laboratories and classroom activities introduce techniques used to study biological processes and provide opportunities for students to develop their ability to conduct research.

Type of Material:

eBook

Recommended Uses:

In class adoption as primary text

Technical Requirements:

Web browser

Identify Major Learning Goals:

  • Students will learn principles of biology.
  • Students will be able to explore the different scientific disciplines - scientific reasoning, biochemistry, genetics, biotechnology, evolution and ecology.
  • Students will be able to apply the knowledge and skills to elaborate the concepts, context and information gained by teaching, participating in learning activities, reading, writing and assessment. 
  • Student will be able to explain and evaluate why understanding each step of scientific discipline is important to understand the world around us.
  • Students will understand the role played by principles of biology in understanding diversity of life.
Target Student Population:

Advanced/Honors High School Biology, College General Ed, College Lower Division

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Basic knowledge of Biology vocabulary

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The information is accurate at the time of the review and provides a good basic background about the material
  • The content is clearly written, and the vocabulary is appropriate for the intended audience
  • The resource is informed by scholarship
  • The materials are current and relevant
  • The topics are well-organized and follows good pedagogy
  • Each chapter starts with the learning objectives
  • The resource is licensed CC BY and is presented in a variety of formats for easy download and adoption
Concerns:

Some videos and infographics will be useful and powepoint slides will be helpful.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

  • Each chapter is introduced with learning objective
  • Each chapter builds on prior concepts and reinforces the concepts progressively
  • The material is logically presented
  • There are interactive exercises to reinforce learning in most of the sub-sections of the major topics
  • Material builds upon knowledge in multiple ways depending on how users navigate through the site
  • Provides examples of situations to illustrate concept application
  • Within the chapters, the authors introduced ideas for lab activities
Concerns:

None

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The information is organized and follows a logical order
  • Very easy to navigate to the different sections of the book
  • The active links load quickly.
  • Navigation is intuitive
Concerns:

None

Other Issues and Comments:

This is among the many resources that can be adopted as a primary text for Introductory Biology. The material is CC BY and is published in several formats as allowed by Pressbooks for easy download, saving the students the expense of purchasing a commercial text. 

Creative Commons:
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