OE Global 2018

This presentation will share two case studies on the use of OER and U.S. government science resources in the applied sciences. The benefits and challenges of developing applied science courses with open educational resources from a faculty, project management, and instructional design perspective will be discussed. Student feedback on the use of these materials and sustainability plans for continuing to update and enhance courses will be shared.

• The Water Systems Technology program at College of the Canyons has been using OER in their introductory and advanced water mathematics courses for over 5 years to make their programs more affordable for students who are earning workforce certificates in the water treatment and distribution industries. Recently, the department has received a grant to develop 8 additional courses using OER in order to eliminate all textbooks costs from their program.

• For the past five years the South Mountain Community College Geoscience department has been encouraging its instructors to use government created open educational resources as the basis for their instructional materials in order to lower costs for students. Science instructors have struggled when trying to provide quality open resources for lab based classes. To address some of these challenges, the Geoscience department has begun to focus on skill based activities that demonstrate mastery of an OER tool or database.