Increasing Equity in STEM and Career Technical Education With Open Educational Resources
With the cost of college steadily increasing, many students struggle to afford the materials necessary for success in their courses. River Parishes Community College faculty Dr. Esperanza Zenon is tackling this issue by using and promoting open education resources (OER). This presentation will focus on using OER in STEM and career and technical courses to promote equity and reduce costs for students. Resources, tools, and processes used to evaluate, adopt, and adapt the OER materials used in STEM and CTE courses will be discussed.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Access OER resources that can be used in STEM and CTE courses.
2. Identify at least two resources that can be used in your course.
3. Connect the use of OER resources to increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Dr. Esperanza Zenon is an Associate Professor of Physical Science at River Parishes Community College (RPCC). She is the current Division Coordinator for Math and Natural Sciences at RPCC. She serves as the Chair of the RPCC EESTEM II Grant Project Committee, which engages in action research that improves teaching and learning in RPCC’s STEM and technical classes. She is also a member of the RPCC Online Course Review Committee, which establishes standards and practices for all online classes at RPCC. Dr. Zenon is very passionate about STEM equity and serves on the Executive, Membership, and Strategic Planning Committees for the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE), a consortium of state and local agencies, corporations, and national organizations which work to build educators’ capacity to implement effective solutions for increasing student access, educational equity, and workforce diversity. Dr. Zenon has a Master of Arts degree in Physics from Wayne State University, and a Ph.D. in Science/Mathematics Education from Southern University.
Please Note:
Only those attending the LIVE webinar will receive a certificate of attendance. Thank you!
Very useful. Thank you for the information.
I have three granddaughters. The oldest has her heart set on being a mechanical engineer. She faces many challenges before she can achieve her dream. Equity is STEM is a topic that is very close to my heart.
Everyone should have equal access to an affordable education.
Thank you for addressing this issue.
Dr. Vicki D. Vandervelde – Business Division
As both a student and an instructor, I am keenly aware of the costs of textbooks. I have seen how the price of a textbook alone can keep students out of the classroom and any time we can help to lessen or alleviate those costs for students I am in favor of it. I greatly appreciate the connection this video made between the cost of textbooks and the success or failure of students in their courses of study. I had not thought of just how much and how directly textbook costs affect so many aspects of student success.
Thank you for your wonderful coverage of this topic and your review of available open resources.
As both a student and an instructor, I am keenly aware of the costs of textbooks. I have seen how the price of a textbook alone can keep students out of the classroom and any time we can help to lessen or alleviate those costs for students I am in favor of it. I greatly appreciate the connection this video made between the cost of textbooks and the success or failure of students in their courses of study. I had not thought of just how much and how directly textbook costs affect so many aspects of student success.
Thank you for your wonderful coverage of this topic and your review of available open resources.
-Miriam Holtzclaw, Business Division
Lisa Palmer
Augusta Technical College
Great webinar with practical advice for accessing a vast variety of OER materials including textbooks, simulations, and other classroom materials.
I like the way this professor takes the initiative to find and create content for his classes. For instance, Apps On Physics. Sean Joiner-Business
Good advice for finding OER materials. Thank you for the information.
Patrick McCormack, Business Division
Augusta Technical College
Very useful information. I have daughters and this will potentially be good for them
The material provided on OER was informative. The Saylor Academy resources look very interesting.
Kevin Ward
Thank you for sharing all of these great resources.
Leah Bryant, Business Division
Excellent presentation of available resources. As I work with students, the cost of textbooks and supplies often weigh heavy on students. Many students because of past education or performance and not eligible for funding, but helping with the cost factor of books certainly helps with equity for the students. Giving all students the same opportunity to learn and to not have to go without a textbook in a course, which can significantly impact their ability to complete the course satisfactorily. I look forward to looking at the resources and hope our faculty/deans will consider some of the options shared. Amy Laughter, Academic Counselor, Augusta Technical College
This presented many free options available to students and instructors. Although online materials are cheaper, most students still prefer a written format. I recommend all the instructors view some of these open resources. This instructor also recommends some of the ones that he has used and illustrates some great examples. Physical texts have definitely become very expensive.
Kim McCord