Affordable Course Content Awards

Project: Update a recently remixed open textbook

Class: Foundations of Business (BUSN201)

Project Team: Manika Avasthi

Key Features

• Builds on an OER recently created specifically for the VCU Foundations of Business class by remixing three other existing open resources
• The OER includes standard introduction to business materials as well as a section on professionalism (e.g. email etiquette and interviewing)
• Working to update content, data, and examples to ensure they are current

Project Updates

• Original remix used beginning in Summer 2020
• Gathered student feedback to incorporate during update to ensure maximum impact of resource
• Professor no longer teaching course and this iteration no longer in use; resource being adapted for new course professor

Read more about Prof. Avasthi's experiences creating OER as a part of our Why We Choose Open: OER Stories blog series:

View the OER:

License: Foundations of Business by Manika Avasthi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Current VCU Impact Level: 250 Students (reached Spring 2021) and $10,000 in student savings (reached Spring 2021). In use for 1 semester.

Project: Author an open textbook

Class: Health Psychology (PSYC412)

Project Team: Natalie Dautovich

Key Features

• No existing resources exist which cover all of VCU's health psychology course. This resource will fill that gap.
• Plans to include interactive content
• Plans to align with examples from the Richmond community and potentially link to community engagement as a part of the class

Project Updates

• Outlining content and textbook structure
• Working with graduate students to begin authoring content

Current VCU Impact Level: 100 Students (reached Spring 2023) and $25,000 in student savings (reached Spring 2023). In use for 1 semester.

Project: Author an open textbook

Class: Data Science I and II (HGEN611 and 612)

Project Team: Dana Lapato and Timothy York

Key Features

• Builds on existing resources teaching R programming
• Will incorporate content on research/data ethics and reproducibility, which is mostly lacking in the OER space
• Using the Bookdown platform
• Includes practical examples which students can use to test functions in R

Project Updates

• Working on authoring content
• Awarded a 2021 Affordable Course Content Awards sustain grant to support honorariums for peer review by students and faculty and compensate students for content contributions.
• Testing in classes beginning in Fall 2021

View the OER:

Current VCU Impact Level:  100 Students (reached Spring 2024). In use for 5+ semesters.

Project: Customize an open textbook

Class: Nutrition (BIOL217)

Project Team: Jill Reid

Key Features

• Customize an exisiting OER on Human Nutrition 
• Adding media and interactive self-assessments
• Will work with students to add nutritional examples relevant to the VCU community

Project Updates

• Identified existing OER to use
• Imported into local Pressbooks instance and adjusted for VCU classes
• Beginning using in class starting in Fall 2021

View the OER:

Current VCU Impact Level: 1,000 Students (reached Spring 2023) and $100,000 in student savings (reached Spring 2023). In use for 5+ semesters.