Improving Access to Health Education: Reducing Textbook Costs with Open Educational Resources 2018-2019

This project will support Springfield Technical Community College Library's Open Educational Resources OER Initiative. Qualified faculty members will be awarded a stipend to convert their current course curriculum materials textbooks, assignments, quizzes, etc. to freely available OER or library materials. The project seeks to demonstrate that the availability of free, high-quality resources can make a significant impact on the accessibility of health sciences education at STCC, as measured by course pass rates and major retention rates, particularly for students of color and low-income students.By redesigning health sciences courses and prerequisites around free resources that are openly licensed and/or available through the STCC Library and the National Library of Medicine, more students will be able to afford to complete these degrees.

Project Details

Organization Name

Springfield Technical Community College Library

Organization Type
Academic institution
Community college
Project Lead

Chelsea Contrada

Location
Massachusetts
Start Date
May 1, 2018
End Date
April 30, 2019
Funding Amount
$7000
Demographics
Educator, K-12
Researcher
Student, College & Post-grad