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Introduction
Open Education Resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed learning materials that can be adapted or re-used depending on instructor requirements. They increase the affordability of education for students and provide greater flexibility for instructors.
The programs offer through the library came out of the recommendations of the Open and Affordable Course Materials Working Group with support from the Provost's Advisory Committee on Teaching and Learning to provide funding to facilitate the creation or adaptation of open educational resources at Queen's.
Resources
OER @ Queen's University
A showcase of previously funded projects
Open Educational Resources Guide
Learn more about OERs.
Call for Proposals
Every year, the Queen's University Library releases a call for proposals to fund the development of OERs.
These grants are designed to support the creation or adaptation of the primary educational resource for a course of study at Queen’s University such as textbooks, audio or video-based resources, interactive simulations, or instructional websites.
Course design and other ancillary materials (syllabi, test banks, assignments, slide decks, etc.) are not eligible. If you are unsure whether your project meets these criteria, please contact the Library.
Grants are available for either:
- Creating a new Open Education Resource
or; - Adapting an existing Open Education Resource
for use in or support of an upcoming course or program at Queen's University. Funding for these projects is provided by Queen’s University Library.
Eligibility
Applications are welcome from all faculty at Queen’s University and are particularly encouraged for large undergraduate courses, courses with high-cost traditional textbooks, and new or emerging disciplines or subjects.
Grant funds must be used according to the Memorandum of Understanding with the library. Please review these terms before submitting a proposal.
How to Apply
The 2024 call for proposals has been completed. The next call will happen in the Winter of 2025.
Requirements for Successful Grant Recipients
Successful grant recipients will be required to:
- Work with Open Education Resources project staff (including the library and other units on campus) to plan and sustain your new resource, including a timeline of deliverables and an impact assessment plan.
- Integrate your new resource in an upcoming Queen’s course or program.
- Share your new resource under an appropriate Creative Commons License (the recommended license is Creative Commons CC BY 4.0) so that others can easily create a new iteration of it and/or simply re-use it as-is, while always giving appropriate attribution to the copyright owner.
- Publicize your work by providing project updates and participating in related events.
In-kind Supports
These supports are offered by the library and are available for all projects:
- Locating additional existing, open license resources
- Explaining copyright and Creative Commons licensing, sourcing copyright permissions and conducting copyright reviews of materials included in funded OERs
- Navigating the Pressbooks open publishing platform
- Supporting metadata creation, repository deposit, ISBNs, and DOIs
OER Success Stories at Queen's
Open Educational Resources at Queen's save students a total of approximately $630,000 per year, according to estimates by their authors.
The recipients of funding (issued by the Open and Affordable Course Materials Working Group, supported by the Provost's Advisory Committee on Teaching and Learning), shared these additional benefits of creating new open textbooks:
Faculty Perspective
From an instructor standpoint, it is very helpful to be able to create a custom textbook with the flexibility of being able to choose, revise, and edit content to meet course needs. I have been so inspired by connecting with other instructors who are also using open textbooks internationally - there are many exceptional scholars working on open content, and the rigor of available materials is continually increasing.
- Dr. Meghan Norris, creator of an open textbook for PSYC100: Principles of Psychology
Open Education Resources has created a space for teaching and learning in the spirit of the public good, removing paywalls to create common access to pedagogical spaces.
- Dr. Theodore Christou, creator of an open textbook for Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education
One of the benefits of creating the open text is enhancing student learning: In the classroom, our textbook will enable us to move beyond simple content delivery and use valuable instructional time to address more subtle and complex topics, often in a small group setting.
- Dr. Peter MacPherson, creator of an open QPeds Pediatrics textbook
This also created an experiential learning opportunity: The $7,500 grant I received towards creating my new textbook has given me the opportunity to hire two students that have previously taken the course with me so that I may benefit from their insights and develop a text that better supports the active-learning elements of my course.
- Dr. Ryan Martin, creator of an open textbook for Introductory Physics: Building Models to Describe Our World
The ultimate goal is to create a dynamic, living, open-access ‘textbook’ as a primary educational resource for qualitative health research courses at Queen’s University – a comprehensive source of key materials and training resources for students entering this research domain, and one which will be dynamic, mutable, and responsive to new developments and innovations in this rapidly changing arena.
- Dr. Bradley Stoner and Dr. Colleen Davison, creators of an Open Education Resource for Qualitative Health Research at Queen’s University
Benefits include addressing a gap in the textbook market: Psychology undergraduate programs are some of the most popular undergraduate degree programs, yet some students report not immediately seeing ways in which their training can translate to the workforce (Borden & Rajecki, 2000).
- Dr. Meghan Norris, creator of an open textbook for PSYC204: Applications and Careers in the Psychological Sciences
Student Perspective
With textbooks being as expensive as they are, the costs pile up even more. Though most everyone feels the strain of this cost, it affects some more than others, which means that education is not as inclusive as it should be. Grants provided by Queen's enable textbooks to be created and distributed online at a low cost.
- Olivia Woodman
I think that creating more open access resources gives students a unique opportunity for professors and students to collaborate and clarify course concepts from different perspectives. Not only do OER’s create resources while training students, but they allow former students to actually make an impact in the course for future students.
- Emma Neary