Open Educational Resources (OER) revolutionize higher education by democratizing learning materials for students and instructors alike. OER at UBC embody this vision and transform the way knowledge is shared, making it more dynamic, accessible, and easily adjustable across many disciplines.
Bringing an innovative approach to course design
Designing a course in a traditional way can be a challenging experience, where instructors work on their own programs relying on hard-copy textbooks that students have to purchase. This approach can be limiting to instructors – especially from a collaboration standpoint. Thanks to the innovation brought by OER, instructors can design their courses differently, by building on each other’s work in a way that was challenging before. “I think most people would not consider reaching out to the author of a traditional hard-copy textbook to work on something together, but it just seems natural to do with OER materials,” explains Dr. Casey Keulen, assistant professor of teaching in the Department of Materials Engineering, who is using OER in his Introduction to Engineering Thermodynamics course.
OER impacts on course design
The interactivity and customizable nature of OER make it possible not only for instructors to collaborate on the design of their courses, but also for their students to be involved, provide feedback, and suggest improvement directly in the course material. “OER has allowed us to use code that is inherently interactive and can be customized by students and instructors as they like. It allows us to try new things that we might not otherwise be able to do with copyrighted materials,” notes Dr. Keulen.
Another positive impact of OER is that their flexibility can be applied to a wide variety of topics, regardless of how complex they might appear. From thermodynamics to forest biometrics and even metabolism, they can contribute to bringing innovation in every classroom. “OER allow instructors to assemble and design courses with more flexibility using a collection of open resources they find most effective,” details Dr. Lindsay Rogers, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, who is using OER to teach metabolism in a dynamic way.
Innovative course design projects at UBC
Over 90 OER projects have been funded through UBC’s OER Affordability and OER Rapid Innovation grants since their creation in 2019. Below are a few that have recently helped bring an innovative approach to the classroom.
Creation of interactive programming-based problem bank for introductory thermodynamics
Focusing on enhancing the teaching of thermodynamics, this project uses open-source programming tools such as Python and Jupyter. It involves developing a problem bank to complement Dr. Claire Yan’s open textbook, with open-source code available for students and instructors to manipulate input parameters learning key thermodynamics concepts.
Interactive self-assessment tool to enhance forest biometrics learning capacity
This project developed an interactive assessment tool for an introductory statistics course using the open-source UBC Wiki platform. It enables students to apply statistical methods to real-life datasets through worked-out examples. The project’s goals include creating high-quality statistical resources for forest biometrics, and evaluating the effectiveness of the OER materials for both students and faculty.
A dynamic and integrated metabolic map for teaching metabolism
Aiming to develop and interactive 3D model of cellular metabolism within a human hepatocyte, this project addresses the challenge of visualizing complex metabolic networks typically presented in 2D. This OER supports learning and communication about metabolic processes across various educational levels.
Looking ahead
Beyond the significant cost savings that OER represent for students over traditional textbooks, the potential these resources have to transform how courses are designed in the future is very encouraging to see. “Funding an OER development is quite new and there is a lot of potential in this space, especially for projects that use interactivity, 3D visualization and immersive environments,” explains Dr. Rogers.
“OER definitely opens the door to innovative approaches to course design and pedagogy,” concludes Dr. Keulen. “I think OER have a bright future at UBC and every institution around the world.”
