A decade of student involvement
“Connections” was first published in 2010 by Dr. Mary Lamb, the Chair of the Department of English, as a custom textbook for English 1101 and 1102 classes at Clayton State. The textbook aimed to connect students’ experiences to writing and show them how their writing relates to their communities, other classes, the world, and various concepts and debates.
Since then, the textbook has been updated every year with contributions from faculty and students. Clayton State students have been invited to submit their essays for publication in the next edition of the book, and some have also worked as interns to layout, edit, and design the book. The department also runs a cover art contest each year, so each edition features a student-designed cover. In the past decade, over 175 student essays have been featured in the textbook.
A transition to open educational resource
In 2021, a group of Clayton State faculty received the USG Affordable Learning Grant to revise the book into an open educational resource (OER), which means that it is freely available online for anyone to use, adapt, and share. Dr. Lamb thanked Drs. Jennifer Parrott, Matthew Sansbury, Sipai Klein, and Margaret Fletcher, as well as Jim Rickerson from the university library, for their efforts in making the book an OER.
The book is now published on the USG’s ALG website, and Clayton State continues to use its own edition of the textbook for Eng. 1101 and 1102, but it is no longer printed. Rather, students can access the book for no cost through their online course site.
A state-wide impact
In 2023, eCore selected “Connections” for its English 1101 course revision, and now a version of the book is used in all sections of eCore Eng. 1101 across the state. This means that the textbook will reach thousands of students who enroll in eCore courses every semester, and that Clayton State’s student-led textbook will have a state-wide impact on the academic careers of Georgia students.
Dr. Lamb said that she was proud of the achievement and that it was a testament to the strength of the faculty and students at Clayton State. She also said that the book was making a difference and that it was working for people. “What we wrote matters,” she said. “It’s being read widely.”
