In 2021 CO-DREAM OER, a multi-institutional project received a $2-million grant from the US Department of Education to develop 9 OER textbooks on robotics, mechatronics, and advanced manufacturing, three subjects that are key to the future of research and workforce training in modern industry. The project is now reaching fruition and will release one textbook each semester from fall 2024 to fall 2026. This presentation showcases the innovative textbooks, which help readers understand complex concepts through a mixture of readings, videos, and interactive simulations. It also discusses the project’s approach of improving the textbooks through trial implementations, where faculty are offered stipends to use them in exchange for conducting student surveys and giving feedback on the works. Results of the feedback are used to update the textbooks. The presentation engages its audience to promote the textbooks, which are designed for 2-year associates, 4-year bachelor’s and graduate courses.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Understand the purpose of the project and the important gaps in OER that it seeks to fill with its textbooks.
- Gain a comprehensive understanding of the textbooks produced by the project, and the types of institutions, courses, and programs they are designed for.
- Explore the innovative features that the textbooks contain, along with the pedagogical principles they are based on and how these can be used to train the next generation of researchers and workers in the manufacturing industry.
- Discover the formats that the textbooks are available in (Ex. Online e-modules, PDF and downloadable interactive materials that can to be used offline, print on demand) and where they and other potential users can access the books.
- Learn the educational research component behind the textbooks, how it seeks to improve the works through trial implementations, and how the audience can take part in prompting and using the textbooks.
