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Open Education Practices

Learn how Open Educational Resources (OERs), Open Scholarship, and Open Pedagogy benefit faculty, students, and the wider community.

Spring 2023 - OER Exploration Grant for Graduate Level Classes

The final $8,000 remaining from the Board of Regents' funded Alternative Textbook Grant will be targeted for use by faculty teaching graduate classes. Because these classes are not covered by the Book Smart program, this provides an opportunity to save money for our graduate students.

Visit the OER Exploration Grant for Graduate Faculty form to learn more and apply (HINT: login to Google with your EKU credentials in order to access the form)

Application Deadline: January 20, 2023

Questions? email kelly.smith2@eku.edu

Grant Amounts

(1) Explore OER-enabled pedagogy by participating in a Spring 2023 Professional Learning Community (PLC) led by librarian Kelly Smith and Dr. Erin Stevenson. Each approved applicant who attends the PLC will receive a grant of $500, whether or not OER exist for their class.

(2) Adopt OER. Each grantee who creates a zero cost course by adopting an OER or alternative resource (library resource, public domain, etc.) will receive an additional $500.

Required of Grantees

1. Professional Development

  • Attend the OER Professional Learning Community (PLC) 

2. Reports 

  • Brief progress report due May. (For reporting back to EKU Regents)
  • Report any OER adopted via this Alternative Textbook Adoption form.
  • Encouraged: Present at UP Showcase Presentation, Pedagogicon, or departmental showcase following implementation to report outcomes.

2020-2022 Board of Regents Alternative Textbook Incentive Grant Awardees

From 2020-2022, the EKU Board of Regents awarded $75,000 in Innovation Grant funding to support an Alternative Textbook Incentive Grant. Re-designing a course to use an existing an OER, adapting OER materials, and authoring new OER take a tremendous amount of work and commitment. Congratulations to the nineteen faculty who have led the way in this effort at EKU! And special thanks to Dr. Matthew Winslow and Dr. Jason Marion, who began using and advocating for adopting and teaching with OER before we offered the incentive grant, and to Dr. Ogechi Anyanwu and the faculty of the African and African American Studies program who wrote an original OER Textbook, From Slavery to Liberation: The African American Experience, with no extra funding.

*Departmental Award

EKU Alternative Textbook Grant Awardees 2021-2022
Name Department Course Average Enrollment Book Cost Total Annual Savings Level of Award
Gerald Nachtwey English ENG 311 - Early British Literature Survey 40 $88 $3,520 $5,000*
Dominique Bellon Music MUH 171 - Music Appreciation 1,110 $85 $94,350 $4,000
Michael Hartman Computer Science INF 511/711 - Principles of Game Design and Game Theory 15 n/a -  No decent textbook exists $4,000
James Maples Sociology SOC 131 - Intro Sociology 140 $45 $6,300 $4,000
Stephanie Saulnier Social Work SWK 310W - Social Welfare Policy History 150 $130 $19,500 $4,000
Carl Root Justice Studies PLS-375 - Terrorism 150 $50 $7,500 $4,000
Kelly Ward Social Work SWK 830 - Practice II 35 $125 $4,475 $4,000
Erin Stevenson Social Work SWK 225 - Human Behavior in the Social Environment I 160 $224 $35,840 $1,000
Kelly Ward Social Work SWK 815 - Human Behavior in the Social Environment II 35 $119 $4,165 $1,000
Michael Fore Accounting ACC 440 - Legal Aspects of Accounting 50 $81 $4,050 $1,000

Neil Kasiak

 History HIS 102 - American Civilization to 1877 60 $190 $11,400 $1,000
Brian Simpkins Homeland Security HLS 395W - Homeland Security Policy Analysis 65 $61 $3,965 $1,000
Qian Xiao Management MBA 841 - Driving Strategic Impact 25 $236 $5,900 $1,000
Weiling Zhuang Marketing MKT 457 - Experimental Design for Marketing 14 $65 $910 $1,000
EKU Alternative Textbook Grant Awardees 2020-2021
Name Department Course Ave. Enrollment Book Cost Total Annual Savings Level of Award
Jill Parrott & Dominic Ashby English/1st Year Writing ENG101 - Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric 2,130 $78 $166,140 $5,000*
Lisa Day Appalachian Studies APP200 - Introduction to Appalachia 1,050 $75 $78,750 $5,000*
Ogechi Anyanwu & Lisa Day African and African American Studies AFA201 - The African Experience

750

 $60 $45,000 $5,000*
David Stumbo Safety and Security OSH366 - Hazard Identification and Control 106 $65 $6,890 $4,000
Erin Stevenson Social Work SWK340 - Social Work Research 1 240 $84 $20,160 $1,000
James Maples Sociology SOC131 - Intro Sociology 180 $45 $8,100 $1,000
James Maples Sociology SOC395 - Sociology Research 30 $110 $3,300 $1,000
Ni Wang Applied Engineering & Technology AEM195 - Computer Aided Drafting 35 $134 $4,690 $1,000

 

 

2020 - 2022 Grant Information

Grant Categories

(1) Individual adoption or adaptation of existing OERs (including textbooks, free course content, and/or EKU Libraries’ licensed information resources). Each approved applicant will receive a grant of $1,000.

(2) Individual creation of new open course content in a format (PDF file, Web site, multimedia material, etc.) deemed most appropriate for pedagogical purposes: Each approved applicant will receive a grant of $4,000.

(3) Departmental adoption or adaption of OERs across multiple sections of a course. Preference given to introductory, undergraduate supporting courses, and General Education courses with high enrollments. The department will receive $5,000.

Grant Review Criteria

Faculty Applicants
  1. Average enrollment of class (higher is better)*
  2. Current textbook cost
  3. Strength of proposal narrative
  4. Type of course (GenEd is better)
  5. Project scalability and potential applicability to other courses/sections?
  6. Gap in existing OER content that justifies development of a new resource.
Departmental Applicants
  1. Average enrollment of class & number of sections (higher is better)
  2. Current textbook cost
  3. Strength of proposal narrative
  4. Level of course (lower level preferred)
  5. Gap in existing OER content that justifies development of a new resource.

Required of Grantees

1. Professional Development

  • Attend the OER Professional Learning Community (PLC) 

2. Reports 

  • Brief progress report due January. (For reporting back to EKU Regents)
  • After course has been taught, written evaluation of the experience of identifying or creating and using alternate course materials. Provide evidence of improved student learning outcomes, if any (For example, consider giving the same exams/quizzes before and after adopting OER and look for changes? This can also be used for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.)
  • Present at UP Showcase Presentation, Pedagogicon, or departmental showcase following implementation to report outcomes.

3. Access

Support Provided to Grantees

1. Training and professional development in the form of a PLC developed by EKU Libraries

2. Technical support and guidance provided by EKU Libraries

3. Financial award provided by EKU Regents

 

Questions?

Questions about the Alternative Textbook Grant should be directed to Kelly Smith (kelly.smith2 at eku.edu).