The {Course #} About This Book document has all the information that you need to understand the author team’s plan for their textbook. It includes an equity statement, book description, course-level outcomes, and detailed book outline. This will give you a strong sense of how learning develops from start to finish in the book. With this information, you will be able to assess the relevance of student learning opportunities to your workforce needs.

Workforce Advisory Board members attend a synchronous training session before reviewing the {Course #} About This Book document for two courses during Year 1 of the Open Curriculum Development Project.

Preview the form you’ll use for your review: {Course #} About This Book Workforce Advisory Board Review [Google Form]. Please submit a separate form for each of your two reviews.

This form begins with a personal reflection that contextualizes your feedback for the project team. We ask you to consider how your identity, culture, privileges, and biases affect your perspective on the textbook. There is no wrong answer to this question. Instead, this is an opportunity to relate your life experiences to the curriculum and introduce yourself to the support team members who will create action plans based on your feedback. Your reflection provides personal insight into the comments you want to share.

The next question asks you to share relevant workforce standards or skills that matter the most to you (aim for 3). Think about the qualities in colleagues that you value the most in your daily work. What skills help employees or practitioners to be effective? You might look at industry-specific competencies or consider the following list of soft skills:

• Interpersonal skills including civility
• Appropriate appearance
• Punctuality and regular attendance
• Communication skills
• Honesty
• Focus/attentiveness
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Leadership
• Professionalism
• Strong work ethic
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Flexibility
• Preparation for work

By listing the skills and standards that are critical to your field, you will be better prepared to assess the relevance of the curriculum materials to these skills. You can refer back to your list during your review.

The remaining form questions ask you to rate the relevance of chapter elements to employer needs, statewide standards, and current priorities in your field. We ask that you provide examples to support your rating and suggest ways to improve relevance.

On the last page of the form, there is an open-ended question asking you to suggest real-life workplace scenarios that authors can incorporate into their text, either anonymously or with your name attached. Please give this question careful thought because it will be your highest-impact contribution to the textbook development process. Each chapter will include discussion questions, narrative examples, and other content that directly engages diverse Oregon students who are current and future workforce members. We want to showcase your unique perspective on working in your field to bring both breadth and specificity to our textbooks.

Licenses and Attributions for Year 1: {Course #} About This Book Review

Open content, original

“Year 1: {Course #} About This Book Review” by Open Oregon Educational Resources is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Open content, shared previously

List of soft skills is from Soft Skills: Success May Depend on Them by Kris Bertelsen for Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Copyright holder is the Federal Reserve System and educational use is permitted.