A record number of McMaster University faculty and staff members are receiving grants to support projects that will foster the creation and integration of free, high-quality open textbooks and course materials to improve teaching and learning.
The McMaster Open Educational Resources (OER) Grant Program is supported by the Office of the Provost, McMaster University Library, McMaster Students Union, and the MacPherson Institute. It provides successful applicants with funding to create new OER or to adopt, adapt or customize existing OER. Many of these OER projects lead to significant cost savings for students. The program also offers an honorarium for instructors to peer review existing OER.
The 2024-25 grants will support 11 projects, the largest to date for the program.
The following faculty members, and their corresponding projects, will be supported as they build and integrate OER into their teaching in the coming year:
- Mark Busser, manager, Careers & Experiential Education, Faculty of Social Sciences; Cindy Schooley, career development advisor, Careers & Experiential Education, Faculty of Social Sciences
Creation: Careers in the Helping Professions
- Kojo Damptey, acting senior manager, McMaster Office of Community Engagement, and sessional instructor, African and Black Diaspora Studies
Creation: Black Epistemologies of Interlocking Solidarities for a Decolonial Hamilton
- Jim Avik Ghoshdastidar, assistant professor, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Faculty of Science; Rebecca Turner, instructional assistant, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Faculty of Science; Linda Davis, lab coordinator – level I, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Faculty of Science
Adaptation: Adaptation of Chemistry 2e (OpenStax) and Map: General Chemistry (LibreTexts)
- Jim Avik Ghoshdastidar, assistant professor, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Science, Faculty of Science; Rebecca Turner, instructional assistant, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Faculty of Science; Anthony Chibba, assistant professor, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Faculty of Science
Adoption: Adoption of Organic Chemistry: A Tenth Edition (OpenStax)
- Amy Keuhl, project officer, MERIT, Faculty of Health Sciences; Jonathan Sherbino, assistant dean, MERIT, Faculty of Health Sciences; Mark Lee, research manager, MERIT, Faculty of Health Sciences
Adaptation: The Library
- Yasmeen Mezil, assistant professor, Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences; Bruce Wainman, professor and director, Education Program in Anatomy, Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences
Creation: McMaster University Anatomy Lab Manual
- Andrew Mitchell, Assistant Professor, School of the Arts, Faculty of Humanities
Creation: Listening to Western Music (c. 1750 – present)
- Alice O’Carroll, director, Science Career and Cooperative Education, Faculty of Science; Tara Zabella, program manager, Career Development, Science Career and Cooperative Education, Faculty of Science; Bri Denicola, career education coordinator, Science Career and Cooperative Education, Faculty of Science
Adaptation: Science Career Guidebook
- Elli Papangelakis, assistant professor, School of Earth, Environment & Society, Faculty of Science
Creation: Exploring the Earth’s Surface: Geomorphology lab bank
- Sam Scott, associate professor, Computing and Software, Faculty of Engineering
Creation: Full Stack Web Development for Beginners
- Erica Speakman, assistant professor, Social Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences
Creation: Exploring Social Psychological Theory
To learn more about the McMaster OER Grant Program and the McMaster OER Committee, visit the program’s website, LibGuide or email oer@mcmaster.ca.
