General Information
The West Valley College Faculty OER (Open Educational Resources) and ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) Fund Program is an initiative created to promote student equity by introducing high-quality and zero-cost alternatives to commercial instructional learning materials. The OER and ZTC Fund Program will allow for financial compensation to faculty interested in creating OER and ZTC resources.
Purpose
The purpose of these funds is to provide faculty leads with up to a 15-hour stipend to develop a school specific plan to expand zero textbooks cost (ZTC) and open education resources (OER) in high impact courses and pathways.
Details
Faculty leads (1-2) in their school will work with Librarian Jasmine Colon, and be provided student financial need data and current ZTC courses by divisions. Leads will:
- Attend an orientation meeting (1 hour)
- Engage in division planning and resource gathering (up to 13 hours)
- Present findings by end of Spring 2022 semester (1 hour)
- Develop plans outlining benchmarks, resources, and tangible outcomes for Fall 2022 for at least two sections in the school represented to moving to a ZTC designation
- Examine the division’s relationship to the Library’s TnT (formerly Books for Food) Program
A second round of funding will be based on this work. Divisions will be able to develop proposals to create and/or adopt ZTC OER materials for specific classes
Apply
Full-time instructors need to complete an application as the ZTC division lead. Work towards this project will begin February 2022 for 15-hour stipend focusing on high impact courses. Goal is to implement in Fall 2023 semester.
Spring/Summer 2020
| Department (Course) | Instructor Name | Description | Project Cost | Student Savings Per Semester |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art (Art Appreciation) | Arnold, Kathy | Created video slideshows to replace publisher's PowerPoint content, eliminating students from having to purchase textbook. | $4,700 | $81 (textbook) x 40 students = $3,240 |
| Art (Modern Art) | Reiss, Cynthia Napoli Abella | Created OER textbook to help students understand contemporary art by using exhibits from the 2019 Venice Biennale. | $10,650 | $100 (textbook) x 20 students = $2,000 (Possible additional savings if used in other art history or general education classes) |
| Computer Science (Intro to Python) | Lam, An | Created interactive learning materials to replace the existing text book. | $8,630 |
$156 (textbook) x 20 students x 2 sections per semester = $6,240 |
| English (Multiple courses) | Michals, Nils | Created curated OER web page with access to databases, textbooks, subject-specific and class-specific content. | $1,520 | 5 classes, with 126 students, used OERs in 2020/21. Total savings for students = $4,730 |
| Kinesiology (Pilates) | Weber, Heidi | Created video content and a YouTube channel demonstrating “how to teach” Pilates exercises | $3,840 | $300 (DVDs or online subscription & fee to observe classes) x 20 students = $6,000 |
| Math (Intermediate Algebra, Pre-Calculus, Statistics) | Plunkett, Laura | Created videos and trained math faculty to use open-sourcematerials. Developed supplements to support core OER materials. | $1,300 | 11 math sections x 30 students per section x $100 (text and online homework) = $33,000 |
Fall 2020-Spring/Fall 2021
| Department (Course) | Instructor Name | Description | Project Cost | Student Savings Per Academic Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture (Landscape Design) | Eddy, Thomas | Developed website with data on plant species studied in classes to replace the outdated textbook. | $8,257 | $250 textbook and instructional materials x 15 students per section x 2 class sections per year = $7,500 |
| Art (Studio Art & Art History) | Arnold, Kathy | Produced slideshows with images and text instead of a textbook. | $8,790 | $99 textbook x 40 students per section x 2 class sections per year = $7,920 |
| Art (19th Century European Art) | Reiss, Cynthia Napoli Abella | Created OER textbook to give students access to 19th century art and show its connection to contemporary art. | $11,943 | $149 textbook x 35 students per section x 9 class sections per year = $46,935 |
| Biology | Thomson, Barry | Built adaptive learning quizzes as study tools for Intro to Biology lecure sessions. | $4,190 | $65 textbook x 45 students per section x 5 sections per year = $14,625 |
| Child Studies | Francis, Michelle | Produced modules with assignments, PowerPoint slides, podcasts and videos in place of a textbook. | $8,646 | $100 textbook x 40 students x 7 class sections per year = $28,000 |
| Computer Science (C++ and Java programming classes) | Lam, An | Replaced text books with interactive materials. Deliverables included animated PowerPoint slides, links to online interactive quizzes, practical coding examples and links to other free online books and websites. |
$13,351 (both classes) |
C++: $185 textbook x 40 students x 3 sections per year = $22,200; Java: $153 textbook X 40 students x 3 sections per year = $18,360. Total savings = $40,560. |
| Continuing Education/ESL & Civics | Sadasivan, Lathika | Formed lesson summaries including agendas, activities, quizzes, slides and videos. | $7,410 | $50 textbook x 75 students x 6 sections per year = $22,500 |
| Kinesiology (Pilates) | Weber, Heidi | Created four 10-minute videos with a specific Pilates teaching focus for her YouTube channel. | $8,368 | $300 (DVDs or online subscription & observation fee for drop-in classes) x 20 students x 2 sections per year = $12,000 |
| Math ((Applied Calculus, Differential Equations, Elementary Algebra and Statistics, Math for Liberal Arts Students,Trigonometry) | Plunkett, Laura; Chen, Serkuang; Chin, Brad; Gonzalez, Jesus; Hiller, Rebecca; Vu, Amy ; Yarahmadi, Fatemeh | Collaborative effort to make more Math Dept courses OER or ZTC. | $21,613 | Based on number of courses and students per each section = $35,000 & $140,000 |
| Physics | Shahram, Mahmoud (Moe) |
Generated course materials, including PowerPoint slides, lecture videos, animations/simulations and project assignments related to course topics. |
$7,660 | $150 - $300 textbook x 32 students x 2 sections per year = $9,600 - $19,200 |