This post was contributed by Adronisha Frazier.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines include various programming needs across institutional levels. In high school settings, STEM programs are designed to encourage critical thinking and interest in STEM careers. At postsecondary institutions, STEM disciplines allow students to earn credentials to enter different career sectors. However, some STEM educators are transforming how they perceive their discipline by incorporating innovative practices into their work. Instructional materials (i.e., textbooks, lab manuals, and other ancillary materials) allow educators to diversify their teaching style. Implementing OERs further emboldens educators to incorporate different resources in their classes. However, as innovation spurs positive feedback, challenges and barriers can exist to impede implementation. 

Challenges to Adopting OERs

As a biology educator, I have encountered challenges and barriers to implementing existing OERs. Some of these scenarios are described below. 

Textbook Quality

I continuously review textbooks based on the quality features I want my students to utilize during their learning. I want to ensure that my students always receive quality content through textbooks, lab manuals, ancillary materials, and our institutional learning management system (LMS). When searching for OER materials, numerous repositories narrow down the search outcomes. For instance, many repositories provide a search bar and features to narrow results by subject matter and grade level. However, using repositories to find relevant and quality resources may seem time-consuming for some faculty members. Figuring out the materials that work best for your students is integral. In many searches, multiple OERs conveyed the information in a way that worked for my needs. In that case, I merged the resources with the proper attributions before sharing the final product with students. However, finding quality OER textbooks is a concern for some faculty as they have consistently used traditional textbook vendors in their classes. Therefore, quality should be an early discussion point during textbook development for OER developers.

Images and Figures

Biology concepts are grueling for some students to visualize, especially when working with introductory biology content that requires students to think about these concepts at a microscopic level. Some biology concepts are difficult because underrepresented students do not see themselves as scientists or understand their positionality in science classrooms. Many traditional and OER textbooks are not inclusive or representative of a diverse student population. It would be advisable for publishers to integrate diverse perspectives into the content by discussing contributions by past and present scientists. Outside of biology but within the STEM discipline, OERs are addressing social justice issues as an integral part of the content, such as Statistics Through an Equity Lens. 

Additionally, educators search for textbooks and ancillary materials that include refined and easy-to-interpret images and figures. As students learn more about theoretical and abstract course content, teaching with images and figures allows students to visualize the movement of molecules or how processes work at a cellular level. Some traditional textbooks provide a detailed account of biological models. Therefore, OER textbooks and lab manuals must convey biological images and models to avoid oversimplification and inaccuracies.

Updated Content

STEM fields are constantly evolving. The world has experienced a massive shift in science and technology in the last five years as technology tools and resources increased in production during and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The scholarly literature has grown with citations. Therefore, it is reasonable for educators to select cutting-edge instructional materials and frequently update them to reflect the changing world around us.

Barriers to Adopting OERs

Implementing OERs requires interest and support from numerous stakeholders, such as students, faculty, and administrators. Faculty autonomy is impacted by factors beyond their control, such as various forms of support and inclusive access agreements.

Faculty, Administrative, and Institutional Support

Faculty members typically collaborate to share their interest in textbook options with their department chairs. Ideally, the department chairs approve the textbook selection and communicate this information to the appropriate administrator. After all approvals, the textbook selection will appear in an online registration portal for students. However, something to consider is what happens when there is a roadblock at one of these junctions: faculty-to-faculty agreement about the textbook, department chair approval, acceptance by the textbook librarian, or confirmation from the academic dean. These issues could limit faculty implementation before it begins.

Inclusive Access Models

Inclusive access models can be a positive feature for textbook access or harm OER adoption. Inclusive access models can vary based on the organizing body, such as a textbook vendor, traditional textbook publisher, or an institution. Sometimes, inclusive access and OERs are conflated, but there are distinctions between the two. Both provide students with first-day access to their course materials. The differences emerge when discussing the proprietary or copyright rules for the materials presented through the inclusive access provider. It is also important to note the Creative Commons Licensing for OERs because they range from lax to more restrictive. Nonetheless, most faculty are not the final decision-makers about the textbook model implemented at their institution.

Please comment below if you feel something was missed or would like to continue this conversation.

About the Author

Hi. My name is Adronisha Frazier. I am formerly an Assistant Professor of Biology and the Natural Sciences Department Chair at Northshore Technical Community College. I am currently a postdoctoral associate at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I am one of the co-contributing editors for the OER & Beyond Blog. Follow this link for more information about me: Contributing Editor Introduction – Adronisha Frazier.

This post is by Adronisha Frazier and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, except where otherwise indicated. Please reference OER and Beyond and use this URL when attributing this work; for more information on licensing, see our Open Access Policy.