Introduction to Biological Anthropology (ANTH 240)

Purpose: to help other instructors teaching the same course

Common Course ID:  Introduction to Biological Anthropology (ANTH 240)
CSU Instructor Open Textbook Adoption Portrait

Abstract: This open textbook is being utilized in a biological anthropology course for undergraduate students by Dr. Lauren Schwartz at California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM). The open textbook provides resources for students and instructors, including lab exercises, sample slide presentations, and quiz test banks. The main motivation to adopt an open textbook is to simply save students money! Students access the open textbook via a website that is open to all.

Course Title and Number: Introduction to Biological Anthropology (ANTH 240)
Brief Description of course highlights:   ANTH 240: Introduces biological anthropology, a branch of anthropology that seeks to understand, from a biological point of view, what it means to be a human being. Provides the basics of principles of genetics and inheritance, evolutionary theory, primate characteristics and behavior, the evolution of human and non-human primates through the fossil record and human diversity and adaptability.

https://catalog.csusm.edu

Student population: ANTH 240 satisfies a lower-division life science requirement at CSUSM and therefore a range of students enroll. ANTH majors are required to take the course, but most are from other areas, particularly, Sociology, Criminal Justice and Forensic Studies, and Psychology.  Also, the course often includes undergraduates of all stages; from first years to students in their final semester and ready to graduate. 

Learning or student outcomes: 

• Explain basic anthropological and biological terminology as it relates to non-human primate studies, human origins and evolution, and the development of human culture.
• Test anthropological hypotheses by applying the scientific method to critically evaluate material and genetic evidence.
• Analyze current issues and debates surrounding the origins of modern humans and what it means to be human.
• Classify key information about evolutionary biological and cultural adaptations, such as bipedalism, modes of communication and expression, and tool development.
• Demonstrate the fact that race is a cultural construct, and not a biological characteristic.

Key challenges faced and how resolved:  The course fulfills a university-wide life science requirement and from within an Anthropology dept.  Therefore, students are often majors from other social science and humanities disciplines and are seeking to complete this General Education (GE) requirement from a more ‘familiar’ department.  However, they often express that they also enroll because they have concerns about their abilities and confidence with science-focused coursework and avoid classes from STEM departments.  As a result, an element of the course is to breakdown the idea that science is only one way of analyzing and understanding the world around us.  Other knowledge systems and even belief have a place in addressing the broader questions of the course and anthropology, such as: “what does it mean to be human.”  Finally, as students design and carry out their own experiments and engage with the scientific method throughout the entire course, they realize by the end that they are capable of success with scientific topics and that it is fun!

Textbook or OER/Low cost Title:  Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology.  1st edition.

Brief Description: This open access textbook is a comprehensive, peer-reviewed eBook for anthropological courses. It includes a range of topics from molecular biology and genetics to non-human primates (classification and behavior), to the early hominin record. Each chapter is written by specialists in the field and are available as downloadable PDFs, as well as audio book files. There are various resources for the instructor, including sample laboratory exercises, test bank of questions (upon request by the instructor), and presentation slides.

Please provide a link to the resource
https://explorations.americananthro.org/index.php/first-edition/

Editors: Beth Shook, Katie Nelson, Kelsie Aguilera, and Lara Braff

Student access:  The best part of this textbook is that it is completely open access, and anyone can access it via the website.  Students do not need to create an account, provide an email, or use a password to access any of the resources on the website.

Supplemental resources:  Lab and Activity Manual, PDF Chapters, Audio files, and Presentation Slides are available to everyone.  Sample test bank questions are available upon email request by faculty/instructor only.  

Provide the cost savings from that of a traditional textbook. Between $65-100

License:  CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

OER/Low Cost Adoption Process

Provide an explanation or what motivated you to use this textbook or OER/Low Cost option. The primary reason for choosing this open access textbook was to save students money – it is totally free! The website link is all they need! Additionally, the chapters are available as PDF files which students are encouraged to download if they work offline or have inconsistent internet access. And they are available in audio file formats. I greatly appreciate these accessibility features, as not all students have reliable internet access off campus and learn better when listening to the audio version, while reading along with the text.

How did you find and select the open textbook for this course? Recommended by colleagues in the field.

Sharing Best Practices: Talk to colleagues or librarians and seek out open access or OER materials for students! Aside from text, they often have a range of additional resources that support student learning. 

Describe any key challenges you experienced, how they were resolved  and lessons learned. None!

Instructor Name:  Lauren Schwartz
I am an Anthropology lecturer at California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM). I teach courses in archaeology (pre-Columbian Americas, methods, and ethics), and introductory biological anthropology.

Please provide a link to your university page.
https://www.csusm.edu/anthropology/faculty/index.html

Please describe the courses you teach:
Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Introduction to Archaeology
World Prehistory
Gender and Archaeology
Anthropological Perspectives of Space and Place
Household Archaeology
Ethics in Archaeology

Describe your teaching philosophy and any research interests related to your discipline or teaching.  As an anthropologist I introduce students to the ways cultural values provide order to help humans “make sense” of our world, our experiences, and our relations with other people.  As an archaeologist I introduce students to past human societies and examine the origins and development of cultural variation and social complexities as deciphered from the material record. Since anthropology is new to most college students, I challenge them to reflect upon how they know what they know about society and their lived experience. Whatever the topic (the prehistoric past, the early hominin record, or the ethics of researching cultural variation from either the past or present), students discover how an anthropological lens reveals our human cultural commonalities and to embrace and value our variation and diversity.