Universtiy Physics Volume 3 (OpenStax)
OER Reviewed: University Physics Volume 3 (OpenStax)
Reviewer: Jennifer Kirkey, Instructor of Physics and Astronomy, Articulation Chair of Physics and Astronomy, Douglas College
The reviewer will be using it in January 2021. The Department reviewed this set of books before changing from Physics by Halliday, Resnick and Walker to these books starting September 2020.
Rating
Each criterion asks the reviewer to rate it on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = very poor and 5 = excellent).
Comprehensiveness – Rating: 4
The OER covers all areas and ideas of the subject appropriately and provides an effective index and/or glossary.
This OER is appropriate for PHYS I/II of the Engineering Common Core.
PHYS II covers electricity, magnetism, optics and quantum so Openstax Volumes 2 and 3 will be required.
Openstax Volume 1
- Unit 1 Mechanics
- Unit 2 Waves and Acoustics
Openstax Volume 2
- Unit 1 Thermodynamics
- Unit 2 Electricity and Magnetism
Openstax Volume 3
- Unit 1 Optics
- Unit 2 Modern physics including relativity and quantum mechanics
This is a good book. Not a great book but as good book. Others will wax poetically about the standard book by Knight or the new one by Mazur, but this book is just fine.
It integrates calculus throughout. That pun was deliberate. In fact, that is one of the few criticisms. It is based more on the US curricula and assumes that the student has already done differential and integral calculus, though in BC calculus is often being taken at the same time. For example they do separation of variables to solve questions occasionally. They also use integrals to find time, i.e., t = integral of dx/v. Lastly, they talk about “exact differentials” in the context of conservative forces.
In my experience about half of the students in the Douglas College equivalent of PHYS I (PHYS1110) are either taking integral calculus or have taken it. Overall, the calculus level to be quite a bit higher than Halliday Resnick and Walker, which is one of the common standard textbooks.
Students taking PHYS II, which is traditionally taught in the second semester, have completed at least one semester of calculus so are better prepared for the material in this textbook. Faculty will still likely have to teach anti-derivates before covered thoroughly in the student’s calculus courses, but that is common with most commercial textbooks. The Douglas College equivalent of PHYS II is PHYS1210 and as the pre-requisite for PHYS1210 is the first semester of calculus, students are better prepared for the calculus level in this book.
One of the weak points of the book is the focus on math over physics. It is difficult to tell students “ignore this example” frequently.
The index is comprehensive. The OpenStax books tend to be very well organized, and this one is true to form. An index at the back of the book. Each chapter at the end has a listing of “key terms” and a summary.
Content Accuracy – Rating: 4
Content, including diagrams and o