Open Educational Resources

J. Gordon Leishman

The overarching concept of this eTextbook is to give students a broad-based introduction to the aerospace field, emphasizing technical content while making the material attractive and digestible. This eTextbook is structured and split into lessons centered around a 50-minute lecture period. Each lesson includes text content with detailed illustrations, application problems, a self-assessment quiz, and topics for further discussion. In addition, hyperlinks to additional resources are provided to support students who want to delve deeper into each topic. At the end of the eTextbook, there are many more worked examples and application problems for the student. While many lessons will be covered entirely in the classroom by the instructor, in the interest of time, some lessons may be covered in less detail or other parts assigned for self-study. The more advanced topics at the end of this eTextbook are intended chiefly for self-study and to provide a primer for the continuing student on important technical subjects such as high-speed flight, stability and control, vertical flight, and space flight. This approach can help students build a stronger foundation for their future careers in aerospace engineering.

Sarah Nilsson, PhD, JD

Navigating the world’s drone and advanced air mobility laws is a daunting but critical task if you are in the aviation industry. Hence the need to formalize the relevant material and create this eTextbook (webbook). While still copyrighted content, it is freely distributed worldwide under a Creative Commons, non-commercial, and non-derivative license. This webbook is structured the way the United Nations views the globe, in 6 main areas, Northern America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Oceania, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is easily searchable by country if used as a reference guide. This webbook has an interactive design with hyperlinks, and authenticated sources, that promotes information literacy. Questions are provided in order to promote discussion and critical thinking, indicative of higher learning.

Tim Smith and Shannon Levesque

This textbook is designed to be a self-contained read for STEM students to read who are taking a junior or senior level first course in mathematical statistics, such as the MA 412 course offered on Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach campus. Moreover, this text does not assume any formal perquisite knowledge in probability nor statistics, but it does assume that the student has completed a routine study of University calculus such as the common freshmen or sophomore math classes required in most engineering programs. This textbook originally began as an informal project of the authors during the COVID pandemic of 2020 designed as a tool to help students who were forced to suddenly shift from in person classroom learning to online learning. Then in the following year the University’s Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence sponsored a formal project under their textbook affordability initiative. Now, for the content of the textbook most instructors would expect to start on Chapter 2. The first Chapter focuses on a brief review of introductory Data Analysis and it is expected that many students would have had some exposure to the Chapter 1 material in various advanced high school classwork; however, the reader who has not had any prior classwork in Statistics or Data Analysis it would be encouraged to fully study the Chapter 1. Then the Material in the remaining Chapters is fully self-contained. The Chapter 2 covers a brief summary of Discrete Probability. Then the Chapters 3 and 4 completes a full study of continuous Probability theory, ending with a general framework for the underlying mathematical theory of inferential statistics. The last Chapters is a unique chapter which connects the theory of Regression Modeling to the famous SIR model of disease spread; this later Chapter lead to many interesting student class research projects during the time of the COVID pandemic, and could be a jumping off point for students interested to further research related data and/or higher study in that field, but is not necessary to complete a junior or senior level first course in mathematical statistics, such as our MA 412 course.

Mathew J. Heath Van Horn, PhD

A hands on guide to create a personal lab space on an average laptop or PC which allows any learner to follow step-by-step instructions to create various enterprise networks and learn how to defend and attack these networks.