Improving Access to Health Education: Reducing Textbook Costs with Open Educational Resources 2018-2019

This project will support Springfield Technical Community College Library's Open Educational Resources OER Initiative. Qualified faculty members will be awarded a stipend to convert their current course curriculum materials textbooks, assignments, quizzes, etc. to freely available OER or library materials. The project seeks to demonstrate that the availability of free, high-quality resources can make a significant impact on the accessibility of health sciences education at STCC, as measured by course pass rates and major retention rates, particularly for students of color and low-income students.By redesigning health sciences courses and prerequisites around free resources that are openly licensed and/or available through the STCC Library and the National Library of Medicine, more students will be able to afford to complete these degrees.