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ISU Open Education Week 2022

by Laura Gleason on February 16th, 2022 in Business Writing, Communication, Media, and Persuasion, Education, Technical Writing, Technology and Technical Education | 0 Comments

Textbook Heroes image of a figure holding up a book with the text "Boom"


ISU Open Education Week presentations are for faculty interested in exploring OER!

 

 

Research shows: Adopting OER in courses leads to greater student success. But did you know that open education benefits faculty members? Adopting OER in your courses can increase your instructional freedom and help transform your pedagogy.

Please join us online: Hear from faculty about Open Educational Resources and learn more about the great work being done at ISU. Programs will feature ISU Textbook Heroes who have inspiring OER success stories to share.


Textbook Hero Presentation - Todd MorrisDr. Todd Morris

"For several years, I have used an OER textbook from the Open Textbook Library for my Introduction to Chemistry (CHEM 1101) sections and an OpenStax OER textbook for my General Chemistry courses (CHEM 1111 and CHEM 1112). Consistent with the extensive published literature, I have found no differences between the success rate of my students with a free textbook vs. a traditional, costly textbook. Although I have no control over tuition rates and other assorted fees, I can ensure that my courses have minimal ancillary costs and remain good values for my students by adopting low-cost or free course resources. In addition to the direct benefits of making college more affordable, students have reported to me that the use of an OER textbook has reduced their financial and emotional stress levels and has given them more time to study because they do not have to work as many hours." - Todd Morris, Chemistry

Textbook Hero Presentation - Jeremy ThomasDr. Jeremy Thomas

"Following from an extensive team effort with multiple faculty and graduate student assistants, we recently completed a total OER redesign of SOC 1101, Introduction to Sociology, including using materials from an OER publisher as well as materials that we developed ourselves. In doing so, we eliminated a textbook and a supplemental text that were together costing students around $80 per semester. Not only that, but the course we created is clearly superior to its prior version. We are now using this team-developed OER course across all of our sections of SOC 1101 (over 300 students each semester), which represent around $25,000 in savings per semester. Within just a few years, this choice to move to OER will literally save our students hundreds of thousands of dollars, and not only that, we are providing a superior experience with convenient and early-accessible materials that are developed for our particular students and their particular needs." - Jeremy Thomas, Sociology

Note: ISU Libraries also wishes to extend their gratitude to Dr. Thomas's OER team. Special thanks to the Sociology department faculty for their planning input, and to the graduate students who assisted Dr. Thomas in the course development work: Jessica Sargent, Sarah Liftawi, and Jessica Reynolds.

 Textbook Hero Presentation - John Curry 

"Over a decade ago I decided that I could no longer justify the cost of textbooks or course materials for my students.  I decided then that I would take whatever time needed to either find available OER resources or create my own resources for my classes. I work to adapt existing open content for my courses, and I also help students learn to create and use OER for any future instruction work they may design or develop." - John Curry, Organizational Learning and Performance.

  Textbook Hero Presentation - Mary Van Donsel

Dr. Mary Van Donsel

"I teach an undergraduate course, CSD 3315 - Clinical Processes – Pediatrics. This is a foundational course that provides information about what it’s like to be a pediatric clinician in the field of speech-language pathology. As I began working to redesign my course, I came to realize that there wasn’t one book that fit my needs for my course. I was able to work with our librarian to seek out resources for the course that were already available as e-books for the students, including their textbook. I also use a variety of websites and journal articles that the students are able to access. I remember the daunting cost of textbooks when I was in school, and it’s an exciting feeling for me to know that I’ve been able to offer the students all of their resources at no cost. " - Mary Van Donsel, Communication Sciences and Disorders

 

Previous ISU Open Education Week presentations can be viewed on the ISU Libraries YouTube Channel.

Links to the presentations can be found here: 

Discover Existing OER using the ISU Library Subject Guide

Open Education in Political Science with Mark McBeth

Adopting Open History Textbooks with Sarah Robey and Marie Stango

Adopting an Open Economics Textbook with Iris Buder

OER for Information Literacy with Catherine Gray

Make your OER engaging: Create an active learning environment with H5P - Lance Roe and Daphne Tseng

OER experiences in Art 1100 with Amy Jo Popa


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