This post was contributed by Mick Davis, Umpqua Community College.
Mick Davis is an instructor at Umpqua Community College and author of the grant-funded open textbook Body Physics: Motion to Metabolism. Body Physics sticks to the basic functioning of the human body as a common theme through which fundamental physics topics are introduced. The textbook includes lab activities, and supplementary material, and is available in print for $25.18.
Mick’s current project adds “early and often” feedback to Body Physics by using H5P to create and embed interactive reinforcement questions directly into the text. More than 100 activities were created and embedded using a variety of H5P activity types. The H5P questions can easily be re-used or re-mixed by clicking on the reuse button at the bottom of each question and downloading either the H5P file or the embed code. According to H5P.org, bulk sharing of content will soon be possible via the H5P Content Hub, at which point all activities could be accessed as a set.
For example, the chapter Prepare Your Expectations has an H5P activity about the cognitive level of the text/course:
And the chapter Homeostasis, Hypothermia, and Heatstroke has an H5P activity about types of equilibrium:
As part of an OER Research Fellowship, surveys of student perceptions of the textbook and H5P activities will be combined with statistical analysis of usage and performance data in order to identify opportunities for high-impact improvement to Body Physics. Those improvements are expected to result in release of a second edition or a new title sometime next year. Surprisingly, a cursory review of the analytics data revealed consistent return visits to Body Physics from users on several continents!
