By the AMS Office of Academic & University Affairs and the AMS MarCom team
On average undergrad students pay over $1200 per year on textbooks. With affordability being one of the largest concerns amongst students, rising textbook costs mean students going without course materials because of other financial burdens, like food or housing.
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are free learning resources tailored to your courses. Resources include textbooks, journal articles, test banks, videos, and more. OERs benefit everyone – they reduce student costs for learning materials and give instructors more flexibility with adapting resources to their courses and teaching goals.
RMST_V 202 (Introduction to Literatures and Cultures of the Romance World II: Modern to Post-Modern) with Dr. Jon Beasley-Murray integrates videos, podcasts, blogs, and openly licensed textbook.
PHAR 203 (Genetics for the Pharmaceutical Sciences) & PHAR 304 (Techniques in Molecular Biology and Pharmacology Theory and Laboratory) with Dr. Alexander Smith uses free software, manuals, notebooks, virtual textbooks, and other online tools.
POLI 260 & POLI 360 with Dr. Arjun Chowdhury uses fully accessible online readings, with a focus on important texts in the field that students can access for free.
ECON 317 with Dr. David Green uses openly available or self-written course materials.
CONS 200 with Dr. Fernanda Tomaselli has long involved students in an open pedagogy project where they create and publish OER related to conservation.
POLI 375 & POLI 464 with Dr. Peter Dauvergne creates a cost-free learning environment by using free materials and activities and selecting useful, thought-provoking readings.
MES 300 with Dr. Pheroze Unwalla accessible readings that give students a broad overview of the field and expose them to different perspectives and debates.
COMM 205 with Dr. Zorana Svedic uses a free open-source textbook, which reduces financial barriers and keeps the course materials accessible.
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