Five faculty-led projects were awarded grants from the 2025 STAR open education resources seed grant program to develop free course materials. Successful Teaching with Affordable Resources estimates that the completed projects will save 1,300 students over $185,650 in the first year, and every additional year materials are assigned.
This year’s projects:
- Secure Software Engineering (CSCE469) — associate professor Hamid Bagheri and lecturer David Hemsath will create a customized textbook tailored to fill disciplinary gaps with the flexibility to quickly adapt content to reflect the latest developments in the field.
- Professional Practicum Experiences II Elementary; Professional Practicum Experience III; Student Teaching Elementary; Practicum in Reading and Writing Disabilities-Elementary — associate professor Nicholas Husbye and a team, which includes: lecturer Cindy Linzell, assistant professor of practice Tricia Gray, assistant professor of practice Emily Fisher, and professor Stephanie Wessels, will create modular free resources connected across multiple instructional contexts and courses to support pre-service teachers in their development.
- Introduction to Global Studies (GLST 201: all sections) — assistant professor of practice Julia Reilly, lecturer Chris Heselton, and associate professor of practice Emira Ibrahimpasic will create a free textbook, lesson plans, and slide decks, with a focus on content that resonates with UNL students and an emphasis on skill-development.
- Introduction to Social Psychology (PSYCH 288) — assistant professor of practice Chelsea Witt will create a no cost textbook including mini-case studies, written in accessible language that complements the course lectures.
- Introduction to Geospatial Technologies (NRES 218); GIS in Agriculture and Natural Resources (NRES415/815); Principles of GIS (GEOG 217) — assistant professor Ran Wang, assistant research professor Xiaomeng Li, and lecturer Andrew Husa will create open-source materials that can be used in introductory and intermediate level geospatial science courses, including an online textbook, slides for instructor use, and lab exercises, both at UNL and the broader community.
The STAR OER Seed Grant program is designed to support faculty who are interested in authoring and adapting open educational resources in their courses. Funded by the University Libraries, Academic Technologies, the Center for Transformative Teaching, and Kelly Grant funds, the program supports the work involved in finding, authoring, using, and sharing OER as a replacement for commercial textbooks and courseware.
OER are free teaching materials that are licensed for distribution and modification to fit the course-specific needs of instructors. Some examples of OER include textbooks, websites, videos, and open homework platforms.
In addition to saving students thousands of dollars, the completed OER texts have given instructors the opportunity to provide customized course materials that are available to students on the first day of class and in a variety of formats.
Work is scheduled to begin over the summer with grant projects expected to launch before or during the 2025-26 academic year. Instructors interested in using or creating OER should contact the STAR group at star@unl.edu to get started.
More details at: https://teaching.unl.edu/star-oer/