{"id":1727,"date":"2021-04-21T09:30:43","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T16:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=1727"},"modified":"2025-09-26T13:02:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T20:02:51","slug":"oer-biological-environmental-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-biological-environmental-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"OER at Work: Open textbook is ‘a much more interactive resource’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Editor’s note: <\/strong>This story was originally published on the Oregon State University Division of Educational Ventures news site<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n

Faculty at Oregon State University are leading the efforts to put affordable learning first.<\/p>\n

To make this a reality, an increasing number of faculty members are adopting, adapting and authoring freely available online course materials with the support of the\u00a0OSU Open Educational Resources Unit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Take John Selker, for example. A distinguished professor in Oregon State\u2019s Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering, Selker and an international colleague are tapping into the wealth of open educational resources through OSU Libraries.<\/p>\n

Selker recently answered questions about the process, benefits and challenges of implementing OER in his course.<\/p>\n

Tell us a little about your course that uses OER.<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt is a long-standing (29 years) graduate class, BEE 542 \u2013 Vadose Zone Transport. It is a math-heavy, advanced course on water and solute transport through soils.\u201d<\/p>\n

What kind of OER are you using?<\/h2>\n

\u201cWe use the OSU Libraries-based e-book that I am developing with Dani Or<\/a> (of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, a public research university), and we use 80 brief, embedded videos that support the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why did you choose to use this resource?<\/h2>\n

\u201cThis saves the students about $80 per person in buying the book previously used in the class. It also provides for a much more interactive resource, where we can share screens in real time and compare thoughts on the material.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Headshot

John Selker’s work and research centers on hydrology.<\/p><\/div>\n

What was your process for adopting an OER for your course?<\/h2>\n

\u201cDeclare a pandemic, scramble to buy an iPad, and try to present students with the most compelling possible lectures in a synchronous format. The hard work put in to get the videos and text prepared over the past few years was essential.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do students think about the resources?<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe students loved the combination of live online lectures, which were recorded to allow repeat viewing, and the PDF notes from these lectures, all of which complemented the contents of the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

What surprised you about working with OER?<\/h2>\n

\u201cStudents learned more effectively in the online lecture format with the support of the OER materials than they had in the in-person class.\u201d<\/p>\n

What challenges did you face in bringing OER into your course?<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe book has experienced many difficulties due to the changing Pressbooks platform. We are currently moving it to Overleaf with the hope that it will eventually return to Pressbooks. But until there is solid, total-text indexing; numbering of figures, equations and tables; and proper table layout control, Pressbooks appears to be an unworkable solution for our product.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is the greatest strength of OER?<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe ability to provide diverse learning opportunities that meet each student at their needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

What advice would you give faculty about using OER in their courses?<\/h2>\n

\u201cShoot for a student experience that exceeds your normal impact specifically by leveraging the key advantages of online learning. Don\u2019t let go of the immediacy of the real-time student lecture experience, but take advantage of the fact that you can see everyone (require cameras on), that you can record lectures and notes, and that students can be engaged in assisting in the advancement of the materials.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Learn more about the OSU Open Educational Resources Unit and the support resources available to faculty.<\/em><\/p>\n

Explore OER services<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 3<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>John Selker is a distinguished professor in Oregon State\u2019s Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering. He and an international colleague are tapping into the wealth of open educational resources through OSU Libraries. Learn about the process, benefits and challenges of implementing OER in his course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6,9,13,702,3,670],"tags":[613,374,160,602,647],"class_list":["post-1727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-ecampus","category-faculty","category-oer","category-educational-ventures","category-features","category-division","tag-biological-and-ecological-engineering","tag-college-of-agricultural-sciences","tag-college-of-engineering","tag-oer-at-work","tag-oregon-state-open-educational-resources-unit"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/john-selker-video-grab.jpg?fit=744%2C419&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-rR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1867,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-commons-open-access\/","url_meta":{"origin":1727,"position":0},"title":"Finding a new, prominent home for Oregon State\u2019s OER","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"September 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon State University\u2019s expanding collection of open educational resources is now available in one of the world\u2019s largest OER repositories, giving users greater access to the university\u2019s no-cost course materials in a single location. 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Tuition costs are beyond the control of Oregon State University faculty members, but there is a proven way they can make student learning more affordable: by replacing expensive textbooks with free and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A person working on a laptop with a geographic map on the screen, alongside an open textbook titled \"Getting Organized.\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1671,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-environmental-politics-and-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1727,"position":2},"title":"OER at Work: Open textbook increases affordability, up-to-date information","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"January 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The ability to edit the open source text allows my colleague and I to provide updated information instantaneously. 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