The 2015 Open Educational Resources grant projects continue to extend their impact. One year after the grant period, the materials are being used more widely than expected, and other instructors are leveraging the open licenses to customize the OER for new purposes.

By the numbers:

• The 2015 Open Educational Resources grant projects saved 707 students $77,234.30 in the pilot year.
• One year later, those projects have gone on to affect an additional 1,814 students, for an estimated cumulative student savings of $225,448.86.
• This savings is 36% over the projected estimate from last year.
• The initial grant investment of $55,098 has saved students approximately $4.09 per grant dollar spent, and this ratio will continue to improve over time.
• The 8 projects originally represented collaborations with 13 different institutions; these projects are now being used at 23 colleges and high schools.

To review the materials created under this grant, visit the 2015 Grant Cohort Folder in OER Commons.

Congratulations to our grantees and thank you for your ongoing hard work!

Many thanks to the Oregon Community College Distance Learning Association for sponsoring this grant funding.

OW!: An Oregon Writing OER Collection

Jennifer Kepka, Instructor, English, Linn-Benton and Academic Learning Skills, Lane Community College

Jenn created the Oregon Writes Open Textbook, along with a Canvas Commons faculty guide to using and adapting the text. At least two courses are known to have adopted the textbook, for an estimated student savings of $12,900 to date.

Enabling Successful, Accessible OER in Mathematics with a WeBWorK-MathBook XML Bridge

Alex Jordan, Instructor of Mathematics, Portland Community College; Michael Gage, Professor, University of Rochester; Geoff Goehle, Professor, Western Carolina University; Rob Beezer, Professor, University of Puget Sound

This project built interconnectivity between MathBook XML and WeBWorK to enable instructors to write interactive example and homework exercises directly into open online textbooks. This year several new projects have used the grant team’s work:

• ORCCA: Open Resources for Community College Algebra was developed through a Portland Community College Strategic Investment Funding grant and has the potential to save PCC students $1M per year. Other colleges in Oregon and out of state have expressed interest in adopting ORCCA.
• APEX Calculus is an existing OER textbook in use at both PCC and LBCC. It is being converted to MBX, and will use the WeBWorK components; users will automatically benefit from the upgrade.
• Jack Green and Nick Chura used the PCC grant team’s work to implement OER for MTH 111 at Mt Hood Community College through a grant funded by the HECC. If adopted by the department, this project has the potential to save students approximately $80,000 per year.

University of Puget Sound provided a matching grant for this project.

Teaching Technical Writing with OER

Annemarie Hamlin, Associate Professor of English, and Chris Rubio, Associate Professor of English, Central Oregon Community College; Michele DeSilva, Public Services Manager, Deschutes Public Library

The open textbook Technical Writing saved 26 students $2,197 in its pilot year. Since then, it has saved an additional 197 COCC students $16,646.50. It has also been adopted at three other colleges, saving 508 students an estimated additional $45,123, for a total of $61,769.50.

Megan Savage, Billy Merck, Allison Gross, Jodi Naas, Portland Community College received a 2016-17 Open Oregon grant to create four new chapters, resulting in a revised and expanded edition of the Technical Writing textbook which will be available at the end of summer term.

PCC Health Studies OER Team

Valerie Limbrunner-Bartlett, Alissa Leavitt, Shari Rochelle, Rachelle Katter, Michael Meagher, Sasha Grenier, Toni Veeman, Glenn Johnson, and Eldon Lampson, Portland Community College

The Portland Community College Health Studies department redeveloped the Personal Health course with OERs as a basis for course material, available via HE 250: Personal Health. The 30 students in the pilot course saved $3,040.50. In the 2016-17 academic year, an additional 152 students saved $14,440, for a total cumulative savings of $17,290. Valerie continues to meet with colleagues to facilitate migration to the OER course for the coming academic year.

OER and Eastern Promise

Jacquelyn Ray, Director, Library and Media Services, Blue Mountain Community College; Theresa Pihl, Adjunct Instructor, History and Social Science, Eastern Promise Professional Learning Community (PLC) Leader; Aaron Davis, Faculty, Hermiston High School and Eastern Promise Instructor; Kris Pepera, Faculty, Baker High School and Eastern Promise Instructor

This project adopted an OER text and supporting resources for U.S. History courses taught by both Blue Mountain Community College and the local high schools through the Eastern Promise program, posted in a PLC LiveBinder. The pilot reached 280 students at 10 schools and saved $32,104.60 in its first year. In the 2016-17 academic year, an additional 180 students saved $13,260, for a grand total of  $45,364.60 in student savings to date. Many students in the Early College Credit program were only able to take a college course in high school because of the reduced textbook cost.

College Now/CGCC OER Collaboration

John Schoppert, Director of Library Services, Columbia Gorge Community College; Chauna Ramsey, Eng/WR instructor, Hood River Valley HS and Columbia Gorge Community College; Jennifer Hanlon-Wilde, Eng/WR instructor, Columbia Gorge Community College

This project was a collaboration between Hood River Valley High School (HRVHS) and Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC). English/Writing department instructors from both institutions redeveloped American Literature courses used for College Now high school students and CGCC students, many of whom are first-generation college students. The open curriculum is available at Survey of American Literature: Eng 253 and Survey of American Literature: Eng 254. Over the course of the pilot, 94 students saved $13,067.20 during the 2015-16 school year. During the 2016-17 year, an additional 98 students saved $5,880 for a cumulative savings of $11,520.

Chauna Ramsey received a second Open Oregon grant to create Conventions 101: A Functional Approach to Teaching (and Assessing!) Grammar and Punctuation. Through adoption at CGCC and the College Now program at Hood River Valley High School, 713 students saved $74,865 in the pilot year of textbook use.

Geology and Environmental Science sequence redevelopment

Alexandra Geddes, Adjunct Instructor, Lane Community College

Alex created a Google folder of resources organized by topic with the OER materials that are relevant to the Environmental Science and Geology course sequences. One Lane instructor adopted the BCcampus Physical Geology open textbook and Alex adopted Terrestrial Environments for ENVS 181. Approximately 250 students saved $17,886-$23,628 during the pilot year. In the 2016-17 academic year, an additional 475 students saved $47,500, for a total cumulative savings of $71,700.00.

During the 2016-17 academic year, other instructors used Alex’s work as a starting point for their courses. Notably, Matthew R. Fisher at Oregon Coast Community College adapted and remixed several OER, including Alex’s, to create the open textbook Environmental Biology. 22 students saved approximately $4,400 in one term. His research study on the impact of OER adoption is forthcoming this fall.

To Be Free: An OER Project for Rock Creek Developmental English Online RD 115 Courses

Theresa Love, Department Chair, Faculty; Robbie Pock, M.F.A, PT Faculty, Developmental English; David Pontious, M.S., M.A., PT Faculty, Developmental Education Instructor, Portland Community College – Rock Creek campus; Phyllis Nissila, Instructor, ALS/ABSE Departments, Lane Community College

This project looked at course materials for RD115, a developmental reading course taught at PCC. The PCC team developed a chapter structure and Robbie Pock shared out three modules: Inference, Analyzing Arguments – Rhetorical Analysis, and Analyzing Arguments – Propaganda.

The project was then passed to Phyllis Nissila at Lane Community College, where the content was adapted for EL115 in an open textbook, How to Learn Like a Pro! In the pilot year, 9 students saved an estimated $1,000. In the 2016-17 academic year, an additional 75 students saved $4,379.25 for a cumulative savings of $5379.25.