[FUN_Mail] Last Call: FFF this Friday - Open Educational Resources!

[Amy Jo Stavnezer]

Hello FUN friends,

Would you like to find more cost-effective (or free!) textbooks for your students?

Join us this Friday, October 27th, at 4 pm<https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMudOytrD0jGNd3s6lAccL7-DiUjGEy-WOY> (ET) when Dr. Liz Kirby tells us about Developing an open access textbook resource for behavioral neuroscience: Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience 1e.

Textbooks support and guide learning in numerous college-level science courses. Though faculty typically create the content of science textbooks, the books are primarily produced and sold by for-profit publishers. The high costs of commercial textbooks are gaining increased attention as a major barrier to academic success and equity. The emergence of open educational resources offers a way to reduce financial barriers to academic success by providing educational materials free of charge, to anyone who wishes to learn from them. In this talk, I will discuss the ongoing creation of an open-access, online textbook to accompany a typical Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience course for entry-level college students. The primary goal of this project is to create a viable replacement for costly textbooks in a foundational course in neuroscience. A secondary goal is to prioritize increasing representation of diversity in neuroscience educational materials, including in the authors who contribute chapters and in the images of humans accompanying the text. I will discuss our community-based model of textbook creation, funding, publishing/production and plans for launch in 2024. Access to faculty-created (and faculty-assigned) scientific knowledge should not require surmounting a pay-wall. It is our expectation that easier access to better neuroscience resources, like the one I will describe, will contribute to lowering the costs for students who are pursuing education in neuroscience, as well as greater student enthusiasm for neuroscience.

Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMudOytrD0jGNd3s6lAccL7-DiUjGEy-WOY

Looking forward to seeing you this Friday!
Amy Jo, Shannon, Barbara, and David


Amy Jo Stavnezer
Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology<https://amyjostavnezer.voices.wooster.edu/>
College of Wooster
Member, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience<https://www.funfaculty.org/>
Editorial Board, Journal for Undergraduate Neuroscience Education <http://www.funjournal.org/>

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