Open Educational Resources | Pao Yue-kong Library, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

e-book

A Brief Introduction to Engineering Computation with MATLAB

A Brief Introduction to Engineering Computation with MATLAB is specifically designed for students with no programming experience. However, students are expected to be proficient in First Year Mathematics and Sciences and access to good reference books are highly recommended. Students are assumed to have a working knowledge of the Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows operating systems. The strategic goal of the course and book is to provide learners with an appreciation for the role computation plays in solving engineering problems. MATLAB specific skills that students are expected to be proficient at are: write scripts to solve engineering problems including interpolation, numerical integration and regression analysis, plot graphs to visualize, analyze and present numerical data, and publish reports.

Subjects:: Mechanical Engineering and Computing
Keywords:: MATLAB Engineering mathematics
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Accounting Principles: A Business Perspective

Accounting Principles: A Business Perspective uses annual reports of real companies to illustrate many of the accounting concepts in use in business today. Gaining an understanding of accounting terminology and concepts, however, is not enough to ensure your success. You also need to be able to find information on the Internet, analyze various business situations, work effectively as a member of a team, and communicate your ideas clearly. This text was developed to help you develop these skills.

Subjects:: Accounting
Keywords:: Accounting Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Advances in Flight Control Systems

This book brings together reputable researchers from different countries in order to provide a comprehensive coverage of advanced and modern topics in flight control not yet reflected by other books. This product comprises 14 contributions submitted by 38 authors from 11 different countries and areas. It covers most of the currents main streams of flight control researches, ranging from adaptive flight control mechanism, fault tolerant flight control, acceleration based flight control, helicopter flight control, comparison of flight control systems and fundamentals. According to these themes the contributions are grouped in six categories, corresponding to six parts of the book.

Subjects:: Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering
Keywords:: Flight control Automatic pilot (Airplanes)
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Algorithms and Data Structures With Applications to Graphics and Geometry

An introductory coverage of algorithms and data structures with application to graphics and geometry.

Subjects:: Computing
Keywords:: Algorithms Data structures (Computer science) Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Algorithms and data structures : with applications to graphics and geometry

"This is a textbook for first year Computer Science. Algorithms and Data Structures With Applications to Graphics and Geometry."--BCcampus website.

Subjects:: Mathematics and Statistics
Keywords:: Data structures (Computer science) Textbooks Algorithms
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

An Introduction to Matlab and Mathcad

This textbook, or really a “coursebook” for a college freshman-level class, has been updated for Spring 2014 and provides an introduction to programming and problem solving using both Matlab and Mathcad. We provide a balanced selection of introductory exercises and real-world problems (i.e. no “contrived” problems). We include many examples and screenshots to guide the reader. We assume no prior knowledge of Matlab or Mathcad.

Subjects:: Computing
Keywords:: MATLAB MathCAD Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers

This book, which presupposes familiarity only with the most elementary concepts of arithmetic (divisibility properties, greatest common divisor, etc.), is an expanded version of a series of lectures for graduate students on elementary number theory. Topics include: Compositions and Partitions; Arithmetic Functions; Distribution of Primes; Irrational Numbers; Congruences; Diophantine Equations; Combinatorial Number Theory; and Geometry of Numbers. Three sections of problems (which include exercises as well as unsolved problems) complete the text.

Subjects:: Mathematics and Statistics
Keywords:: Number theory Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

Presentation

Analyzing Word Frequencies in Large Text Corpora using Inter-arrival Times and Bootstrapping

This video was recorded at European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (ECML PKDD), Athens 2011. Comparing frequency counts over texts or corpora is an important task in many applications and scientific disciplines. Given a text corpus, we want to test a hypothesis, such as "word X is frequent", "word X has become more frequent over time", or "word X is more frequent in male than in female speech". For this purpose we need a null model of word frequencies. The commonly used bag-of-words model, which corresponds to a Bernoulli process with fixed parameter, does not account for any structure present in natural languages. Using this model for word frequencies results in large numbers of words being reported as unexpectedly frequent. We address how to take into account the inherent occurrence patterns of words in significance testing of word frequencies. Based on studies of words in two large corpora, we propose two methods for modeling word frequencies that both take into account the occurrence patterns of words and go beyond the bag-of-words assumption. The first method models word frequencies based on the spatial distribution of individual words in the language. The second method is based on bootstrapping and takes into account only word frequency at the text level. The proposed methods are compared to the current gold standard in a series of experiments on both corpora. We find that words obey different spatial patterns in the language, ranging from bursty to non-bursty/uniform, independent of their frequency, showing that the traditional approach leads to many false positives.

Subjects:: Management and Computing
Keywords:: Computational linguistics Text processing (Computer science) Discourse analysis -- Data processing
Resource Type:: Presentation

e-book

Applied Finite Mathematics

Applied Finite Mathematics covers topics including linear equations, matrices, linear programming, the mathematics of finance, sets and counting, probability, Markov chains, and game theory.

Subjects:: Mathematics and Statistics
Keywords:: Mathematics Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

Video

Beethoven The Businessman

The revolution that made music more marketable, more personal and easier to pirate began ... at the dawn of the 19th century. José Bowen outlines how new printing technology and an improved piano gave rise to the first music industry.

Keywords:: Music trade -- Technological innovations
Resource Type:: Video

e-book

Business English for Success

Business English for Success is a creative solution to a common challenge across Business Communication courses: Business English or Business Presentations? Some classes place an equal emphasis on oral and written communication. If that's the case for you check out our text Business Communication for Success. If, however, your class places the emphasis squarely on written communication and writing proficiency, then Business English for Success is for you. Business English for Success provides instruction in steps, builds writing, reading, and critical thinking, and combines comprehensive grammar review with an introduction to paragraph writing and composition. This step-by-step approach provides a clear path to student-centered learning. A wide range of writing levels and abilities are addressed, helping each student prepare for the next writing or university course. The text opens with a discussion on the sentence and then breaks it down into its elemental components, before reconstructing them into effective sentences, paragraphs, and larger assignments. Then, starting in Chapter 9: Effective Business Writing, the discussion applies lessons learned from the previous foundational chapters into common business issues and applications. From paraphrasing and plagiarism to style to the research process, the expectations increase as several common business documents are presented, including text messages and e-mail, memorandums and letters, the business proposal, business report, resume, and the sales message. This textbook has been used in classes at:Arizona Western College, Hostos Community College, Virginia State University, Truckee Meadows Community College, San Jose State University, Concordia University - Irvine, University New Brunswick - Fredericton, Cerritos College, University of Houston - Downtown, Flat World Knowledge University, A-C Central High School, University of The People, Truckee Meadows Community College, Danville Community High School

Subjects:: English Language
Keywords:: Business writing English language -- Business English Business communication Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Business Information Systems: Design an App for That

We set out to design an introductory course governed by four themes: Give students a good idea of what a career in MIS looks like by doing MIS. Enhance the professionalism of deliverables by teaching design and usability concepts. Promote creativity by assigning projects that demand it. Teach students about cloud computing by having them do cloud computing. Students in an introductory Management Information Systems (MIS) course often ask what a career in MIS looks like. Lacking a clear vision, they make their own assumptions. Often they assume the career involves programming with little human interaction. That MIS is a technical field could not be further from the truth. MIS job descriptions typically require candidates to be able to collaborate, communicate, analyze needs and gather requirements. They also list the need for excellent written and communication skills. In other words, MIS workers are constantly interacting with other people both inside and outside the organization. They are coming up with creative solutions to business problems. This course is designed to help students get a feel for what a career in MIS would be like. Our students report that they learn more about information systems from their internships than from their IS courses. Consequently, we designed a course that looks very much like an internship—an introduction to the field followed by a substantial project. Chapter 1 begins by introducing the information systems landscape. Here we discuss all the usual suspects: the information systems triangle, the systems development life cycle, transaction systems (ERP, SCM, CRM), collaboration systems, and business intelligence systems. Other aspects of the landscape such as usability, outsourcing, database concepts and so forth are introduced throughout chapter in Chapter 2 where they fit in naturally with the flow of the project. Chapter 2 is the substantial project which runs over a number of chapters. Over the course of the semester, students plan, build, and develop a proposal for an iPhone application. They develop a very realistic mockup. They also build a website to help market and support the app. Students are engaged because the project is fun and feels real. However, they are simultaneously learning business concepts and MIS skills. Prior to the existence of this course, we were only able to give such an interesting project at the senior level. Now, even as freshmen, students have a real experience of MIS in operation. A by product of creating an engaging course is increased enrollment in the MIS major. Even students who have never heard of MIS become excited about the major and either switch majors or add it as a double major or minor. Many other books have students study tools and then do a case. By contrast, most of this book is a case. Much like the real world, we introduce tools when needed, and only to the extent needed, to get at each part of the case.

Subjects:: Industrial and Systems Engineering and Computing
Keywords:: Business information services Management information systems Textbooks Application software -- Development
Resource Type:: e-book

Others

C Programming Exercises, Practice, Solution

C is a general-purpose, imperative computer programming language, supporting structured programming, lexical variable scope and recursion, while a static type system prevents many unintended operations. C was originally developed by Dennis Ritchie between 1969 and 1973 at Bell Labs, and used to re-implement the Unix operating system. It has since become one of the most widely used programming languages of all time, with C compilers from various vendors available for the majority of existing computer architectures and operating systems. The best way we learn anything is by practice and exercise questions. We have started this section for those (beginner to intermediate) who are familiar with C programming. Hope, these exercises help you to improve your C programming coding skills. Currently, following sections are available, we are working hard to add more exercises.

Subjects:: Computing
Keywords:: Programming languages (Electronic computers) C (Computer program language)
Resource Type:: Others

Presentation

COIN System Demos

This video was recorded at COIN / PlanetData Winter School on Knowledge Technologies for Complex Business Environments, Ljubljana 2011. Organized by COIN FP7 Integrated Project and PlanetData FP7 Network of Excellence, the school seeks to bring together students, scholars and researchers from industry in order to foster collaboration and interoperability with innovative services and project large-scale data management in business environments. The main topics of the winter school are: Interoperability and collaboration models and solutions, Enterprise interoperability and collaboration services, Innovative knowledge and semantically powered technologies, Knowledge process and context modelling, Pro-active knowledge tools, Large scale analytics and reasoning tools, Business cases and real case studies.

Subjects:: Management and Computing
Keywords:: Enterprise application integration (Computer systems) Internetworking (Telecommunication) Management information systems Information resources management
Resource Type:: Presentation

Presentation

COIN meets Science 2.0

This video was recorded at COIN / PlanetData Winter School on Knowledge Technologies for Complex Business Environments, Ljubljana 2011. Organized by COIN FP7 Integrated Project and PlanetData FP7 Network of Excellence, the school seeks to bring together students, scholars and researchers from industry in order to foster collaboration and interoperability with innovative services and project large-scale data management in business environments. The main topics of the winter school are: Interoperability and collaboration models and solutions, Enterprise interoperability and collaboration services, Innovative knowledge and semantically powered technologies, Knowledge process and context modelling, Pro-active knowledge tools, Large scale analytics and reasoning tools, Business cases and real case studies. Detailed information can be found here.

Subjects:: Management and Computing
Keywords:: Information resources management Internetworking (Telecommunication) Management information systems
Resource Type:: Presentation

Presentation

COIN services and innovation

This video was recorded at COIN / PlanetData Winter School on Knowledge Technologies for Complex Business Environments, Ljubljana 2011. Organized by COIN FP7 Integrated Project and PlanetData FP7 Network of Excellence, the school seeks to bring together students, scholars and researchers from industry in order to foster collaboration and interoperability with innovative services and project large-scale data management in business environments. The main topics of the winter school are: Interoperability and collaboration models and solutions, Enterprise interoperability and collaboration services, Innovative knowledge and semantically powered technologies, Knowledge process and context modelling, Pro-active knowledge tools, Large scale analytics and reasoning tools, Business cases and real case studies.

Subjects:: Management and Computing
Keywords:: Enterprise application integration (Computer systems) Internetworking (Telecommunication) Management information systems Information resources management
Resource Type:: Presentation

e-book

Calculus for the Life Sciences: A Modeling Approach Volume 1

Our writing is based on three premises. First, life sciences students are motivated by and respond well to actual data related to real life sciences problems. Second, the ultimate goal of calculus in the life sciences primarily involves modeling living systems with difference and differential equations. Understanding the concepts of derivative and integral are crucial, but the ability to compute a large array of derivatives and integrals is of secondary importance. Third, the depth of calculus for life sciences students should be comparable to that of the traditional physics and engineering calculus course; else life sciences students will be short changed and their faculty will advise them to take the 'best' (engineering) course. In our text, mathematical modeling and difference and differential equations lead, closely follow, and extend the elements of calculus. Chapter one introduces mathematical modeling in which students write descriptions of some observed processes and from these descriptions derive first order linear difference equations whose solutions can be compared with the observed data. In chapters in which the derivatives of algebraic, exponential, or trigonometric functions are defined, biologically motivated differential equations and their solutions are included. The chapter on partial derivatives includes a section on the diffusion partial differential equation. There are two chapters on non-linear difference equations and on systems of two difference equations and two chapters on differential equations and on systems of differential equation.

Subjects:: Mathematics and Statistics
Keywords:: Calculus Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Cicero, Against Verres, 2.1.53-86. Latin Text with Introduction, Study Questions, Commentary and English Translation

Looting, despoiling temples, attempted rape and judicial murder: these are just some of the themes of this classic piece of writing by one of the world's greatest orators. This particular passage is from the second book of Cicero's Speeches against Verres, who was a former Roman magistrate on trial for serious misconduct. Cicero presents the lurid details of Verres' alleged crimes in exquisite and sophisticated prose. This volume provides a portion of the original text of Cicero's speech in Latin, a detailed commentary, study aids, and a translation. As a literary artefact, the speech gives us insight into how the supreme master of Latin eloquence developed what we would now call rhetorical "spin". As an historical document, it provides a window into the dark underbelly of Rome's imperial expansion and exploitation of the Near East. Ingo Gildenhard's illuminating commentary on this A-Level set text will be of particular interest to students of Latin at both high school and undergraduate level. It will also be a valuable resource to Latin teachers and to anyone interested in Cicero, language and rhetoric, and the legal culture of Ancient Rome.

Subjects:: Foreign Language Learning, Area Studies, and Language and Languages
Keywords:: Speeches addresses etc. Latin Cicero Marcus Tullius Textbooks Latin language -- Study teaching
Resource Type:: e-book

Courseware

Communicating with Mobile Technology

This course covers the basics of J2ME and explores mobile imaging and media creation, GPS location, user-centered design, usability testing, and prototyping. Java experience is recommended.

Subjects:: Computing
Keywords:: Mobile apps Mobile computing Cell phone systems Application software -- Development
Resource Type:: Courseware

e-book

Computer Networking: Principles, Protocols and Practice

This open textbook aims to fill the gap between the open-source implementations and the open-source network specifications by providing a detailed but pedagogical description of the key principles that guide the operation of the Internet.

Subjects:: Computing
Keywords:: Computer network protocols Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

Presentation

Content as basis for Social Connectness …as basis for better User Experience

This video was recorded at COIN / PlanetData Winter School on Knowledge Technologies for Complex Business Environments, Ljubljana 2011. Organized by COIN FP7 Integrated Project and PlanetData FP7 Network of Excellence, the school seeks to bring together students, scholars and researchers from industry in order to foster collaboration and interoperability with innovative services and project large-scale data management in business environments. The main topics of the winter school are: Interoperability and collaboration models and solutions, Enterprise interoperability and collaboration services, Innovative knowledge and semantically powered technologies, Knowledge process and context modelling, Pro-active knowledge tools, Large scale analytics and reasoning tools, Business cases and real case studies. Detailed information can be found here.

Subjects:: Management and Computing
Keywords:: Online social networks Computer software -- Development -- Social aspects Computer networks -- Social aspects Social networks
Resource Type:: Presentation

Video

Control Systems Lectures

Welcome to Control Systems Lectures! This collection of videos is intended to supplement a first year controls class, not replace it. My goal is to take specific concepts in controls and expand on them in order to provide an intuitive understanding which will ultimately make you a better controls engineer.

Course related:: BSE4510 Building Automation and Control
Subjects:: Mechanical Engineering
Keywords:: Automatic control Systems engineering
Resource Type:: Video

Video

Conventus Law

At Conventus Law, we love to do things differently. We want to help people stay informed, give them new ideas about the Asia legal market and challenge the way people think. We specialise in partnering with law firms to deliver knowledge differently. Our products are highly informative, simple to access and easy to digest.

Course related:: AF5520 Corporate Law
Subjects:: Law and Legislation
Keywords:: Asia Law Law firms
Resource Type:: Video

e-book

Copy(write): Intellectual Property in the Writing Classroom

The editors of Copy(write): Intellectual Property in the Writing Classroom bring together stories, theories, and research that can further inform the ways in which we situate and address intellectual property issues in our writing classrooms. The essays in the collection identify and describe a wide range of pedagogical strategies, consider theories, present research, explore approaches, and offer both cautionary tales and local and contextual successes that can further inform the ways in which we situate and address intellectual property issues in our teaching.

Subjects:: English Language
Keywords:: Rhetoric -- Study teaching (Higher) United States Textbooks Fair use (Copyright)
Resource Type:: e-book

Video

Crowdsource Your Health

You can use your smartphone to find a local ATM, but what if you need a defibrillator? Lucien Engelen shows us online innovations that are changing the way we save lives, including a crowdsourced map of local AEDs.

Subjects:: Health Sciences and Health Technology and Informatics
Keywords:: Medical care Medical technology
Resource Type:: Video

e-book

Digital Foundations

This book was written by two artist educators who teach digital art and design studio foundation classes. While teaching classes that take place in software laboratories, we noticed that many of our students expected to learn to use software, but gave little consideration to aesthetics or art and design history. A typical first day question is, "Are we going to learn Photoshop in this class?" At first we were tempted to oblige our students' thirst for so-called practical knowledge, but we recognize that in the absence of the visual, theoretical, and historical frameworks, practical knowledge is practically useless. To teach our classes, we used the very best of the software training manuals, and supplemented them with all the visual and historical material that was missing. After settling for years on books that don't really encapsulate a class, we finally decided to write the book that we think all introductory media design students should be using. For us, a student is anyone actively engaged in learning. A student can be working towards a degree in art, communication, graphic design, illustration, and so on in a traditional classroom setting, or a self-taught found-it-on-the-bookstore-shelf learner. In the twenty chapters that follow, we have shared small bites of history, followed by visual references, and then digital exercises that explore creative software in a manner that brings design principles into the software demo. Originally, this book was printed as a manual to the Adobe Creative Suite, the software found in classrooms and labs around the country. Just a month after the book was published, we teamed up with Floss Manuals to convert our manuscript into one that teaches the same design principles using open source software.

Subjects:: Interactive and Digital Media
Keywords:: Open source software Computer art
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Digital foundations

"This book was written by two artist educators who teach digital art and design studio foundation classes. While teaching classes that take place in software laboratories, we noticed that many of our students expected to learn to use software, but gave little consideration to aesthetics or art and design history. A typical first day question is, "Are we going to learn Photoshop in this class?" This book is a mash-up of the Bauhaus Basic Course and open source software such as Inkscape, Gimp, Firefox, and Processing. We have taken some of the visual principles and exercises from the Bauhaus Basic Course and adapted them into exercises for these applications."--BCcampus website.

Subjects:: Interactive and Digital Media
Keywords:: Textbooks Computer art Open source software
Resource Type:: e-book

Courseware

Dynamic Systems and Control

The course addresses dynamic systems, i.e., systems that evolve with time. Typically these systems have inputs and outputs; it is of interest to understand how the input affects the output (or, vice-versa, what inputs should be given to generate a desired output). In particular, this course will concentrates on systems that can be modeled by Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs), and that satisfy certain linearity and time-invariance conditions.

Subjects:: Computing
Keywords:: Mathematical models Dynamics System theory
Resource Type:: Courseware

e-book

Elementary Algebra

It is essential to lay a solid foundation in mathematics if a student is to be competitive in today's global market. The importance of algebra, in particular, cannot be overstated, as it is the basis of all mathematical modeling used in applications found in all disciplines. Traditionally, the study of algebra is separated into a two parts, elementary algebra and intermediate algebra. This textbook, Elementary Algebra, is the first part, written in a clear and concise manner, making no assumption of prior algebra experience. It carefully guides students from the basics to the more advanced techniques required to be successful in the next course. This text is, by far, the best elementary algebra textbook offered under a Creative Commons license. It is written in such a way as to maintain maximum flexibility and usability. A modular format was carefully integrated into the design. For example, certain topics, like functions, can be covered or omitted without compromising the overall flow of the text. An introduction of square roots in Chapter 1 is another example that allows for instructors wishing to include the quadratic formula early to do so. Topics such as these are carefully included to enhance the flexibility throughout. This textbook will effectively enable traditional or nontraditional approaches to elementary algebra. This, in addition to robust and diverse exercise sets, provides the base for an excellent individualized textbook instructors can use free of needless edition changes and excessive costs! A few other differences are highlighted below: Equivalent mathematical notation using standard text found on a keyboard A variety of applications and word problems included in most exercise sets Clearly enumerated steps found in context within carefully chosen examples Alternative methods and notation, modularly integrated, where appropriate Video examples available, in context, within the online version of the textbook Robust and diverse exercise sets with discussion board questions Key words and key takeaways summarizing each section This text employs an early-and-often approach to real-world applications, laying the foundation for students to translate problems described in words into mathematical equations. It also clearly lays out the steps required to build the skills needed to solve these equations and interpret the results. With robust and diverse exercise sets, students have the opportunity to solve plenty of practice problems. In addition to embedded video examples and other online learning resources, the importance of practice with pencil and paper is stressed. This text respects the traditional approaches to algebra pedagogy while enhancing it with the technology available today. In addition, textual notation is introduced as a means to communicate solutions electronically throughout the text. While it is important to obtain the skills to solve problems correctly, it is just as important to communicate those solutions with others effectively in the modern era of instant communications.

Subjects:: Mathematics and Statistics
Keywords:: Algebra Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Essentials of Geographic Information Systems

Essentials of Geographic Information Systems integrates key concepts behind the technology with practical concerns and real-world applications. Recognizing that many potential GIS users are nonspecialists or may only need a few maps, this book is designed to be accessible, pragmatic, and concise. Essentials of Geographic Information Systems also illustrates how GIS is used to ask questions, inform choices, and guide policy. From the melting of the polar ice caps to privacy issues associated with mapping, this book provides a gentle, yet substantive, introduction to the use and application of digital maps, mapping, and GIS.
In today's world, learning involves knowing how and where to search for information. In some respects, knowing where to look for answers and information is arguably just as important as the knowledge itself. Because Essentials of Geographic Information Systems is concise, focused, and directed, readers are encouraged to search for supplementary information and to follow up on specific topics of interest on their own when necessary. Essentials of Geographic Information Systems provides the foundations for learning GIS, but readers are encouraged to construct their own individual frameworks of GIS knowledge. The benefits of this approach are two-fold. First, it promotes active learning through research. Second, it facilitates flexible and selective learning—that is, what is learned is a function of individual needs and interest.
Since GIS and related geospatial and navigation technology change so rapidly, a flexible and dynamic text is necessary in order to stay current and relevant. Though essential concepts in GIS tend to remain constant, the situations, applications, and examples of GIS are fluid and dynamic. Though this book is intended for use in introductory GIS courses, Essentials of Geographic Information Systems will also appeal to the large number of certificate, professional, extension, and online programs in GIS that are available today. In addition to providing readers with the tools necessary to carry out spatial analyses, Essentials of Geographic Information Systems outlines valuable cartographic guidelines for maximizing the visual impact of your maps. The book also describes effective GIS project management solutions that commonly arise in the modern workplace.

Subjects:: Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics and Computing
Keywords:: Geographic information systems Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Exploring Perspectives: A Concise Guide to Analysis

The reason why Randall Fallows wrote Exploring Perspectives: A Concise Guide to Analysis is simple: to help give students a better understanding of how to discover, develop, and revise an analytical essay. Here is how his 5 chapter book goes about doing just that: The first two chapters focus on the nature of an analysis and what's involved in writing an analytical essay. Randall shows that analysis consists of a balance of assertions (statements which present their viewpoints or launch an exploration of their concerns), examples (specific passages/scenes/events which inspire these views), explanations (statements that reveal how the examples support the assertions), and significance (statements which reveal the importance of their study to personal and/or cultural issues). After showing why each feature should be present throughout an essay, he reveals how to "set the stage" for producing one of their own. He first helps students to evaluate their own views on a subject and to examine how these views emerge from their own experiences, values and judgments. He, then, shows them how to research what others have said about the subject and provides suggestions for evaluating and incorporating this research into their own perspectives. Finally, Randall discusses the nature of writing, not as a linear procedure, but as a recursive process where the discovery and clarification of a concept occur simultaneously. The remaining three chapters reveal more specific advice on how to develop an analytical essay. Exploring Perspectives: A Concise Guide to Analysis by Randall Fallows is a great text to prepare any student to write analytical essays for the argument and persuasion courses.

Subjects:: English Language
Keywords:: Persuasion (Rhetoric) Textbooks English language -- Rhetoric Academic writing
Resource Type:: e-book

Courseware

Farmer's Agribusiness Training Course: Module 3 - Entrepreneurship. Lesson 5: Credit Management

This Farmers' Agribusiness training course has been developed to help both farmers and farmer organisations. Its intention is to provide access to provide access to additional skills and knowledge that will allow farmers to move from a 'farm' to a 'firm'. This lesson describes funding possibilities, the process for sourcing funds, the measures that should be taken to ensure effective utilization of funds, repayment procedures.

Subjects:: Management
Keywords:: Entrepreneurship Credit -- Management
Resource Type:: Courseware

e-book

Foundations of Computation

Foundations of Computation is a free textbook for a one-semester course in theoretical computer science. It has been used for several years in a course at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. The course has no prerequisites other than introductory computer programming. The first half of the course covers material on logic, sets, and functions that would often be taught in a course in discrete mathematics. The second part covers material on automata, formal languages, and grammar that would ordinarily be encountered in an upper level course in theoretical computer science.

Subjects:: Computing
Keywords:: Computer science Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Français interactif.

Welcome to Francais Interactif where readers can explore the French language and culture by following the lives of real students from the University of Texas who have participated in the UT Summer Program in Lyon, France. In addition to following the exploits of these UT students, visitors can also watch interviews of native French speakers, as well as scenes of day-to-day interactions in France.

Subjects:: Foreign Language Learning
Keywords:: French language -- Study teaching -- English speakers
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Fundamentals of Matrix Algebra

A college (or advanced high school) level text dealing with the basic principles of matrix and linear algebra. It covers solving systems of linear equations, matrix arithmetic, the determinant, eigenvalues, and linear transformations. Numerous examples are given within the easy to read text. This third edition corrects several errors in the text and updates the font faces.

Subjects:: Mathematics and Statistics
Keywords:: Matrices Algebra Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

General Chemistry: Principles, Patterns, and Applications

The overall goal of the authors with General Chemistry: Principles, Patterns, and Applications was to produce a text that introduces the students to the relevance and excitement of chemistry. Although much of first-year chemistry is taught as a service course, Bruce and Patricia feel there is no reason that the intrinsic excitement and potential of chemistry cannot be the focal point of the text and the course. So, they emphasize the positive aspects of chemistry and its relationship to students' lives, which requires bringing in applications early and often. In addition, the authors feel that many first year chemistry students have an enthusiasm for biologically and medically relevant topics, so they use an integrated approach in their text that includes explicit discussions of biological and environmental applications of chemistry. Topics relevant to materials science are also introduced to meet the more specific needs of engineering students. To facilitate integration of such material, simple organic structures, nomenclature, and reactions are introduced very early in the text, and both organic and inorganic examples are used wherever possible. This approach emphasizes the distinctions between ionic and covalent bonding, thus enhancing the students' chance of success in the organic chemistry course that traditionally follows general chemistry. Finally, the authors made a conscious effort to treat material that has traditionally been relegated to boxes, and thus perhaps perceived as peripheral by the students, by incorporating it into the text to serve as a learning tool. To begin the discussion of chemistry rapidly, the traditional first chapter introducing units, significant figures, conversion factors, dimensional analysis, and so on, has been reorganized. The material has been placed in the chapters where the relevant concepts are first introduced, thus providing three advantages: Eliminates the tedium of the traditional approach, which introduces mathematical operations at the outset, and thus avoids the perception that chemistry is a mathematics course; Avoids the early introduction of operations such as logarithms and exponents, which are typically not encountered again for several chapters and may easily be forgotten when they are needed; and Provides a review for those students who have already had relatively sophisticated high school chemistry and math courses, although the sections are designed primarily for students unfamiliar with the topic. Consider this text for your course if you are interested in In summary, a text that represents a step in the evolution of general chemistry texts toward one that reflects the increasing overlap between chemistry and other disciplines. Most importantly, if you want a text that discusses exciting and relevant aspects of biological, environmental, and materials science that are usually relegated to the last few chapters, in a format that allows the you to tailor the emphasis to the needs of the class. Request your desk copy today.

Subjects:: Chemistry
Keywords:: Environmental chemistry Chemistry Physical theoretical Chemistry Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

Video

Geological Engineering

The ISRM is extremely grateful to Dr. John Franklin for preparing this series of videos on Geological Engineering.

Subjects:: Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
Keywords:: Geotechnical engineering Engineering geology
Resource Type:: Video

Video

Healthier Men, One Moustache at A Time

Adam Garone has an impressive moustache, and it's for a good cause. A co-founder of Movember, Garone's initiative to raise awareness for men's health -- by having men grow out their moustaches every November -- began as a dare in a bar in 2003. Now, it's a worldwide movement that raised $126 million for prostate cancer research last year.

Subjects:: Health Sciences
Keywords:: Health promotion Fund raising Prostate -- Cancer
Resource Type:: Video

Video

How Healthy Living Nearly Killed Me

For a full year, A.J. Jacobs followed every piece of health advice he could -- from applying sunscreen by the shot glass to wearing a bicycle helmet while shopping. Onstage at TEDMED, he shares the surprising things he learned.

Subjects:: Health Sciences
Keywords:: Health behavior Noise pollution Joy
Resource Type:: Video

Video

How I Became a Scientist: From English Literature Major to Science

How does an English literature major ultimately end up as a cancer biologist? Varmus tells us of his circuitous path to becoming a scientist to illustrate the many routes that one can follow to a career in science.

Keywords:: Physical sciences -- Vocational guidance Biologists -- Vocational guidance
Resource Type:: Video

Others

Intergenerational Justice: What do we owe future generations?

What are the long-term consequences of decisions we make today, and to what extent should the interests of future generations be taken into account? There is a wide range of public policy challenges that require us to provide some sort of answer to these questions. This interdisciplinary seminar series brings together academics and experts to address the implications of critical questions arising from ideas of intergenerational justice.

Subjects:: Sociology
Keywords:: Intergenerational relations Justice
Resource Type:: Others

e-book

International Business

International Business is one of the most challenging and exciting courses to teach in the Business School. To teach a current, dynamic and complete course you need a textbook by authors as passionate and informed about International Business as you are. Carpenter and Dunung's International Business: The Opportunities and Challenges of a Flat World provides exploration into building, leading, and thriving in global organizations in an increasingly flat world. The authors define ”Flat world“ as one where service industries that dwarf manufacturing industries in terms of scale and scope, an Internet that pervades life and work, and networks define modern businesses, whether service or manufacturing. Carpenter and Dunung's text is designed to speak to technologically-savvy students who see national borders as bridges and not barriers. The authors use the lexicon of international business, and additionally, develop students' knowledge of international contexts with the aim that they may launch, run, and work in any organization that is global in scope (or is wrestling with global competition or other global threats). The textbook is organized in 5 Sections: Section 1 introduces the global business course and concludes with a chapter on seizing global opportunities. Section 2 develops student knowledge about key facets of the global business environment, while Section 3 develops knowledge about how a student or organization can exploit opportunities in that global environment. Section 4 is devoted to entrepreneurship in a flat world — this section will explore why the entrepreneurial context is changing, provide lenses for identifying and capitalizing on entrepreneurial opportunities, and Section 5 shows how key organizational activities can be managed for global effectiveness. Every chapter has five enumerated learning objectives, each of these five sections concludes with a short summary (”Key Takeaways“) and five review questions. In addition, each chapter concludes with a mini case on a unique global business that encompasses the topics shown in the chapter. The authors even provide a set of end-of-chapter questions that are mapped to AACSB learning standards, so that you will be able to measure how well students are grasping course content that aligns with the AACSB guidelines. Request a desk copy of Carpenter and Dunung's International Business: The Opportunities and Challenges of a Flat World to experience its current and progressive look at International Business for yourself.

Subjects:: Management and International Trade
Keywords:: Strategic planning International business enterprises -- Study teaching Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Introducing Marketing

Through good economic times and bad, marketing remains the pivotal function in any business. Determining and satisfying the needs of customers through products that have value and accessibility and whose features are clearly communicated is the general purpose of any business. It is also a fundamental definition of marketing. This text introduces students to the marketing strategies and tools that practitioners use to market their products.

Subjects:: Marketing
Keywords:: Marketing Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

Courseware

Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy

The course provides a contextual and evolutionary account for how various Chinese classical thoughts...

Subjects:: Chinese Studies
Keywords:: Civilization Philosophy Chinese China
Resource Type:: Courseware

Others

Introduction to Petroleum Geomechanics

This set of Presentations comprises an introductory course in Petroleum Geomechanics (Petroleum Rock Mechanics). The presentations start by introducing the basics of rock behaviour and design, initial conditions such as stress and temperature, and then move on to applications in areas such as borehole stability and stress changes in reservoirs. An attempt has been made to cover all of the major issues in Petroleum Geomechanics, but the materials also reflect the interests of the author to some degree.
There are approximately 35-50 hours of lecture material, depending how it is presented, and whether there are problems presented and worked out in class by participants. The materials are suitable for 4th-year students in Petroleum Engineering, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, although the materials could be used as the basis of a late 3rd-year course providing the students have had exposure to stress and strain in earth materials such as a course in Structural and Petroleum Geology, or an introductory course in Soil Mechanics.
As a professional short course, the materials can be presented in 35 hours, or selected modules can be added or left aside. As a courtesy, if you use these materials and develop modules of your own, develop clear problems sets, or improve these materials, please send a copy to mauriced@uwaterloo.ca, as I am always looking for better ways to present ideas and concepts.

Subjects:: Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
Keywords:: Rock mechanics Petroleum -- Geology
Resource Type:: Others

e-book

Introductory Chemistry

David W. Ball of Cleveland State University brings his new survey of general chemistry text, Introductory Chemistry, to the market with a fresh theme that will be sure to hold student interest: "Chemistry is Everywhere." Introductory Chemistry is intended for a one-semester introductory or preparatory chemistry course. Throughout the chapters, David presents two features that reinforce the theme of the textbook, that chemistry is everywhere. The first is the boxed feature titled, appropriately, ”Chemistry is Everywhere“. This feature takes a topic of the chapter and demonstrates how this topic shows up in everyday life. In the introductory chapter, ”Chemistry is Everywhere“ focuses on the personal hygiene products that students may use every morning: toothpaste, soap, shampoo among others. These products are chemicals, aren't they? This book explores some of the chemical reactions like the ones that give students clean and healthy teeth, and shiny hair. This feature makes it clear to students that chemistry is, indeed, everywhere, and it will promote student retention in what is sometimes considered an intimidating course. The second boxed feature focuses on chemistry that students likely indulge in every day: eating and drinking. In the ”Food and Drink App“, David discusses how the chemistry of the chapter applies to things that students eat and drink every day. Carbonated beverages depend on the behavior of gases, foods contain acids and bases, and everyone actually eats certain rocks. (Yikes!) Cooking, eating, drinking, metabolism — all chemical processes students are involved with all the time. These features allow students to see the things we interact with every day in a new light — as chemistry. Just like many of the one-semester chemistry books you may be used to, each section in David Ball's starts with one or more Learning Objectives, which list the main points of the section. Each section ends with Key Takeaways, which are reviews of the main points of the section. Each chapter is full of examples to illustrate the key points of the materials, and each example is followed with a similar ”Test Yourself“ exercise to see if the student understands the concept. Each section ends with its own set of paired exercises to practice the material from that section, and each chapter ends with a section of ”Additional Exercises“ that are more challenging or require multiple steps or skills to answer. David took the time to treat mathematical problems in Introductory Chemistry one of two ways, either as a conversion-factor problem or as a formula problem. David believes having two basic mathematical approaches (converting and formulas) allows the text to focus on the logic of the approach and not tricks or shortcuts; which speaks to the final point about Introductory Chemistry. You'll notice that David took no shortcuts with the material in this text, his inviting writing style, concise approach, consistent presentation, and interesting pedagogy have given it some of the best peer reviews we've seen at Flat World. So, order a desk copy or dive in now to see for yourself.

Subjects:: Chemistry
Keywords:: Chemistry Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

e-book

Introductory chemistry

"The goal of this textbook is not to make you an expert. True expertise in any field is a years-long endeavor. Here I [i.e. David W. Ball] will survey some of the basic topics of chemistry. This survey should give you enough knowledge to appreciate the impact of chemistry in everyday life and, if necessary, prepare you for additional instruction in chemistry."--BCcampus website.

Subjects:: Chemistry
Keywords:: Chemistry Textbooks
Resource Type:: e-book

Presentation

Linked Data and APIs

This video was recorded at COIN / PlanetData Winter School on Knowledge Technologies for Complex Business Environments, Ljubljana 2011. Organized by COIN FP7 Integrated Project and PlanetData FP7 Network of Excellence, the school seeks to bring together students, scholars and researchers from industry in order to foster collaboration and interoperability with innovative services and project large-scale data management in business environments. The main topics of the winter school are: Interoperability and collaboration models and solutions, Enterprise interoperability and collaboration services, Innovative knowledge and semantically powered technologies, Knowledge process and context modelling, Pro-active knowledge tools, Large scale analytics and reasoning tools, Business cases and real case studies.

Subjects:: Management and Computing
Keywords:: Linked data Application program interfaces (Computer software)
Resource Type:: Presentation

Courseware

MIT Open Courseware - Linear Algebra

This course has been designed for independent study. It provides everything you will need to understand the concepts covered in the course. The materials include:
A complete set of Lecture Videos by Professor Gilbert Strang.
Summary Notes for all videos along with suggested readings in Prof. Strang’s textbook Linear Algebra.
Problem Solving Videos on every topic taught by an experienced MIT Recitation Instructor.
Problem Sets to do on your own with Solutions to check your answers against when you’re done.
A selection of Java® Demonstrations to illustrate key concepts.
A full set of Exams with Solutions, including review material to help you prepare.

Course related:: AMA1120 Basic Mathematics II
Subjects:: Mathematics and Statistics
Keywords:: Algebras Linear
Resource Type:: Courseware

Video

Marty Lobdell - Study Less Study Smart

If you spend hours and hours of studying, without improving your grades, or information retention, then learn how to study smart by Marty Lobdell. Lobdell taught Psychology at Pierce College in Washington State for 40 years. During Lobdell's career, he has taught tens of thousands of students and he wants students to succeed. After watching students cram for eight hours or more for a test without any improvement, Lobdell has developed a studying technique that helps the brain retain the information that you are studying in this video "Study Less, Study Smart"

Course related:: APSS1L01 Tomorrow Leader
Keywords:: Study skills
Resource Type:: Video

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