Topic Area: Student Success
Presented by: Regina Gong, Andrea Bierema, Casey Henley, Rajiv Ranjan, Sadam Issa
Abstract:
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that are copyright-free (public domain) or have been released under an open license that permits others to reuse, revise, remix, retain, and redistribute them. The MSU Libraries’ OER Program was created to address issues of affordability, access, and equity in providing course learning materials for students. Since its launch in the Fall 2019 semester, the OER Program has grown considerably, with 27 courses in 272 sections and 70 instructors utilizing these materials in the Spring 2021 semester. To help support faculty, the OER Award Program was launched as an incentive program for instructors that encourages and supports the use of openly-licensed materials as a pathway to increase student success. You will hear from the first cohort of OER Program awardees and their experience teaching with OER, how it changed their pedagogy, and how it facilitated better student engagement with the course material as they learn remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.