Open Educational Resources (OERs): Chemistry
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.
Chemistry 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
- How to be a Successful Organic ChemistA PDXOPEN access textbook created by Chemistry Professor Alexander Sandtorv,
How to be a successful organic chemist is meant as an introductory text for undergraduates taking organic chemistry teaching labs. The text is a clear and practical introduction to safety, chemical handling, organic chemistry techniques, and lab reports. - ChemistryChemistry is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the two-semester general chemistry course. The textbook provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of chemistry and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. The book also includes a number of innovative features, including interactive exercises and real-world applications, designed to enhance student learning.
- Chemistry: Atoms FirstThis title is an adaptation of the OpenStax Chemistry text and covers scope and sequence requirements of the two-semester general chemistry course. Reordered to fit an atoms first approach, this title introduces atomic and molecular structure much earlier than the traditional approach, delaying the introduction of more abstract material so students have time to acclimate to the study of chemistry. Chemistry: Atoms First also provides a basis for understanding the application of quantitative principles to the chemistry that underlies the entire course.
The following links provide more options for chemistry textbooks:
Additional Material
- Chemistry from Khan AcademyKhan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard.
- Chemistry Laboratory Manuals from LumenThis lab manual accompanies the college chemistry courses.
- Chemistry 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.
- Chemistry from MITWeb-based publication of virtually all MIT course content in Chemistry
- Chemistry from SUNYTextbooks and additional course material from the State University of New York
- Chemistry from Saylor AcademyCourse materials for General Chemistry
- Chemistry from TEDTED will link you with 5-25 min talks on a variety of chemistry topics. You can browse by subject, length, or rating.
- Chemistry from MerlotThe MERLOT collection consists of tens of thousands of discipline-specific learning materials and learning exercises. The site features a robust filter to enhance searching.