Open Educational Resources (OERs): Biology
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others.
Biology Open Educational Resources
This page contains suggested textbooks and materials that are openly licensed. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but to highlight relevant materials for faculty to consider adding to their courses.
More information about evaluating OER, including assessment rubrics, can be found on the Use OER tab.
Related Library Subject Guides
The following general subject guides contain library resources freely available to PSU students:
For assistance, contact your PSU Subject Librarian
Textbooks
- Concepts of BiologyConcepts of Biology is designed for the typical introductory biology course for nonmajors, covering standard scope and sequence requirements. The text includes interesting applications and conveys the major themes of biology, with content that is meaningful and easy to understand. The book is designed to demonstrate biology concepts and to promote scientific literacy.
- Biology 2eBiology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the biological sciences, and offer everyday applications. The book also includes various types of practice and homework questions that help students understand—and apply—key concepts.
- MicrobiologyMicrobiology covers the scope and sequence requirements for a single-semester microbiology course for non-majors. The book presents the core concepts of microbiology with a focus on applications for careers in allied health. The pedagogical features of the text make the material interesting and accessible while maintaining the career-application focus and scientific rigor inherent in the subject matter. Microbiology’s art program enhances students’ understanding of concepts through clear and effective illustrations, diagrams, and photographs.
The following links provide more options for textbooks in the biological sciences:
Additional Material
- Biology from Khan AcademyKhan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard.
- Biology from Open Course LibraryThe Open Course Library (OCL) is a collection of shareable course materials, including syllabi, course activities, readings, and assessments designed by teams of college faculty, instructional designers, librarians, and other experts.
- Animated TutorialsKey biological concepts animated as narrated and stepped tutorials, along with quizzes.
- Biology course materials from MITWeb-based publication of virtually all MIT course content in Biology
- Biology from SUNYTextbooks and additional course material from the State University of New York
- The Biology ProjectOnline interactive resource from the University of Arizona that includes problem sets and tutorials
- Biology from Saylor AcademyCourse materials for Microbiology and Molecular and Cellular Biology
- TEDTED will link you with 5-25 min talks on Biology. You can browse by subject, length, or rating.