LibGuides: Forensic Science: Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OERs)

There are several freely available open educational resources related to Forensic Science. Browse the list below to learn more!

Textbooks & Teaching Materials

BC Open Collection: Biological/Physical Sciences (Opens in New Tab) The B.C. Open Collection is a curated selection of open educational resources (OER) that can be accessed by educators in B.C. and beyond to use in the classroom, in an institutional learning management system, or on other teaching and learning platforms.
InTech Open: Biochemistry & Genetics (Opens in New Tab) Publisher of open access books, built by scientists for scientists.
MERLOT Materials: Forensics (Opens in New Tab) The MERLOT system provides access to curated online learning and support materials and content creation tools, led by an international community of educators, learners and researchers.
National Academies Press (Opens in New Tab) The NAP publishes more than 200 books a year... providing authoritative, independently-researched information on important matters in science and health policy.
The National Science Digital Library (Opens in New Tab) The National Science Digital Library provides high quality online educational resources for teaching and learning, with current emphasis on the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
OER Commons: Biology & Genetics (Opens in New Tab) OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources.
OpenStax: Science (Opens in New Tab) Peer-reviewed, openly licensed free textbooks.
Open Textbook Library: Natural Sciences (Opens in New Tab) The Open Textbook Library provides a growing catalog of free, peer-reviewed, and openly-licensed textbooks.
PhET Interactive Simulations (Opens in New Tab) PhET Interactive Simulations are based on research on student engagement to provide game-like teaching tools that let students explore chemistry, biology, earth science, and physics concepts through discovery-based learning.

Biology OERs

Boundless Biology (Opens in New Tab) Introductory textbook from Lumen Learning.
LibreTexts: Biology (Opens in New Tab) Open-access texts to improve postsecondary education at all levels of higher learning.
Microbiology Education Resources (Opens in New Tab) A collection of visual and curriculum resources that are submitted by professors/scientists from around the world, curated in ASM
Royal Society of Biology Open Educational Resources (Opens in New Tab) The resources featured on the site include lab and field work protocols, data handling exercises, videos of techniques and multimedia alternatives to wet lab work.
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Plants Database (Opens in New Tab) Plant List of Accepted Nomenclature, Taxonomy, and Symbols The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.
Virtual Biology Lab (Opens in New Tab) Interactive computer simulations of natural environments that model responses to changing conditions.

Chemistry OERs

ChemCollective: Virtual Labs (Opens in New Tab) The Virtual Lab is an online simulation of a chemistry lab. It is designed to help students link chemical computations with authentic laboratory chemistry. The lab allows students to select from hundreds of standard reagents (aqueous) and manipulate them in a manner resembling a real lab.
ChemSpider (Opens in New Tab) Chemistry structure and property data.
CompTox Chemicals Dashboard (Opens in New Tab) Data, including toxicology, for over 700,000 chemicals. Currently searching by text, CAS number, and InChiKey; structure searching is being developed. Some aspects in beta testing
LibreTexts: Chemistry (Opens in New Tab) Open-access texts to improve postsecondary education at all levels of higher learning.
PubChem (Opens in New Tab) PubChem is an open chemistry database at the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Royal Society of Chemistry Periodic Table (Opens in New Tab) Interactive periodic table includes standard element data, while also bringing video, podcast, and historical information to students.