Faculty Seminar: Affordable Textbooks for Student Success
During the spring semester of 2024, a 6 week faculty seminar was offered to guide interested faculty to reduce the cost of their course materials.
Course Description
The cost of course materials is a known barrier for students to select courses, complete readings, and succeed in courses. Open educational resources (OER) are materials with open licenses that students can use free of cost. In this seminar, faculty will rework the course reading list for an existing course so that all course materials will be reduced to $25 or less.
Saving Students Money
Many institutions, including the Open Education Network, Lumen Learning, and Open Oregon agree that on average when a faculty member replaces a commercial textbook with a no cost course material, students save $100.
Together the 2024 spring faculty seminar members have saved Oakton College students over $19,100 in the 2024 fall semester.
Faculty Seminar Participants
Top Row: Susan Uribe, Early Childhood Education, Michelle Oh (seminar facilitator), Library, Rebecca Reynolds, Early Childhood Education
Middle Row: Keenan Andrews, Business and Professional Services, Keith Simonds, Political Science, Bob Gynn, Speech
Bottom Row: EJ Hicks, English.
Student Savings Success Stories
Instructor: Bob Gynn
Courses using no-cost course materials:
- SPE 103: Effective Speech
Estimated cost savings for fall 2024: $5,700
Instructor: EJ Hicks
Courses using no-cost course materials:
- EGL 101: Composition 1
Estimated cost savings for fall 2024: $2,300
Instructor: Rebecca Reynolds
Courses using no-cost course materials:
- ECE 102: Child Growth and Development
- ECE 106: Guidance of the Young Child
- ECE 108: Nutrition, Health and Safety for the Young Child
- ECE 270: Child, Family, and Community Relations
Estimated cost savings for fall 2024: $3,600
Instructor: Keith Simonds
Courses using no-cost course materials:
- PSC 101: Political Science
- PSC 103: Introduction to Political Science
- PSC 202: International Relations
Estimated cost savings for fall 2024: $6,200
Instructor: Susan Uribe
Courses using no-cost course materials:
- ECE 226: Language Arts and Social Studies for the Young Child
- ECE 230 Literacy Methods for Preschool - 2nd Grade
Estimated cost savings for fall 2024: $1,300