Knox faculty members are leading an innovative push toward educational affordability for students at Knox and around the world through an Open Educational Resources (OER) grant funded by the Illinois State Library. Titled “Making the Liberal Arts Affordable and Innovative: OER Across the Curriculum,” this initiative is designed to develop five open educational resources that will impact Knox students across various disciplines. OERs are teaching and learning materials that are freely available for use and reuse. These resources typically come with Creative Commons licenses, which permit free distribution, remixing, and adaptation by other campuses worldwide.
Project leader and director of Seymour Library Anne Thomason explained that by reducing barriers to textbooks, the project offers an accessible alternative. “The high cost of textbooks can be prohibitive,” she added. “This project will both make course materials more affordable and improve learning outcomes for students.”
The project also supports the College’s dedication to fostering critical thinking and interdisciplinary learning in a supportive environment. This ties directly to Knox’s commitment to increasing access to all qualified students of varied backgrounds, races, and conditions, regardless of financial means. A unique aspect of this project is its participatory approach—students will contribute to the creation and editing of OER texts, fostering deeper intellectual engagement with faculty and the learning experience.
Key faculty members involved in this initiative include: Andy Civettini, political science; Danielle Fatkin, history; Ole Forsberg, mathematics; Mathew Jones-Rhoades, biology; Mark Slabodnick, biology; and Judy Thorn, biology. Their collaborative efforts will bring tailored OER materials that best meet the specific needs of the Knox curriculum, going beyond what is commercially available.
To support faculty in this endeavor, Knox contracted an instructional designer and an accessibility specialist from the University of Chicago. These experts led workshops focused on the effective use of OER, universal design practices, and ensuring that digital resources are accessible to all students, and demonstrating how such resources can enhance teaching methods.
This initiative is expected to have a lasting impact on Knox’s academic culture. “Open educational resources aid with values important to a Knox education,” Thomason added. “They improve equity and access to material by reducing costs, improving academic outcomes in terms of completion and grades, and encouraging pedagogical innovation as OER allows faculty to customize and adapt materials.”