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……Please visit the Open UBC website to read the full story and learn more about open education at UBC.
