Texas A&M University's Department of Mathematics (MATH) received a university-level Enhancing the Design of Gateway Experiences (EDGE) grant to support departmental work seeking to increase student success rates in two large-enrollment, introductory-level, gateway courses. Grant recipients are working collaboratively with other University units to strategize, develop, and implement evidence-based teaching and curriculum redesign strategies in the identified courses to help improve success rates while increasing rigor and expectations to better attain the traditionally high academic standards. This project is aligned and directly supports Texas A&M’s Student Success Initiative (https://provost.tamu.edu/Initiatives/Student-Success).
As an initial step in their EDGE grant work, the faculty conducted a systematic textbook review to evaluate which textbook they would use as part of each course’s redesign process. It did not take the faculty long to determine none of the publisher-issued textbooks met the textbook selection criteria. This catalyzed the group’s decision to author their own OERs, one for each of the two large-enrollment, introductory-level, gateway math courses. The MATH’s OER project represented a partnership of a small group of dedicated and skilled academic professional track faculty, the Center for Teaching Excellence, Texas A&M Libraries, and Disability Resources, where each partner had specific roles.
Having just completed the EDGE grant’s year one, presenters will provide an overview of the process the MATH faculty group used to create their OERs, focusing on the discovery, curation, and implementation of OERs to making both MATH courses more engaging and inclusive by opening free access to high-quality learning materials. Presenters will also discuss their research plan for assessing the OERs’ impact on students’ attitudes and perceptions about learning math. The first OER, Mathematics for Business and Social Sciences is available through the Texas A&M repository (https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/188687).
Learning Outcomes: Participants will be able to… 1. Describe how Texas A&M organizations partnered and supported a team of Mathematics faculty in authoring two OERs.
2. Identify specific strategies and lessons learned regarding faculty support in authoring new OERs.
3. Describe how the project directly supports Texas A&M’s Student Success Initiative.
Director, Office of Scholarly Communications, Texas A&M University
Dr. Bruce Herbert is Professor of Geology and currently serves as the Director of the Office of Scholarly Communications in the Sterling C. Evans library At Texas A&M. As Director of OSC, Dr. Herbert is responsible for strengthening the Library’s efforts in scholarly communications... Read More →
Dr. Samantha “Sam” Shields currently works as an Instructional Consultant in Texas A&M University’s Center for Teaching Excellence, where her main role is facilitating the Program (Re)Design process with programs interested in taking a deep dive into their existing curriculum... Read More →
