While there is an abundance of Open Educational Resource (OER) textbooks for the General Chemistry I lecture course (CHEM 1311) developed by OpenStax, Lumen Learning, and the Open Learning Initiative, a lack of OER manuals for General Chemistry I laboratory course (CHEM 1111) currently exists. Only three OER CHEM 1111 materials are currently available. Moreover, the existing OER CHEM 1111 lab manuals are not thorough in scope or content, and do not align with the widely used OER OpenStax Chemistry textbook, nor with the Student Learning Outcomes of the Chemistry department at Houston Community College (HCC).
Up until 2022, the HCC Chemistry Department has not adopted a CHEM 1111 OER and/or other free laboratory materials. Instead, it depends on a program-approved publisher’s laboratory manual that costs $28.55 per book. Additionally, every semester, the department and its students have to deal with printing errors, delays, and backorder issues as well as confusion for students as to where to acquire their manual (the HCC Bookstores or the publisher). The material is also copy-written so no modifications are possible.
Therefore, the goal of our project is to develop, redesign and implement a new Texas-compatible Open Educational Resource (OER) lab manual for General Chemistry Laboratory Course (CHEM 1111). The General Chemistry I Laboratory will comply with the Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM) set by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) standards for an OER course. By authoring our own laboratory manual, based on core curriculum requirements and the ACGM Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) as well our hands on experience in the lab and understanding of how students learn, what challenges they face most, and how they apply what they have learned in theory to the practicum, our objectives are to (1). create a high quality OER lab manual, (2). reduce student cost, and (3). improve student success and retention rates.
This proposed OER lab manual will be available via a Creative Commons license, easily accessible for download before the term begins on the Canvas Commons for faculty, who may also make modifications if necessary. This will make the lab manual available to students from the first day of the course and avoid any backlogs or obstacles to their acquiring it. Ultimately, our goal will be to create a manual that can be utilized in a variety of settings, regardless of limitations that may exist while still preserving the academic rigor and meaningfulness of the lab activity.
By attending this session, attendees will be able to:- Evaluate existing OER materials for General Chemistry Laboratory
- Develop new OER resources as needed
- Implement newly developed OER materials in participating programs and institutions
- Involve student, faculty, and department in the assessment of the newly developed OER
- Evaluate student retention and success in courses using OER
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