Open Educational Resources (OER)

How to Apply

Components of Application

AggieOpen encourages potential applicants to contact the review team (aggieopen@ucdavis.edu) prior to the submission deadline for assistance in project development. Librarians are available for consultation to help identify openly licensed resources for adoption or adaptation.

• Instructor information (name, position, department, etc.)
• Course information (enrollment, number of sections, etc.)
• Project information:

  • What is the nature of the open materials you plan to incorporate into your course (open textbook, open access monograph, etc.)?  

  • What modifications will be needed for the existing materials (if any), and/or what new material will need to be created to fill in missing content?

  • What challenges or barriers do you anticipate in transitioning from your current course materials to openly licensed resources? If applicable, discuss any internal approval required within your department.

  • What are the potential benefits to students in this course if you transition to open educational materials? If applicable, discuss any plans to involve students in the development of open educational resources.

  • How does the project advance diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice, and/or a sense of belonging for students from historically marginalized populations?

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by members of the AggieOpen Steering Committee for alignment with the objectives of the AggieOpen program. Reviewers will include library representatives, students, faculty and instructors. 

Priority funding will be given to projects that: 

• impact students in a General Education course or other high-enrollment courses; 
• projects that engage students in the content creation process; 
• and/or those which address curriculum or content gaps in existing openly licensed educational materials.

Support from the Library 

Fellows Cohort

Successful applicants will be part of a cohort. There will be two synchronous meetings in the Spring Quarter 2024 for fellows to consult with experts, showcase their projects, and discuss issues related to their work with the cohort. Fellows will also be asked to participate in an asynchronous Canvas course module related to open licensing use and attribution, inclusive learning, and accessibility standards for open educational resources. 

Consultation

Fellows will have access to Librarians and the Scholarly Communications Officer for assistance with finding OER materials for their curriculum, identifying appropriately licensed media (images, video, etc.), and the use of Creative Commons licensing.

Program Deliverables

• Annotated syllabus: fellows will identify where updates must be made to reading assignments, homework, discussion questions, etc.
• Hosting and distribution plan: fellows will identify where their content will be hosted and made accessible to learners. 
• Assessment plan: fellows will identify an assessment strategy (ex., feedback survey; focus group) to assess the impact of OER materials on student educational experience.
• Project workflow: fellows will identify tasks, steps, and a timeline for implementation and assessment.

Final Report

The final report will be a brief document including the following:

1. The number of students enrolled in the course and summary of usage across sections, including how the material was accessed by students.
2. Results from assessments that describe the impact on learning or feedback from students on the value of the OER materials as an educational resource or tool in the course.
3. A discussion of your future plans. Will you use the open textbook or other materials again?  Why or why not?
4. A statement explaining what worked as well or better than expected and, conversely, what did not work as expected. 

Fellowship Timeline

Winter Quarter

Submission + Fellows Selection

• Call for Applications - January 2024 - February 18, 2024 
• Fellows are notified the week of March 25-29, 2024

Spring Quarter

OER Project Development 

Fellows will be asked to complete a self-paced, asynchronous online learning module that will scaffold their OER project workflow development. Expect to spend ~10 hours participating in the cohort during Spring Quarter 2024, with time spent reviewing the asynchronous Canvas content and the synchronous cohort meetings. Our learning module is intended to assist fellows in navigating copyright and open licensing attribution; inclusive course design and applying accessibility standards; and identifying tools for curating and distributing OER.

AY 2023-2024

Implementation & Final Report 

• OER materials will be implemented for coursework delivered in Summer 2024; Fall 2024; Winter 2025; or Spring 2025.
• The Final Report will be due 12 weeks (1 academic quarter) after the conclusion of the course.