Open Textbooks: Welding & Machining
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges is pleased to share the outcome of the Washington Open ProfTech project: six open textbooks for professional technical programs.
Made possible through a $1.8 million FIPSE grant from the U.S. Department of Education and four years of collaboration with a dedicated team of faculty authors, peer reviewers, consultants, editors, and staff, this project marks an important step forward for open education in professional technical programs.
All of our textbooks are openly licensed, meaning they are free for anyone to keep, share, and adapt. They can be read online, downloaded as PDFs to print and digital, or integrated directly into Canvas. We hope you will consider these resources as primary or supplementary materials for your classroom.
Each textbook offers interactive elements such as glossary pop-ups and knowledge-check questions designed to engage learners. Ancillary materials to support instruction are also available in Canvas Commons (search for Open ProfTech).
Textbooks available:
Introduction to Welding
by Douglas Rupik, David Colameco, Cameron Kjeldgaard, David Ridge, Stephanie Oostman, and Karl Fulton
Introduction to Machining
by Micky R. Jennings, D.M. Donner, and Tim A. Bacon
Including these textbooks in your course may qualify it as an OER course, increasing its visibility in student course searches. For more information, please see the Washington OER and Low-Cost Labeling Policies.
Accessibility is a priority for our project, and all textbooks are designed to be accessible. For details on the specific measures taken, please refer to the Accessibility Statement included at the beginning of each textbook.
This project reflects the power of collaboration across our colleges, bringing the expertise of faculty, staff, and partners committed to open education and student success. If you have any questions, please contact us at openproftech@sbctc.edu.
