Course Awards
2018
Brancaleon has replaced the former, $210 primary textbook for his sections of PHY 1943 with the free Introductory Physics from OpenStax. OpenStax, a nonprofit affiliated with Rice University, works directly with faculty subject matter experts and funders like the Hewlett Foundation to create peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks that are free for students.
More from Brancaleon:
“OER have the potential to make STEM learning not just more affordable but also less intimidating. Several faculty in our department have already tried OER for their classes, and we are establishing a group to lead the effort in the adoption of OER in introductory physics classes that reach 700+ students each semester. In addition, we would also be very interested in leading the way to develop content for OER in upper division courses as well. If an increasing group of faculty in our department collect enough evidence that OER are as effective-if not more effective-than traditional textbooks, we can tremendously impact STEM disciplines. My plan is to expand the current OER available with recordings of conceptual topics and problem-solving activities.”