Involvement of C-SAP in the Open Educational Resources ProgrammeAnna Gruszczynska, C-SAP

UKOER projects• a critical social science perspective on the processes of sharing

digital educational resources, as well as related challenges.• “Evaluating the Practice of Opening up Resources for Learning

and Teaching in the Social Sciences” • “Discovering Collections of Social Science Open Educational

Resources” • “Cascading Social Science Open Educational Resources”

Pilot phase project• 6 academic partners: sociology (2), politics (2), anthropology

(1) and criminology (1)• Each partner contributed approximately 60 credits or

equivalent of teaching material• Materials were deposited into JORUMOpen and MERLOT (US-

based educational repository) for sharing

C-SAP OER pilot project overview (2)

Rationale

• Within the context of HE academic practice, most teaching resources are produced at individual level• The ways in which resources

are used in a teaching context are often unrecorded (relying on tacit understanding)• To re-use material effectively,

such tacit understandings might have to be revealed and made open

Aims• Explore processes,

challenges, assumptions about sharing and re-use• Examine the taken-for-

granted, tacit assumptions behind teachers’ selection of topics, issues, pedagogic approaches etc.• Encourage longer term

release of open resources

Pilot project outputsProject toolkit: guidance and mapping

framework for OER creation Case studies: reflections on the process of “opening up” teaching

materials

Collections project• Key objective: to improve the discoverability of OER materials

to support research methods teaching• Exploration of ways in which teaching staff search and use

methods resources through survey of practices and expert workshop

• Development of research methods website offering high-quality, vetted resources

Key Findings

• Trust key issue – people prefer in-house or resources from known universities (or publishers)• Own data sets preferred for teaching methods• Licensing not seen as an issue within academic

institutions• Disciplinary origin of resources less relevant than using

examples that connect to students• Most participants not keen to submit OERs• Google considered more effective for finding resources7

Overview of methods website

Cascade project• Three HEI partners: • Welsh Federal College• University Centre at Blackburn College• Teesside University

• Emphasis on the broader context (cultural/institutional) in which OERs are created and (re)used and any resulting issues and/or tensions • Cascade framework: Model of release, discovery and

reuse of OERs which can be “cascaded”, that is, taken up and incorporated into new contexts

Cascade toolsSet of tools which will allow academics to reflect upon their own practice and examine conditions in which their teaching resources can be used/reused and shared• Existing OER resources to support OER

release• Influences from the pilot phase• Reflexive tasks• Student engagement• Web2.0 tools

Cascade project: OER release

Questions? Comments?