2022 Open Education Initiative Grants

AMHERST, Mass.—Four UMass Amherst instructors received funding to adopt, adapt, and create open educational resources (OER). OER are teaching materials released with an open license, which allows for their free revision and redistribution with attribution to the creator of the original work. Thanks to generous funding from the Provost’s office, this year’s recipients of the 2022 Open Education Initiative (OEI) grants represent a broad range of disciplines across campus.

• Heath Hatch, Senior Lecturer, Department of Physics, for the adaptation of the OpenStax College Physics textbook and integrating homework problems that have been created over several years into the text. The project which will impact nearly 1,000 students this fall.
• Jacqueline Castledine, Department Chair and Senior Lecturer, University Without Walls Interdisciplinary Studies, for the creation of a textbook to transform the core curriculum of UWW’s Interdisciplinary Studies program to better suit nontraditional, low-income, or first generation students.
• Meghan Armstrong-Abrami, Associate Professor & Graduate Program Director, Spanish & Portuguese Studies, for the creation of a supplementary resource that reflects the Spanish spoken in the Commonwealth and surrounding areas, targeted specifically for heritage speakers of Spanish in the region. 
• Seda Şalap-Ayça, Lecturer, Department of Geosciences, for the creation of accessible and open-source learning modules for students across multiple geoscience classes. Students will be involved in the development of the modules, developing project skills in GIS and programming. 

“The aim of the Open Education Initiative is to encourage alternatives to high-cost textbooks by supporting the creation, adaptation, and adoption of open education resources,” says Dr. Nandita Mani, Dean of Libraries. “We know from the data that lowering the cost this way for students contributes to student success, retention, and graduation rates.” 

“Things are changing in higher education, and faculty are looking for ways to engage students in effective ways. OER offer an opportunity to address some of the major issues we’re facing: rising costs, diversity, equity & inclusion, and burnout among both students and faculty,” says Theresa Dooley, Open Education Librarian. “This year’s winners have demonstrated their commitment to addressing these challenges.” 

Now in its thirteenth cycle, the Open Education Initiative has generated a total savings of more than $2.5 million for students in UMass Amherst classes that utilize either OER or existing Library materials. The Libraries partner with the Provost’s Office, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), and the Instructional Design, Engagement, & Support (IDEAS) group to support these efforts.

For further information, please contact Theresa Dooley, Open Education Librarian, at tdooley@umass.edu.