Open Educational Resources (OER): Open Ed Week

Wendy Ruchti, PhD, College of Education

Wendy Ruchti is an associate professor of Science and STEM Education at Idaho State University (ISU), where she teaches a variety of courses focused on K-12 teacher preparation. Wendy has always been passionate about exploring teaching practices and research. She earned both her master's degree (2001) and PhD (2005) in education from the University of Idaho. Following graduate school, she returned to the classroom, where she taught middle school math and science.

In 2007, Wendy transitioned to higher education at ISU’s College of Education, where she continues to enjoy teaching and supporting future educators. She also directs the popular Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. Wendy is deeply committed to STEM education in K-12 schools, recognizing its potential to make a significant difference in students' lives. Her research focuses on supporting teachers and principals in Idaho public schools working toward STEM Designation. She is particularly interested in exploring ways to make STEM education more accessible and impactful for diverse student populations in public schools.

Sonali Salunkhe, MD, PhD, MPH, College of Business | Focus Areas: Healthcare Administration 

Dr. Sonali Salunkhe is an Assistant Professor of Healthcare Administration at the Idaho State University College of Business. She has a medical background and holds a doctoral degree in Health Management and Policy. She started working at ISU in the Fall of 2023. She taught an OER course for the first time in the Fall of 2024. In her experience, the adoption of OER was very beneficial for students because it takes off some financial burden for students, and also contributes to improved accessibility of course materials for them.

Jason Wright, M.Sc, Computer Science | College of Science and Engineering

Jason L. Wright is visiting professor of Computer Science at Idaho State University. Before joining ISU, Jason formed his own company and through that company worked on three different DARPA projects: Memory Optimization (MEMOP), Cyber Grand Challenge (CGC), and Cyber Fault-tolerant Attack Recovery (CFAR). His primary research interests are cyber security with particular focus on hardening of operating systems and network protocols.

Over the years, Jason has conducted research and development in the lowest levels of operating system kernels (Linux, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD) including co-authoring a hypervisor (for CGC) and developing device drivers for just about every type of hardware device. He was an OpenBSD core developer for almost 10 years. Jason also worked for Idaho National Laboratory reverse engineering embedded systems to expose vulnerabilities and worked with various vendors to see those vulnerabilities addressed in subsequent revisions of their products.

Elaine Foster, PhD, College of Education | Focus Areas: Sport Philosophy and Ethics; Physical Education

Elaine Foster is an Assistant Professor in the Human Performance and Sport Studies (HPSS) Department. She earned a Bachelor’s in Physical Education with an emphasis in Exercise Science and minor in Coaching, and a Master’s in Physical Education with an Athletic Administration emphasis, both from ISU. She completed her PhD in Education from the University of Idaho with an emphasis in Sport Pedagogy and Character Development. Dr. Foster is committed to promoting physical activity, especially among girls and women, and this passion led to her scholarly studies focusing on sport philosophy and the subjective value of physical activity. She is actively involved in presenting at conferences and publishing on these topics. Foster teaches a variety of courses within HPSS including history and philosophy of sport and physical education, issues in sport, and methods of teaching physical education. Her educational philosophy is to support students as “they learn how to learn.” Dr. Foster’s service contributions include representing the College of Education on Faculty Senate, serving on the College of Education Faculty Review Committee and coordinating the annual celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day at ISU.

Joshua Swift, PhD, Department of Psychology | College of Arts and Letters
 

Joshua Swift is a Professor in the Psychology Department at Idaho State University. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Oklahoma State University and has been a faculty member at Idaho State University since 2015. Swift received the ISU OER stipend and used this opportunity to develop OER materials for the Ethics and Professional Practice in Psychology course (PSYC 4412/5512). This is a stacked course offered at both the graduate and advanced undergraduate levels, with students from both groups in the classroom together. The course is taught every Spring semester and has been offered continuously by Swift for the past ten years at ISU. 

Historically, Swift used a traditional textbook that costs students $166 each. For this particular course, there is no single OER textbook that fully meets the needs of the course. As part of the OER project, the decision was made to replace the textbook with freely available materials from a variety of sources. Adopted OER materials included articles from academic journals that students have access to through the library, free articles published on websites or bulletins by professional organizations, and some freely available online videos. Swift relates that taking this approach, he was able to find the exact right materials to go along with the things that he felt were most valuable to teach in the class, rather than having to adjust his teaching to the things covered in a textbook. This increased freedom to tailor the course content, he believes, has resulted in a better course for the students - all at less cost to them.

Shelbi Clinger, MA, CPA, College of Education | CTE and Business Education

Shelbi Clinger is a clinical lecturer in the College of Education at Idaho State University. She teaches in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program within the Organizational Learning and Performance department and focuses on preparing her students to become future CTE educators. She centered her OER project on gathering and creating resources to assist her students in transitioning from students to teachers to advisors. Shelbi has since built upon her collection of OER by offering free materials and resources to other classes that she teaches.

Amy Jo Popa, MFA, College of Arts & Letters | Department of Art

Senior Lecturer, Amy Jo Popa, from the Art department received an OER grant and stipend from the Provost's Office to revise the OER resource and update the Introduction to Art 1100 courses for both the face to face and the online learners. Using an OER has been a tremendous benefit for our students in reducing the cost of course materials. It provides greater flexibility in designing the course, and the opportunity to experiment with new teaching approaches. Remember this change can create the opportunity to improve our students' experience and quality of their education. Join us to learn about her OER journey, with students providing equal access to the textbook and saving the students' money. Popa enthusiastically recommends adopting an OER to her colleagues.

Are you interested in creating your own open educational resource or publishing a free eBook? ISU now has the Pressbooks publishing platform available for all faculty, students, and staff.

Instructional Technology Resource Center (ITRC) and University Libraries support faculty as they explore and research the possibility of creating or adapting high-quality, innovative learning materials to increase student learning and engagement.