The William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation invites you to attend one of four half-day Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative workshops being offered this fall to support the adoption of open educational resources (OER). These workshops, which will be offered on November 9th and again on November 10th, will be focused on high-enrollment courses in mathematics, the humanities, and the sciences and OER-related delivery technologies (see below for the workshop descriptions).
Replacing costly textbooks with open educational resources (OER) shows promise to reduce students’ cost of college attendance significantly while maintaining, or perhaps even improving learning outcomes. In August 2013, the M.O.S.T. initiative began as a collaboration between the USM Student Council and the Kirwan Center to support faculty adoption of freely available, openly licensed instructional materials for their courses. From Spring 2014 - Spring 2018, 89 courses at 19 institutions across Maryland have switched to OER, saving students $141 per course on average or approximately $3.4 million cumulatively.
Workshop spots are limited, so to secure your seat, please register by November 1, 2017. Participation in these workshops can also help you develop an OER program eligible for funding in Fall 2018 through the M.O.S.T. High-impact OER Mini-Grant Program. The request for proposals for Fall 2018 will be out this winter.
All workshops will take place at bwtech@UMBC South (1450 South Rolling Road, Arbutus, MD 21227). Participants should bring a laptop and power cable. Lunch will be provided.
Open Educational Resources for Mathematics
November 9th - 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
November 10th - 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
This hands-on, half-day workshop will focus on OERs for introductory-level Mathematics courses. In addition to exploring specific content, participants will learn about math-specific platforms that support sophisticated problem-based assessment as well as personalized learning. Following the workshop, faculty will be able to sign up for special M.O.S.T. support webinars to help them finalize courses for delivery in the Spring semester. Technical support services will also be provided to help integrate OER and related technologies into your institution’s Learning Management System (LMS). While not intended to be exhaustive, the following courses* will be a focus of the workshop:
College Algebra/Pre-Calculus I |
Elementary Algebra |
Beginning and Intermediate Algebra |
Mathematics for Liberal Arts/Quantitative Reasoning |
Introduction to Statistics |
* Please contact the Kirwan Center at cai@usmd.edu if you teach another math course but are still interested in participating.
Open Educational Resources for the Humanities and Sciences
November 9th – 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
November 10th – 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
This hands-on, half-day workshop will focus on OERs for course subjects including Psychology, Business, English, Biology, History, and College Success. In addition to exploring specific content, participants will learn about OER-based personalized delivery platforms, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that have shown to have a positive impact on student learning and course completion rates. Following the workshop, faculty will be able to sign up for special M.O.S.T. support webinars to help them finalize courses for delivery in the Spring semester. Technical support services will also be provided to help integrate OER and related technologies into their institution’s Learning Management System (LMS). While not intended to be exhaustive, the following courses* will be a focus of the workshop:
Freshman Seminar/College Success | Macroeconomics |
English Composition I and II | Microeconomics |
Basic Reading & Writing | Principles of Marketing |
Introduction to College Composition | Introduction to Psychology |
American Literature I and II | Introduction to Sociology |
U.S. History I and II | Biology I and II (for majors and non-majors) |
Introduction to Business | Chemistry |
Principles of Management | Public Speaking/Communication |
* Please contact the Kirwan Center at cai@usmd.edu if you teach another course but are still interested in participating.
If you have any questions, contact Fiona Yung at cai@usmd.edu.