University faculty saved students an estimated $117,000 in textbook costs over the fall 2018 semester. These savings were due to the Successful Teaching with Affordable Resources (STAR) Kelly Grant funded Open Educational Resources initiative. The current Kelly Grant cohort of seven faculty and six graduate teaching assistants revamped their courses to include OER material. During the fall semester, they delivered OER material to 18 classes covering 1,939 students. Also assisting faculty was a team of four librarians, four instructional designers, and three ITS staff.
The departments involved in the first cohort include: Teaching, Learning, Teacher Education, Political Science, Psychology, Mathematics, and Biological Systems Engineering. Two programs are developing all course content to be delivered via OER. Mathematics is replacing publisher textbooks with OER material for all Pre-Calculus and Calculus courses. The Elementary Education program is transforming their program to move beyond publisher content to all OER material, which will provide instructors with the experience of using OER material in the classroom.
Faculty interested in participating in the next cohort should contact bsevera@nebraska.edu and submit a proposal by March 31, 2019.
Learn more about STAR.
Learn more about Open Educational Resources.