Have Your Cake and Eat It Too -Tips for Finding Diverse, High-Quality, Affordable Course Material

Abstract

Indiana University Bloomington undergraduate students are estimated to pay $1,034 on course materials each academic year. Data suggests that students will forgo purchasing expensive course materials, even when they know it will impact their engagement in the classroom. Thus, in addition to impacting individual students, course material costs can impact IU instructors and entire IU classrooms. This session will describe the range of course material options available to science instructors at IU, including affordable eTexts, open educational resources, and even library-licensed content. In addition to helping instructors understand the differences between these options, the session will cover strategies and repositories for finding affordable, quality course materials. Instructors will also learn about tools for creating (or having students create) customized course materials. Participants will have an opportunity to work one-on-one with an expert to locate materials for their specific course. Registration is required as lunch is provided. The STEM Tech2Teach program is a collaboration between the IU Libraries' Science Department and the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning to expand the use of learning technologies in STEM classes at IUB.