What are open Education Resources (OERs)?
“Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.”[1]
OER Grants
UVic’s OER grant was established in 2019 with funding from the UVic Undergraduate Student Society, UVic Libraries, the Division of Learning, Teaching, Support and Innovation (LTSI), and UVic Systems. The LTSI, Libraries, and UVSS administer the grants. The grant provides funding of up to $5,000 along with staff support to help faculty members redesign a course to adopt, adapt or create open textbooks or other OER as their primary course material.
Proposals were evaluated based on the following five criteria:
- The potential impact of cost-savings to students based off the cost of educational materials being replaced, class sizes, as well as possible employment of TA’s for the project;
- Their potential impact on student learning and the student experience in the form of high-quality materials, and open and innovative pedagogy;
- Overall alignment with UVic strategic framework;
- Long-term plans to reuse the OER in courses in subsequent terms;
- The extent to which the OER will be freely and openly shared throughout and beyond UVic (e.g., through BCcampus); and,
- Feasibility of the OER being ready within a reasonable timeframe, preferably ready for the following winter or spring term.
We congratulate the January 2020 of grant recipients:
- Trefor Bazett, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Adapting an OER Differential Equations Textbook for Math 204 ($5,000)
This project adapts an existing OER Differential Equations textbook in order to replace the expensive physical textbook currently used in Math204. The new textbook will include engaging, interactive, online content compatible with both flipped and traditional classrooms.
- Sara Humphreys, Academic and Technical Writing Program
Academic Writing for Undergraduate and Graduate Students ($2,250)
The print version of Academic Writing Essentials (AWE) needs revision. The Academic and Technical Writing Program (ATWP), in collaboration with the LTSI’s Centre for Academic Communication (CAC), is proposing an OER to support writing development of the University of Victoria’s diverse undergraduate and graduate student and would align with SEM goals.
- Viloeta Iosub, Department of Chemistry
Development of a Spectroscopy Tool ($5,000)
Spectroscopy is a topic newly introduced to second year organic chemistry. This grant will support the development of a web-based platform that will serve as a practice tool for students and replace the current recommended textbook.
- Kieka Mynhardt, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Somme Sonder Sukkel ($5,000)
Somme Sonder Sukkel (from Afrikaans) roughly translates to “Problems without problems”, in the sense of “without a struggle”. This grant will support the development of a bank of exercises/examples suitable for an introductory combinatorics course, customized for MATH222. We aim to develop this work into a textbook showcasing underrepresented voices.
- Lijun Zhang, Department of Economics
Adaptation of OpenStax Textbook for Econ 104 ($5,000)
This project aims to adapt Macroeconomics (2e) from Openstax.org, available in BCcampus OER category, for Econ 104, and create supplementary materials for the course.
