UTArlington’s History Department policies dictate $0 materials cost for core courses. With no available OERs for Science and Technology in American Society, the presenter designed a course pedagogy centering on student creation of an OER (supported by a THECB OER Geer Grant) integrating the impact of science/technology on the development of American society, economics, and politics within the traditional historical narrative. The semester-long project allows for more intensive focus on key course learning objectives which include understanding the civic, ethical, and social responsibility of scientists/engineers in conducting research/implementing new technologies and understanding how science and technology have been significant drivers in the development of American society. Most enrolled students are engineering majors; therefore, the project approximates typical team organization processes used in industry with several “research and development” phases. Since Pressbooks allows for a wide range of interactive artifacts (including H5P) beyond simple text, experiential learning librarians work with students to create unique content. For example, the “Apollo Program” group is producing a short documentary utilizing NASA materials. The “frozen foods” group will use the library’s kitchen to record a session comparing cooking a meal “from scratch” with preparing a TV dinner as part of their analysis of how food technology impacted family/gender dynamics. Each semester students will choose new topics to add to the OER. Through this mechanism, OER creation becomes an organic, well-integrated component of the course utilizing experiential learning to develop marketable skills while teaching invaluable lessons in ethics, civics, and the impact of science on society.
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