WPI is justly proud of its exemplary teaching and its path-breaking recognition through tenure and promotion paths of faculty whose primary role at WPI is teaching. In our new tenure and promotion guidelines, WPI defines SoTL as: “…the development and
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OER and open pedagogy
How are OER and open pedagogy related? A great place to begin thinking about this question is through Robin DeRosa’s work. Robin is currently Director of the Open Learning & Teaching Collaborative (Open CoLab) at Plymouth State University, where they
Massachusetts Colleges Collaborate to Create Culturally Relevant Open Textbooks
During Open Education week you don’t have to look far to find exciting initiatives that are building new open education resources that also help create more inclusive learning experiences for all students. In September 2021 a consortium of six
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Happy Open Education Week!
Want to explore open education and open educational resources? Curious what it’s all about? You’ve picked the perfect time, Open Education Week 2022, when teachers and universities around the world are sharing how they are taking action to reduce the
OER Petting Zoo: reasonably priced print editions of OERs
Good news for those who prefer print: an Oregon OER organization has compiled an online list of OERs available as print editions for reasonable prices from self-publishing (Lulu) and institutional (Stanford University, SUNY) platforms. In a 2019 story announcing the
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WPI faculty share what course materials they require and how they use OERs
Over 50 WPI faculty from 20 departments and programs responded to survey questions in B Term about how they choose course materials, what kinds of access their students have to these materials, and their awareness and interest in learning more
Read More WPI faculty share what course materials they require and how they use OERs
WPI students avoid buying textbooks
In fall 2021 WPI students were invited to respond to an informal survey to tell us whether they buy required textbooks, how they feel about textbook costs, and other ways they get access to course materials. Of the 207 students
Textbook affordability in the pandemic: impacts and PIRG recommendations
One of the compelling arguments for OER is that open course materials reduce inequalities and increase access to learning materials. One organization that tracks affordability impacts closely is PIRG. in February 2021 they issued the third edition of their report
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WPI faculty input invited on Open Educational Resources: survey open now!
The WPI AAC&U OER Initiative needs your input! To learn more about the course textbook environment at WPI, this fall the team invited students to share what they do to afford expensive textbooks – only 5 reported they “always’” buy
Read More WPI faculty input invited on Open Educational Resources: survey open now!
Resources for the Social Justice Summit
On September 30th, the OER Team – in conjunction with colleagues from the College of Arts and Sciences @ WPI – participated in the Social Justice Summit. The two-day event highlighted inclusive practices and critical reflection on how we can