{"id":8797,"date":"2025-06-02T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.everylearnereverywhere.org\/?p=8797"},"modified":"2025-06-02T10:45:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T15:45:52","slug":"how-nc-states-oer-program-is-transforming-student-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everylearnereverywhere.org\/es\/blog\/how-nc-states-oer-program-is-transforming-student-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"How NC State’s OER Program is Transforming Student Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

A series of videos to supplement learning in organic chemistry labs.<\/p>\n

An interactive, multimedia history textbook focused on the Civil War and Reconstruction.<\/p>\n

A crowdsourced resource collaboratively written and evaluated by grad students.<\/p>\n

These are some of the many alternative textbook projects that have been funded by NC State University\u2019s Alt-Textbook Program<\/a> since it began giving out grants in 2014.<\/p>\n

David Tully, the Principal Librarian for Student Affordability at NC State University Libraries, is the program\u2019s lead. He says last year the OER program awarded around $70,000 worth of grants to instructors at NC State to develop open educational resources (OER) for their classrooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe projects we get are really diverse,\u201d says Tully. Anything that acts as an alternative to a commercial textbook and can be made available as an OER is considered. This could include videos, podcasts, modules, assignments, quizzes, images, syllabi, and\u2014of course\u2014textbooks. OER materials are published under copyright licenses that allow for free, legal sharing. In most cases, the licenses also permit adaptation of the work.<\/p>\n

One major benefit is cost savings for students. A 2021 study from U.S. PIRG Education Fund<\/a> found that 65 percent of students reported they\u2019d skipped buying commercial textbooks because of the expense. For students identified as \u201cfood insecure,\u201d it was 82 percent.<\/p>\n

The study also notes that recent changes in format and pricing models, like online texts with single-user access codes, have increased the problem by eliminating the ways students traditionally got around high textbook costs: used copies, library copies, and sharing a copy with classmates.<\/p>\n

The other benefit of OER is that it can be much more effective because faculty can customize the materials for their course and students. \u201cThe ability to update existing content is really important for students,\u201d says Tully. \u201cI quite like the idea of giving control of materials back to the instructor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many instructors use the control to create up-to-date materials on dynamic topics that are changing rapidly or to fill a gap the commercial market hasn\u2019t addressed. One example is NC State\u2019s Biology in the Modern World course, which enrolls large numbers of both STEM and non-STEM majors. That course has been historically difficult to source a textbook for.<\/p>\n

OER can also be customized with examples and images that better represent today\u2019s student body, says Tully: \u201cA lot of textbooks are still written for this idea of a typical college student, which is no longer the reality. When students don\u2019t see themselves reflected in their own materials, they can be less engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using an OER program for institutional impact<\/h2>\n

Successful applicants to the NC State Alt-Textbook Program receive a stipend to support their work developing or adapting an open resource and have a liaison from the committee who makes sure they have the guidance and resources they need.<\/p>\n

When the committee is evaluating proposals, says Tully, \u201cwe\u2019re looking for folks who want to build something for their own class, but who are also excited by making it available for other students and educators around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n