University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Pressbooks Catalog

Many of us have likely heard the expression “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Yet, it is the people who are often excluded from the public policy process. Citizen engagement is typically reactive rather than proactive and passive as opposed to active. Voting and protesting are not the only ways that governments hear the voices of the people. Voting allows citizens to choose individuals who represent their interests, yet their interests are not always represented in ways they desire. Protesting brings attention to issues but doesn’t always lead to problems being solved. This book aims to empower readers to be active participants in the policy process rather than centering elected officials, appointed officials or bureaucrats as the only sources of policy power. This book is written in the spirit of equity. In order to have equitable public policies the voices of those who are impacted by these policies need to be heard as “gaps exist between the services governments deliver and what citizens want or need” (Mintrom & Luetjens, 2018, pg. 122). This is not simply a matter of contributing to policy discourse, but perhaps more importantly, a matter of contributing to the design, development and evaluation of public policy. Further, it is about holding policy makers and other decision makers accountable for their actions and the results of the actions. This book draws from lessons learned from my practical experiences, teaching and research. It is my hope that it equips those on the front lines of public policy and social equity with the tools needed to be effective producers and consumers of public policy ideas.

This book is a clone of Mineralogy by Dexter Perkins et al, 2nd edition. https://opengeology.org/Mineralogy/

These resources were created to complement our undergraduate statistics lab manual, Applied Data Analysis in Psychology: Exploring Diversity with Statistics, published by Kendall Hunt publishing company. Like our lab manual, these Jamovi walk-through guides meaningfully and purposefully integrate and highlight diversity research to teach students how to analyze data in an open-source statistical program. The data sets utilized in these guides are from open-access databases (e.g., Pew Research Center, PLoS One, ICPSR, and more). Guides with step-by-step instructions, including annotated images and examples of how to report findings in APA format, are included for the following statistical tests: independent samples t test, paired samples t test, one-way ANOVA, repeated measures ANOVA, two factor ANOVA, chi-square test, Pearson correlation, simple regression, and multiple regression. Additionally, you will find instructor resources. Please feel free to use our added instructor PowerPoint slides highlighting additional research focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion topics. If you are new to incorporating diversity-focused research, you may benefit from some of the resources shared in our newly added instructor resources list. If you are interested in partnering with us to adapt these resources for other statistical software programs, have suggestions for revisions or additions, or would like additional information on how to best integrate these materials into your courses, please contact ruth-walker@utc.edu

The Teacher’s Guide to Using Literature to Promote Inclusion of People with Disabilities has been designed to assist teachers who wish to use literature to promote inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of life. The Guide consists of two parts. Part 1 is a rubric for evaluating how short stories, books, poems, TV programs, movies, digital media, and other forms of literature portray characters with disabilities. Part 2 of the Teacher’s Guide to Using Literature to Promote Inclusion of People with Disabilities is a curriculum guide with learning objectives, lesson activities, and strategies for outcome evaluation. The curriculum guide is a resource for teachers who wish to design lessons using literature to teach about disabilities.

Introduction to the Criminal Justice System is an open educational resource that explores the history, concepts, and foundational knowledge of the contemporary criminal justice system in the United States. The text includes examinations of current events and includes coverage of some controversial topics that may be commonly excluded from introductory texts. Institutional memory, best practices in public safety, and statistical data are incorporated in ways intended to provide an unbiased viewpoint of the current status of the criminal legal system today in order to provide students with a clear picture of the system.

These resources were created to complement our undergraduate statistics lab manual, Applied Data Analysis in Psychology: Exploring Diversity with Statistics, published by Kendall Hunt publishing company. Like our lab manual, these JASP walk-through guides meaningfully and purposefully integrate and highlight diversity research to teach students how to analyze data in an open-source statistical program. The data sets utilized in these guides are from open-access databases (e.g., Pew Research Center, PLoS One, ICPSR, and more). Guides with step-by-step instructions, including annotated images and examples of how to report findings in APA format, are included for the following statistical tests: independent samples t test, paired samples t test, one-way ANOVA, two factor ANOVA, chi-square test, Pearson correlation, simple regression, and multiple regression. Additionally, you will find instructor resources added with our Summer 2023 update. Please feel free to use our added instructor PowerPoint slides highlighting additional research focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion topics. If you are new to incorporating diversity-focused research, you may benefit from some of the resources shared in our newly added instructor resources list. If you are interested in partnering with us to adapt these resources for other statistical software programs, have suggestions for revisions or additions, or would like additional information on how to best integrate these materials into your courses, please contact ruth-walker@utc.edu