Event Title

Herding Cats to OER: Overhauling a General Education Curriculum

Presentation Type

Presentation

Location

Zoom (Link to be provided on presentation day)

Start Date

24-10-2023 2:00 PM

End Date

24-10-2023 2:45 PM

Description

In this session, learn how librarians at Concordia University, St. Paul helped lead an initiative to implement OERs throughout the university’s General Education (GE) curriculum. During the summer term, librarians — along with instructional designers and the LMS team — updated thirteen courses, reworking the curriculum, reenvisioning assignments, and replacing traditional course materials with open or library-licensed content. This initiative resulted in more than $110,000 in savings per semester for full-time students.

Throughout the process, librarians encountered many challenges, including resistance from faculty, replacing entrenched ancillary materials from major publishers (quizzes, labs, etc.), and managing expectations. And while the initiative was an overall success, we learned valuable lessons about managing faculty relationships and prioritizing sustainability in our workflows that other librarians can use to successfully implement OERs in their own institutions.

Author Bios

Dan Hoiland (he/him) is a Senior Instruction & Outreach Librarian at Concordia University, St. Paul. He is a member of the university's Curriculum & Instruction Center and the liaison to the College of Business & Technology. He enjoys baking, stressing about baseball, and spending time outdoors with his family.

Elizabeth Jacobson (she/her) is an Instruction & Outreach Librarian at Concordia University, St. Paul. She is the liaison to the Education undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs and a member of the university’s Curriculum & Instruction Center. In her free time you’ll find her kayaking, baking, or generally enjoying the outdoors.

Silas Brewer (they/them) is an Instruction & Outreach Librarian at Concordia University, St. Paul. They are the liaison to the Colleges of Health and Science, Nursing, and Kinesiology, and a member of the university's Curriculum & Instruction Center. In their free time, they play hockey and softball, and try not to get injured.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Additional Files
headshot-6777_1.jpg (1494 kB)
Dan Hoiland headshot
sq-SBrewerheadshot-1439.jpg (584 kB)
Silas Brewer headshot
Staff_Elizabeth-Jacobson_BIO_pic.jpg (6 kB)
Elizabeth Jacobson headshot

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COinS
 
Oct 24th, 2:00 PM Oct 24th, 2:45 PM

Herding Cats to OER: Overhauling a General Education Curriculum

Zoom (Link to be provided on presentation day)

In this session, learn how librarians at Concordia University, St. Paul helped lead an initiative to implement OERs throughout the university’s General Education (GE) curriculum. During the summer term, librarians — along with instructional designers and the LMS team — updated thirteen courses, reworking the curriculum, reenvisioning assignments, and replacing traditional course materials with open or library-licensed content. This initiative resulted in more than $110,000 in savings per semester for full-time students.

Throughout the process, librarians encountered many challenges, including resistance from faculty, replacing entrenched ancillary materials from major publishers (quizzes, labs, etc.), and managing expectations. And while the initiative was an overall success, we learned valuable lessons about managing faculty relationships and prioritizing sustainability in our workflows that other librarians can use to successfully implement OERs in their own institutions.