The Living Textbook: Open Education Resources for Engagement, Equity and Inclusion

Session Description

The GEN 101 OER (Open Education Resources) project was a study created to address the needs of nontraditional college students at an online institution whose chances are often limited by systematic inequalities, including social, income, racial, ethnic, gender, and ability (Bowl, 2001). This study explored equity through access as part of a corrective process of fairness for marginalized and minoritized populations by reducing gaps in opportunity and achievement through targeted efforts to impact student success.

The GEN 101 OER Project incorporated public and faculty-created OER into an entry-level GEN 101 college skills course to create a “living textbook” as a learning strategy to engage students and foster feelings of belonging and inclusion with a diverse representation of materials.

This study aimed to understand the impact on students, the study examined the retention data of students and survey data. Next, GEN 101 faculty and students were surveyed about their experiences using OER materials.

In this session, attendees will learn the outcomes of our study and how they can apply our findings to their own college courses and programs.

Presenter(s)

Dr. Teresa Leary Handy
University of Arizona Global Campus
Chandler, AZ, USA

Assistant Professor Teresa Leary Handy, Ed.D., is the Program Chair for GEN 101 at the University of Arizona Global Campus. Dr. Handy is the former Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, where she directed and managed the diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic initiatives for the 175-year-old independent school. She is a published children’s book author of a book that helps preschoolers understand diversity. Dr. Handy has earned a DEI certificate from the University of South Florida (USF). Dr. Handy has published in peer-reviewed academic journals and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Research on Leadership Education.

 

Jennifer Dunn
University of Arizona Global Campus
USA

Jennifer Dunn, MFA, serves as English Associate Faculty and Curriculum Writing Consultant for the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of General Studies at UAGC. She has taught as a first-year college English instructor and developed curricula at community colleges, universities, and writing centers for fifteen years.