The TN Open Education Cycle 4 OER Grant provides opportunities for teams of community college, technical college, and university faculty members to convert courses currently using commercially published textbooks to courses using OER. In addition to increasing access through the affordability that OER provides, faculty have the opportunity to maximize student engagement and success by aligning materials with learning outcomes and customize tools to support their unique pedagogical approaches. Instructors may adapt, adopt, curate, or create OER materials to support the redesign of a course. This may mean selecting, modifying, or creating OER materials to replace and/or supplement existing course materials, assignments, and/or texts. Grantees are invited to remix this course planning template to design and share their OER project plans, course information and syllabus, and reflection.(See this primer for additional information about how to get started with OER.)

A textbook written by Dr. Daniel Regalado (Professor of Government and History at Odessa College), along with some sources from OpenStax material, for GOVT 2306: Texas Government. Source was written in Fall 2017.

Texas Government OER textbook. Written by Dr. Daniel M. Regalado. Originally written in Fall 2017, reformatted May 2022. This EBook is the first OER Texas Government textbook ever written in the United States.

This is a set of ten peer-reviewed, openly licensed, self-paced modules for faculty, staff, and administrators. It includes information on understanding OER; open licensing, including Creative Commons; finding and evaluating OER; accessibility; adapting, creating, and sharing OER; and OER policy and practice in Texas.

The idea of Threshold Concepts has been widely discussed in higher education for more than a decade. As defined by Jan H.F. Meyer and Ray Land, a threshold concept “can be considered as akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something. It represents a transformed way of understanding, or interpreting, or viewing something without which the learner cannot progress”.  (Meyer, J., & Land, R. (2003). Put another way, threshold concepts are the core ideas and principles in any discipline that often become second nature to experts, but may be completely foreign to the novice. And yet, without an understanding of these core concepts, learners cannot progress in further learning in any given subject area. As with all academic disciplines, threshold concepts exist in the area of Information Literacy; grasping information literacy threshold concepts is essential for students to become effective researchers.In 2015, the American Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) replaced their Information Literacy Competency Standards, with a “Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education”. The Framework is organized into six Frames, each anchored by an information literacy threshold concept and supported by a set of knowledge practices and dispositions. These six information literacy threshold concepts include:Authority is Constructed and ContextualInformation Creation is a ProcessInformation Has ValueResearch as InquiryScholarship as ConversationSearching as Strategic ExplorationBased on the research studies and experiences of academic instruction librarians who see first-hand the challenges students experience when conducting college-level research, the new Framework was developed to support information literacy instruction in the digital age. The literature suggests that most students entering college are unprepared for the rigors of academic research. (Head, A. J. (2013). If students can gain an understanding of these six threshold concepts, they will likely be better researchers and generally more successful in their academic work.What are the implications of this huge paradigm shift in college-level research instruction for school librarians? Simply put, school librarians have a wonderful opportunity to prepare students for college level research by systematically teaching information literacy threshold concepts in grades K-12. A scaffolded information literacy instruction program focused on threshold concepts along with standards and skills could help pave the way for students to be effective college researchers. With an estimated 30% of US college and university students dropping out after their first year, preparing research savvy students for the demands of college assignments could have a significant impact on student success and ultimately on college graduation rates.  Instructional ObjectivesBy the completion of Module 1, students will be able to identify a threshold concept from their field or discipline and design a learning activity that could be used to teach this concept.By the completion of Module 2, students will be able to identify one or more stumbling blocks that students encounter when conducting academic research, and describe how a better grasp of one of the six ACRL Information Literacy threshold concepts could help overcome this research barrier.By the completion of Module 3, students will be able to create a lesson plan for a K-12 classroom which teaches or reinforces the threshold concept “Research as Inquiry”. 

A Guide for Busy Educators

Short Description:
This book focuses on helping educators (secondary school and higher education level) succeed and thrive in blended and online learning settings. Grounded in evidence-based practices and principles, we share diverse and extensive insights on starting out, differentiated learning, learning activities, feedback and assessment, and useful tools. Each chapter includes a subject overview, guidelines, activities or tools, and general resources.

Word Count: 113888

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

A Guide for Busy Educators

Short Description:
This book focuses on helping educators (secondary school and higher education level) succeed and thrive in blended and online learning settings. Grounded in evidence-based practices and principles, we share diverse and extensive insights on starting out, differentiated learning, learning activities, feedback and assessment, and useful tools. Each chapter includes a subject overview, guidelines, activities or tools, and general resources.

Word Count: 115149

ISBN: 978-0-9781236-4-2

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

This Google Sheet was created to support a Time Management module in a Strategies for College Success course. The plan is for the instructor to share one copy of the Sheet with each student for an assignment lasting 2 or 3 weeks. Students estimate the time they spend each week on common daily tasks, such as sleeping, working, or attending class. Space is provided for students to enter up to three custom tasks. After estimating how they spend time, students track their time spent for a full week. Through the magic of spreadsheet formulas, time spent per task is color-coded to help visualize large and small blocks of time. Time for the week is tallied on the summary tab, where a warning message appears if less than 24 hours are logged for any given day. After comparing their estimated hours to their actual recorded hours, students propose changes they can make in how they spend their time to increase their scholastic success. A tab with five questions is included for student reflection. Instructions for how to use the Sheet are provided for faculty on the Info & LIcense tab. Cell formulas are editable only by the document owner; students cannot accidentally overwrite. Colors are selected from a palette known to be perceivable by people with most forms of colorblindness. Author contact information is available on the Info and License tab.

Deciding to pursue your Associate Degree in Nursing and fulfilling your goal of becoming an RN is a big step but it’s a rewarding one. Earning your online ASN degree with Rue’s nursing programs will not only advance your income but you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you took the next step in your career.

This resource is useful in a first-year composition course. The examples are intended for a literature-based composition class. There are also examples of opening strategies intended for an expository composition class. The Word version will give both types of examples.

Selecting appropriate Technologies

Short Description:
The use of open education is growing and has become a global movement. Across much of North America, most post-secondary institutions are in the process of integrating the use of open education resources into their teaching and learning activities. The number of OER repositories from which instructors can draw resources continues to grow each year. The number of resources continues to grow along with the number of different tools used to develop these resources. There are a number of commercial and open source digital technologies available for the creation of open resources. This resource is intended to provide the OER community with a summary of some currently available tools for creating open content. OER creators need to know the range of tools that can be used in the creation process. This guide is designed to provide a starting point for instructors and faculty at post-secondary institutions. Prospective creators of OER can use the guide to pick the most appropriate tool for their specific context and level of technical expertise.

Long Description:
The use of open education is growing and has become a global movement. Across much of North America, most post-secondary institutions are in the process of integrating the use of open education resources into teaching and learning activities. The following are the chapters covered in the guide: Chapter 1 starts with very basic information on the definition and description of what constitutes OER. Chapter 2 introduces the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by providing a brief listing of each goal. Chapter 3 focuses on commercial word processing tool options. Chapter 4 describes a number of open-source word processing and additional tools. Chapter 5 introduces the basic open-source TeX-based systems that arose out of the open-source software movement. Chapter 6 delves further into TeX-based open-source tools by highlighting some packages useful for content creation. Chapter 7 describes other TeX-based tools helpful for creating open content. Chapter 8 introduces the emerging OER tools Pressbooks, EdTech Books and LibreTexts.

Word Count: 32461

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Selecting appropriate Technologies

Short Description:
The use of open education is growing and has become a global movement. Across much of North America, most post-secondary institutions are in the process of integrating the use of open education resources into their teaching and learning activities. The number of OER repositories from which instructors can draw resources continues to grow each year. The number of resources continues to grow along with the number of different tools used to develop these resources. There are a number of commercial and open source digital technologies available for the creation of open resources. This resource is intended to provide the OER community with a summary of some currently available tools for creating open content. OER creators need to know the range of tools that can be used in the creation process. This guide is designed to provide a starting point for instructors and faculty at post-secondary institutions. Prospective creators of OER can use the guide to pick the most appropriate tool for their specific context and level of technical expertise.

Long Description:
The use of open education is growing and has become a global movement. Across much of North America, most post-secondary institutions are in the process of integrating the use of open education resources into teaching and learning activities. The following are the chapters covered in the guide: Chapter 1 starts with very basic information on the definition and description of what constitutes OER. Chapter 2 introduces the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by providing a brief listing of each goal. Chapter 3 focuses on commercial word processing tool options. Chapter 4 describes a number of open-source word processing and additional tools. Chapter 5 introduces the basic open-source TeX-based systems that arose out of the open-source software movement. Chapter 6 delves further into TeX-based open-source tools by highlighting some packages useful for content creation. Chapter 7 describes other TeX-based tools helpful for creating open content. Chapter 8 introduces the emerging OER tools Pressbooks, EdTech Books and LibreTexts.

Word Count: 32474

ISBN: 978-0-7731-0777-9

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

“Getting an education at MIT is like trying to drink from a firehose.”
— folk saying
The Torch or The Firehose: A Guide to Section Teaching, by MIT Mathematics Professor Arthur Mattuck, is a guide to recitation teaching at MIT. During a typical recitation section, a teaching assistant (TA) meets with a small group of students to review the most recent lecture, expand on the concepts, work through practice problems, and conduct a discussion with the students. With good humor and sound advice, Professor Mattuck offers both novice and seasoned recitation instructors guidelines on how sections can best serve as a complement to lectures, how to help students become better learners, and how to enjoy their experience as recitation teachers. Lecturers claim they have learned something from it, too.
This content was first published as a printed booklet in 1981. This is the second edition. It has had a wide distribution, both at MIT and other universities, since it first appeared. It is finally available in digital format to allow broader distribution and use of this valuable material.
If any significant changes are required to adapt it to the needs of another institution, please clearly notify readers that the work is modified from the orginal version and provide a link to this web site. For archival purposes, translators should notify MIT OpenCourseWare of their version.

This report was developed by the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), as part of the National Consortium for OER (NCOER), and by a workgroup of institutional, state, and national leaders to offer common principles and frameworks to improve consistency and reliability for measuring cost savings and the return on investment (ROI) of OER. This paper and the recommended practices in it were developed for those who engage in OER efforts at the campus and university system levels. The principles and practices outlined in this report will enable OER stakeholders and practitioners to calculate and communicate with more clarity and consistency the ROI of OER implementation.

This module is designed to support instructor training on best practices for responding to college student writing across the disciplines. The module shares resources on feedback practices, as well as activities to help instructors practice using these practices to build a toolkit of strategies for effective response. Strategies discussed include: Limit feedback so as not to overwhelm students. Don't underestimate the value of praise to motivate and support student writing. Make sure feedback is appropriate for the assignment type and stage. As well, this module includes the following materials:Two sets of slides presenting effective feedback strategies.Self-assessment on responding to student writing.Feedback practice activity.Feedback peer review.Evaluating and revising comments activity.  

As part of our NSF-funded passion-driven statistics project, we have just started to share more widely our “translation code” aimed at supporting folks in learning code-based software and in moving more easily between them.  The pdf includes all of the basic syntax for managing, displaying and analyzing data, translated across SAS, R, Python, Stata and SPSS.

One of the greatest areas of potential for open educational resources (OER) is the opportunity for improved representation and coverage of identities that often go erased or poorly addressed in educational materials. Information about, by, and for trans and gender diverse people is one such topic. With knowledge and intention, those involved in the creation, adaptation, and use of OER can find and incorporate materials that center trans and gender diverse people. Doing this is essential for supporting trans and gender diverse students and educating everyone about these identities. This resource is a guide on how to make OER more inclusive and representative of trans and gender diverse people. It is intended to be easily incorporated into a scholarly communications course, while also being valuable to faculty and others interested in learning about the topic and how to make changes to their own course materials.

My passion is to help students seamlessly transfer from their original dream school (in one of the City Colleges of Chicago) to their four-year dream schools and to obtain funding. For that purpose, I have composed a book entitled Transfer Like a Rockstar! Tips on Transferring from Community College to Your New Four-year Dream School. I hope that you enjoy it!