“Biochemistry Free and Easy” and other online textbooks
Kevin Ahern, Indira Rajagopal - College of Science
Kevin Ahern and Indira Rajagopal are the authors of the electronic textbook “Biochemistry Free and Easy,” which is available at no cost and has been downloaded from iTunes 72,000 times from all over the world. This is the only open education resource for biochemistry on iTunes, and it’s been adopted for use at the University of Washington, Humboldt State and Rutgers.
This amazing book reflects Indira and Kevin’s belief that learning biochemistry should be fun. Their dedication to this project has been amazing. They wrote it on their own time, designed it themselves, and included powerful interactive features that help students learn and love biochemistry. There are links to Kevin’s popular biochemistry lectures on YouTube, as well as recordings of his internationally acclaimed “Metabolic Melodies,” which include lyrics about biochemistry sung to the tune of popular songs.
Their work to make biochemistry fun and knowledge easily accessible is continuing. Last year they created another open educational resource titled “Kevin and Indira’s Guide to Getting Into Medical School,” and they are currently at work on a new, more advanced biochemistry resource written for 400-level biochemistry courses.
That’s in their spare time! In addition to all this, Kevin and Indira continue to teach a variety of classroom courses, both on campus and online. Together, they reach literally thousands of students each year.