Open Educational Resources In UND Classes: A Symposium

Perhaps you’ve been hearing about Open Educational Resources, and you’re interested but still have questions. Are there any OERs suitable for your course? How do they compare with traditional resources? What about tutorials, question banks, or other supplementary resources? Are there copyright or licensing issues? How do OERs affect student outcomes?

Well, we’re here to help! UND’s Open Educational Resources Working Group is hosting a multi-speaker symposium to answer these questions and more! Join us on March 27 in the River Valley Room of the Memorial Union for answers – from your colleagues, from expert staff, and from students! The program runs from 10:30 am – 3 pm, but if you can’t join us for the entire program, feel free to attend the segment of your choice. Speakers and topics are as follows:

10:30 am – Welcome & Overview

10:45 am – “Student attitudes and learning from open-access textbooks: What does the evidence show?”
Prof. Virginia Clinton (Educational Foundations and Research) – Prof. Clinton was one of the first participants in UND’s Open Educational Resources pilot project. Now, she will present her research, based on her experience working with students in a large introductory Psychology class at UND.

11:30 am – PANEL – “Help with OERs at UND: Copyright Assistance, Licensing, & Legal Considerations; Tools & Tricks to Help You Adapt or Build Your OER; and Sources of OERs”
Jason Jenkins, UND Special Affiliate, Office of General Counsel; plus representatives from the Center for Instructional & Learning Technologies and the Chester Fritz Library

This panel of experts will provide assistance on a variety of fronts. Jason Jenkins is an attorney well-versed in copyright, intellectual property, and related issues. He’s helped faculty with their questions related to copyright and Open Educational Resources, by providing consultations, assisting with training, and speaking at a statewide OERs Summit in 2016. Jason will provide information and answer questions related to copyright, Creative Commons and other licensing options, and more. Representatives from the Center for Instructional & Learning Technologies and the Chester Fritz Library will showcase tools you can use to help adapt OERs and build supplementary materials as needed, and representatives from the Chester Fritz Library will help you to find sources of good, reliable OERs from well-respected institutions.

12:15 pm – Lunch Break – Join us for pizza!

1:00 pm – “Open Educational Resources in Atmospheric Sciences: Interactive, Free, and Fun”
Profs. Fred Remer & Aaron Kennedy (Atmospheric Sciences) –Drs. Remer and Kennedy have been using Open Educational Resources in their classrooms for over a year, and incorporating freely available, extensive government maps and other resources, many of which are interactive and exciting, and allow students to have “real life” experiences while completing their coursework.

1:45 pm – “Open Calculus – Textbooks and More”
Drs. Tim Prescott, Michelle Iiams, & Richard Millspaugh (Mathematics) – Many students find Calculus to be a ‘barrier’ course - one they may find challenging, but which they urgently need as a foundation for further study. Many people have also said “How much does introductory calculus change?” Meanwhile, textbook publishers have frequent new editions, often costing over $300 – a significant expense for many students! But textbook publishers often offer supplementary materials that faculty and students find useful – tutorials, problem sets, etc. How can this be reconciled? Come hear from 3 UND Mathematics faculty who’ve been creating solutions – to the delight of their students!

2:30 pm – “Why OERs? The Importance of OERs and How to Increase Support”
Brandon Beyer (President of Student Government) – Brandon Beyer, President of UND Student Government, will wrap up our day by speaking about the importance of OERs to students, the impact OERs can have on students, and how he increased support for OERs at UND.

Sponsored by the Chester Fritz Library, the Office of Instructional Development, the Center for Instructional & Learning Technologies, the Office of the Provost, and the UND Open Educational Resources Working Group.