Peer Review

Neuroscience: Canadian 1st Edition

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Feb 24, 2024 by Biology

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

Neuroscience: Canadian 1st Edition Open Textbook is a comprehensive source that examines the nervous system, neurodegeneration, techniques in studying neuroscience and emerging topics in the field.

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

In-class as primary or alternate textbook in a Neuroscience class, a handy reference resource for students and researchers.

Technical Requirements:

Accessible with any Internet browser

Identify Major Learning Goals:

Students will learn what is a neuron.
Students will be able to explore structure of a nervous system.
Students will be able to apply the knowledge, concepts and skills to navigate through the units to learn about types of nervous system.
Students will be able to elaborate how to identify a neurodegenerative disorder
Students will understand the importance of tools and techniques to evaluate types of nervous system disorder and associated micro-biome.

Target Student Population:

College Upper Division

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Familiarity with Biology and Neuroscience vocabulary

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

Highly rich in content and context of nervous system
The topics are well-organized
Conceptual flow of information in each unit
The resource is informed by scholarship

Concerns:

Links to external resources to explore more information such as research articles on nervous system and disorder might be beneficial.
It would enhance the student experience if some multimedia resources are provided.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

Each chapter starts with learning objectives or chapter take aways
The chapter content is progressively presented, and the information builds upon the previous one
Information provided helps students understand the relatedness of the topics
Provides a description of Neuroscience Techniques (and when to use them)

Concerns:

A list of primary literature (references) would help students seek further understanding of the topics..

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The narrative uses vocabulary that is appropriate for the target audience
The information is well-organized and follows a logical order
Website is accessible with most browsers
Very easy to navigate to the different major sections of the book
Instruction and links on how to adopt and share the book is provided.

Concerns:

None at ths time

Other Issues and Comments:

This Open Educational Resources (OER) textbook can be easily adopted and customized to meet the needs of the faculty and students
It has both text and visual aids which are good for learning by reading and visualizing however some multiple choice questions for purpose of formative assessment for each sub-topic will be helpful.

Creative Commons: