Mechanics and Fields and Circuits (U of T)
OER Reviewed: Mechanics and Fields and Circuits
Reviewer: Jennifer Kirkey, Instructor of Physics and Astronomy, Articulation Chair of Physics and Astronomy, Douglas College
Rating
Each criterion asks the reviewer to rate it on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = very poor and 5 = excellent).
Comprehensiveness – Rating: 2
The OER covers all areas and ideas of the subject appropriately and provides an effective index and/or glossary.
This is not a book, but a series of online modules directed at self-directed students to supplement a physics course.
To quote the authors from the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada “These ten modules support the development of basic skills in Physics, in the areas of Newtonian Mechanics. The content includes the core concepts studied in a first-year calculus-based introductory physics course taught at the university level. Following a typical semester‐long structure, the ideas of kinematics, dynamics, Newton’s laws and conservation laws will be presented.”
It ends at Simple Harmonic Motion. It does not cover waves.
It has no index and no glossary, but it is not a book so that is not surprising.
Content Accuracy – Rating: 5
Content, including diagrams and other supplementary material, is accurate, error-free, and unbiased.
What is there, is very well done. The videos are well made, with good animation and they have close captioning. The voice over hand written videos are also very well done.
Relevance/Longevity – Rating: 2
Content is up-to-date, but not in a way that will quickly make the OER obsolete within a short period of time. The OER is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement.
The content is up to date but it cannot be updated as it is a series of videos. It would be easy to make up supplementary questions in a PDF file, but they could not be integrated into the links that are embedded in the modules and videos.
Clarity – Rating: 5
The OER is written in lucid, accessible prose, and provides adequate context for any jargon/technical terminology used.
What is there is extremely well written.
Consistency – Rating: 5
The OER is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.
Very well done videos and practice problems.
Modularity – Rating: 2
The OER is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course (i.e., enormous blocks of text without subheadings should be avoided). The OER should not be overly self-referential, and should be easily reorganized, and realigned with various subunits of a course without presenting much disruption to the reader.
It is done as a series of ten modules, but it cannot be reorganized or realigned.
Organization/Structure/Flow – Rating: 5
The topics in the OER are presented in a logical, clear fashion.
This OER follows the classic flow of the topics in a first year physics course and are presented i