Faculty Interview Courtney Hillebrecht-UNL

Brad Severa Author

10/06/2022 Added

5 Plays

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Courtney Hillebrecht OER Seed Grant interview

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[00:00:04.260]I decided to use OER because I had been teaching
[00:00:07.250]this course for almost a decade and was finding
[00:00:10.270]that the extra expense for students for the textbooks
[00:00:12.600]was becoming prohibitive, and I also didn't even
[00:00:15.250]like the textbook that I had been using that much.
[00:00:17.490]So when I started working with the WHT students,
[00:00:20.173]this was really an opportunity to rethink the whole class.
[00:00:27.578]Yeah so the conversion process was somewhat daunting
[00:00:30.920]but I had the help of a really fantastic graduate student
[00:00:34.010]and really we started from scratch.
[00:00:36.160]So we took our learning objectives and we took
[00:00:38.310]the materials that we knew, the content that we knew
[00:00:41.085]we wanted the students to learn, and we worked from there.
[00:00:44.660]So we curated materials from online textbooks
[00:00:48.240]but also from popular magazines, online videos,
[00:00:53.090]and put together modules that we wanted.
[00:00:55.470]And it was time consuming, but in the end
[00:00:57.570]I think it was really worth it.
[00:01:02.280]Yeah so students were actually just talking in my class
[00:01:04.240]today that they really appreciate not having
[00:01:05.940]to pay for the textbook, and that textbook costs
[00:01:08.670]really take a bite out of their budget.
[00:01:10.850]So, yes positive feedback on that.
[00:01:12.800]But more, I think, substantively students have expressed
[00:01:15.480]that they like the way that we're structuring the course
[00:01:17.550]by modules rather than chapters in a textbook.
[00:01:20.300]They like the quizzes, the introductory material
[00:01:22.590]that we're providing with each module, and that they're
[00:01:24.910]finding the readings and videos pretty engaging.
[00:01:30.940]Yeah so as I'm thinking about doing this class again
[00:01:33.574]there are a few things that I'd like to change.
[00:01:35.970]The first would be the core assignment that I had done
[00:01:38.450]in the fall, it didn't quite work as well as I had hoped.
[00:01:41.590]So I went back to the drawing books this semester
[00:01:43.880]and I think we'll re-tweak that again
[00:01:46.220]for the coming fall semester, that's one change.
[00:01:49.068]The other is in a couple of modules, I think we were maybe
[00:01:52.070]overly ambitious in terms of how much to assign the students
[00:01:55.150]so go back and trim some places and take some
[00:01:58.720]of those activities that we've developed
[00:02:00.320]and really highlight them throughout the semester.
[00:02:06.830]Yeah so, if you're thinking about converting to OER
[00:02:09.540]I think there are a couple of things.
[00:02:10.700]One is to be realistic about the time that it takes
[00:02:13.650]to convert the class, but also to factor in
[00:02:16.290]the time that you'll probably save, and the students
[00:02:18.980]will save and the money that they'll save,
[00:02:20.603]once you're fully up and running.
[00:02:22.990]Using a graduate student to help with this process
[00:02:25.720]was tremendously helpful, and it also provided
[00:02:28.170]a professional development opportunity for her.
[00:02:30.550]So in that sense, it wasn't as difficult
[00:02:32.560]as I had expected and turned out to be a triple win,
[00:02:35.530]a win for me, a win for my graduate
[00:02:37.090]student and a win for my students.
[00:02:43.056]So, I think when I started the process of converting
[00:02:45.930]the class to OER I was really thinking that it was just
[00:02:48.080]going to be about saving the students some money,
[00:02:51.370]but what surprised me was that it really provided
[00:02:53.160]an opportunity for me to reinvigorate my teaching
[00:02:55.630]in this course, and also to think
[00:02:57.990]about equity and inclusion and access
[00:03:00.240]once students are here at the university.
[00:03:02.720]And when I compare what we're doing now with the old
[00:03:05.570]textbook, the textbook was not very accessible
[00:03:07.680]for a wide range of our students, so I think
[00:03:10.140]what surprised me the most is the opportunities
[00:03:12.220]that this new approach has afforded to have
[00:03:14.310]more meaningful conversations and discussions
[00:03:16.400]with students that the textbook was limiting
[00:03:18.910]without me even really knowing it.
[00:03:26.330]Yeah so I think as I was saying, I think one of the benefits
[00:03:30.170]of OER is that we're really able to provide
[00:03:32.970]nimble course content, and so in teaching political science
[00:03:35.740]it changes all the time, and so a textbook is always
[00:03:38.690]outdated just by virtue of when it was published.
[00:03:41.560]So we're able to provide really up to date content
[00:03:43.580]for the students, and it's content that they find engaging
[00:03:46.038]and it's more accessible to a wide range of students.
[00:03:49.400]You know, our students are coming from all sorts
[00:03:51.700]of different backgrounds and experiences with the field,
[00:03:54.810]so this has been really, really important I think for them
[00:03:57.210]to really understand what international relations is about.
[00:04:05.210]Yeah so, I would say in terms of engagement and scores
[00:04:08.830]on weekly quizzes, they're far higher than I saw with
[00:04:12.470]the textbook version of our online quizzes, so that's good.
[00:04:15.660]I know that the students are doing the readings, they're
[00:04:17.350]watching the videos and they're taking the quizzes and
[00:04:19.570]doing well on them, which means that they're understanding.
[00:04:22.730]Essay grades and test grades have been pretty comparable
[00:04:25.910]with what we've done in the past, so in terms
[00:04:28.500]of student outcomes I think we're right
[00:04:30.950]on target if not surpassing them.
[00:04:37.090]So, I think part of the instructional challenge for me
[00:04:39.730]was just, and I'm still working on this, but using Canvas
[00:04:43.300]to its full advantage and really thanks to your team
[00:04:47.002]I've been learning a lot, but there's more for me
[00:04:49.690]to figure out with Canvas, and the students
[00:04:51.740]are clearly ahead of me on this.
[00:04:53.650]But I think that's the biggest instructional challenge
[00:04:55.510]is really leveraging all the resources
[00:04:57.680]we have through Canvas available.
[00:05:04.270]Yeah so I think the class is doing really well.
[00:05:06.630]I think they're really engaging in the material
[00:05:08.240]in a way that we hadn't seen before.
[00:05:10.617]Like I said earlier, they're meeting those course
[00:05:13.180]objectives but I think more importantly they're coming out
[00:05:16.300]with more interest and excitement in the topic.
[00:05:18.973]And we can do that through this nimble OER content
[00:05:22.050]in a way that we couldn't do through a traditional textbook.
[00:05:28.780]So I would definitely recommend participating
[00:05:31.350]in the OER and Kelly Grant cohorts,
[00:05:33.700]especially for any new classes.
[00:05:36.590]I won't go back, essentially, to traditional
[00:05:38.680]textbooks for my own new classes that I develop.
[00:05:41.080]And also if you're looking for a way to reinvigorate
[00:05:44.250]your teaching and to really incorporate those principles
[00:05:47.540]of diversity, equity and inclusion on campus
[00:05:50.760]I think this is a really great way to do so.

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Faculty Interview Courtney Hillebrecht-UNL

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