Interview with an OER Faculty Fellow

Professor Anna Matthews participated in the Spring 2017 Faculty Fellows Program, in conjunction with the recent statewide initiative to develop and encourage use of Open Educational Resources (OER) across both CUNY and SUNY. We interviewed Professor Matthews in order to get feedback on the Program, and also to hear about her experience using OER in the classroom.
Would you describe the OER you created?
DEN 2315 (Oral Pharmacology) OER is a collection of resources for study and research of pharmacology offered by educational, professional, and governmental organizations. There are also links to many helpful YouTube videos that I reviewed for accuracy in presenting the information. In addition, I created and shared several illustrations, which I hope are helpful. The site is organized in several parts: ‘topics,’ ‘study,’ ‘research,’ ‘learn more,’ and ‘helpful resources.’
How did the students react to the OER materials?
The site is open to all students – those who take DEN 2315 with me and other students in our program (who take the course in the Fall semester). I have heard some positive responses from the students in our Summer session as well as the other sections who visited the OER. They said that it was well organized and that the additional resources listed on the site were helpful.
How can the site be used? Is it available for anyone to access?
Yes – membership for this OER is not required, the site is open.
What were some of the challenges or obstacles in creating your OER?
One of the challenges in working with this OER is not related to the site itself, but rather is due to the fast-changing nature of the subject. Pharmacology is a study of drugs and their effects on the human body and in our DH course particular emphasis is placed on the drugs and their therapeutic and adverse effects on the oral cavity. Staying current about new and emergent diseases and therapies is vital to providing safe patient care. As I intend to be using the OER in the upcoming Summer session 2018, I have been and will continue to review the information for accuracy and provide periodic updates.
Will you continue to integrate OER materials into your teaching?
Going forward, I will continue to review, update, and use the OER in my Summer sessions and will share the information with all students in our program. I appreciate the opportunity to have participated in the OER Fellowship in Spring 2017. This experience was definitely beneficial to me as an educator, but it also helped me as a researcher and writer by providing the invaluable knowledge on the open resources, authorship rights, Creative Commons licensing and appropriate citations, and especially permissions to re-use media (videos, images) in creative works.
Want to learn more? If you’re interested in OER at CityTech or the Faculty Fellows Program, feel free to reach out to Prof. Cailean Cooney (Chair of the Library’s OER Committee), at ccooney@citytech.cuny.edu