By Theodore Szpakowski and Kelly Smolik, Contributing Writers
This month, Musselman Library is celebrating Textbook Affordability Week for the second time. A display in the library from Monday, Feb. 19 to Friday, Feb. 23 will allow students and other community members a chance to write cards to instructors that are making a difference, which the library will send. In addition, the library has highlighted three instructors and a department for special appreciation this year.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Tasha Gownaris has been selected for the OER All-Star Award based on her open pedagogy work and on the Ecology for All! project. Open pedagogy is a way of teaching that invites students to create reusable resources rather than writing solely for a grade. This approach may create and use open educational resources (OERs) which includes any educational resources that are freely licensed or available online. For example, open pedagogy may include students writing textbook chapters or tweaking previous, renewable OER materials.
The Ecology for All! project has been a multi-year collaboration involving students and professors at Gettysburg College, Franklin and Marshall College and the University of Pittsburgh. The textbook is designed to be modular, allowing for use in a variety of ecology courses.
“Buying textbooks was a struggle for me as a student, and I am so appreciative of the OER team at Gettysburg College and their efforts to reduce financial barriers to learning (and to support faculty in doing so),” Gownaris said. “Implementing OERs in my classes has also helped me to make them more adaptable, representative, and student-centered and has provided opportunities for me to engage students in projects relating to science communication and inclusive education.”
Gownaris is joined by Associate Professor of Sociology Alecea Standlee as the Student Advocate Superstar. Her dedication to textbook affordability is one part of her dedication to student belonging.
“Access to higher education is one of the most transformative experiences in our world for individuals and societies. Not just the ability to attend college either, but real meaningful and equitable access,” Standlee said. “I never want a student in my class to feel unprepared because they can’t access the material, to feel as if they belong here even a tiny bit less than any other student. They ALL belong here, and in my classroom, I would do everything I can to make that clear, and OER texts help me with that goal.”
Standlee was chosen because her advocacy for students has made a significant difference in her department. She was one of the earliest instructors to adopt an open textbook, beginning in Fall 2018. Since she began her advocacy at Gettysburg College, the Sociology department has saved students over $70,000 using open textbooks and other zero cost materials.
The final superlative instructor is Assistant Professor of Public Policy Christopher Rick. Rick is new to Gettysburg this fall and has already made a significant impact by teaching all of his courses with zero-cost materials. Across his five sections, 55 students have saved an estimated $5,500. For this reason, he is being recognized as the Notable Newcomer.
Like Standlee, Rick’s focus on textbook affordability comes from a desire for students to feel included.
“We think telling students to get a used textbook is doing them a favor. It might give them the words on the page, but students notice who has a scarlet-letter-esque ‘used’ sticker on the binding and who doesn’t,” he explained.
The library is also honoring the Department of Computer Science as Longstanding Luminaries. They have been teaching CS 103 with a zero-cost website built by students in 2002, which has been in use (with regular updates) since. The project was begun, in part, to address a novel consideration in the field: the internet. Vice President of Information Technology and former chair of the computer science department Rod Tosten described the project: “This was the first time some people were using a browser, and the early days of trying to address the digital divide.”
Since the library began tracking courses in Fall 2013, CS 103 has saved students an estimated $77,200. Across the entire department, 1060 students have saved over $100,000 dollars.
To honor these professors or any others, students and community members can stop by the display on the main level of Musselman Library to send a card.
