MOHAVE COUNTY – Dr. Andra Goldberg, Mohave Community College’s Computer Information Systems faculty member was chosen to present at The Adult Higher Education Alliance 45th Annual Conference Friday, March 12.
The Adult Higher Education Alliance purpose is to help institutions of higher education develop and sustain learning environments and programs for suitable adults.
Dr. Goldberg’s presentation, “Not Buy the Book! The Challenges and Rewards of Achieving Course Outcomes with Open Educational Resources (OER) Materials” is about her experience developing free and low-cost course materials for college courses. Open Educational Resources are free or low-cost course materials for classes.
“I’m honored to present at the Adult Higher Education Alliance annual conference because of this important issue of how to help students save textbook costs,” Dr. Goldberg said.
Dr. Goldberg added that it’s an honor to represent MCC at this conference and sharing the success we have had in developing and implementing OER course materials for our students.
Dr. Goldberg’s research found that in a nationwide survey, 53% of students reported either not purchasing or renting required materials for a course on at least one occasion, and of those 45% said they did because they couldn’t afford course materials.
She said providing free resources for students to use in class helped them complete their degree in a shorter time. This also provides faculty more control over the content of their classes and to adapt quickly to changes.
In Computer Information Systems courses, six courses were converted to an OER format including CIS 110: Intro to CIS by the CIS faculty. Dr. Goldberg said the books for the class were costing students over $200 and now it costs them zero dollars. The faculty collaborated together to implement the materials to sections of the course or the entire course.
To find out more about MCC’s CIS program, visit Mohave.edu/CIS.
