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Open Educational Resources (OER)

OER Grant

McMaster OER Grants logoThe McMaster Open Educational Resources (OER) Grant Program provides funding and staff support to McMaster instructors interested in adopting, adapting or creating OER for their courses. The Program also offers an honorarium for the peer review of an existing open textbook.

The OER Grant Program is generously funded through the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic), McMaster University Library, the Health Sciences Library, and the MacPherson Institute.

The program supports the use of OER to benefit teaching and learning by enhancing equal access to and discoverability of learning resources and contributing to student cost savings.

The McMaster OER Grant Program aims to:

  • Increase access to, and maximize use of, open textbooks and other OER for students, instructors, and the McMaster community 

  • Reduce the cost of textbooks and other course materials for students

  • Encourage the exploration of new teaching approaches using OER and the development of course materials that are both customizable and support course learning outcomes

For information about the different grants offered as part of the McMaster OER Grant Program, see the Grant Types page in the Documents area below.

Please send questions about the OER Grant Program to oer@mcmaster.ca.

Documents

GRANT TYPES

The Call for Proposals for 2024/25 offer three levels of OER Grants and an Honorarium, as follows:

  • Adoption Grant (up to $1,000 each) - Identify and adopt an existing open textbook or other open educational resource. This would involve aligning your course learning outcomes, content, teaching methodologies, etc., to the new resource. Adoptions may require small changes to the textbook such as modifications due to accessibility requirements, minor text changes, or appending content.
  • Adaptation Grant* (up to $2,500 each) - Identify and adapt or customize an existing open textbook or other open educational resource. This may include, but is not limited to, creating a Canadian or localized edition of an existing open textbook, adding content and/or creating ancillary materials e.g. test banks, slide decks, videos, interactive media, etc. for an existing resource.
  • Creation Grant (up to $7,500 each) - Create or develop a new open textbook or other open educational resource. This should cover a topic or subject area that is not currently included in an existing open textbook or other open educational resource.
  • Peer Review Honorarium ($250) - Complete a formal or verified peer-review of an existing, unreviewed open textbook.

*For more information about adapting an existing open textbook, see Reasons to Adapt an Open Textbook by Lauri M. Aesoph. See also the eCampusOntario Adapt an OER webpage.

Expectations of grant recipients are described on the Application Process page.

Please send questions about the OER Grant Program to oer@mcmaster.ca

APPLICATION FORM

Please read all of the information about the Grant Program in the OER Grant (McMaster) Research Guide before starting your application

The application form for 2024-2025 has closed.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Important Dates for 2024/25

  • Applications open: Monday, April 8, 2024

  • Application deadline: Friday, May 31, 2024 by 11:59 pm 

  • Notification date of applicant status: Monday, June 17, 2024

  • Grant recipients announced: Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Important Documents

OER Grant Application form (Now closed)

Planning document

Final Report document

REQUIREMENTS

Eligibility

Any instructor of a McMaster credit course is eligible to apply, including instructional teams, instructional assistants, and staff in educational roles. Sessional instructors, teaching assistants, and students are eligible as co-applicants if at least one member of the team is employed by the university for the duration of the grant.

Eligible grant projects must: 

  • Apply to upcoming courses or programs taught at McMaster University

  • Use existing open educational resources or create new open educational resources

  • Incorporate a plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the resource in the classroom

Applications are particularly encouraged for large undergraduate courses, courses with high-cost traditional textbooks, and new or emerging disciplines or subjects.

Applications will be reviewed by members of the McMaster OER Committee, including members from the MacPherson Institute, the University Libraries, McMaster University Continuing Education, and faculty and student representatives.

Applicants are eligible to apply more than once, to more than one category. However, Applicants may receive only one award from the Creation, Adaptation and Adoption categories in any given year.

Individual grants are for one year only.

Expectations of Grant Recipients

For Adoption, Adaptation or Creation:

  • Meet with the OER Committee co-chairs to complete a project plan with agreed-upon timelines and deliverables*

  • Commit to use the resource in a McMaster credit course specified in the application form

  • Ensure the resource meets with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) standards**

  • Submit a final report, including a final budget, after completion of the project*

  • Agree to share their project plans with the McMaster community through a minimum of one session held during Open Access Week, Open Education Week, May Teaching and Learning Month or the MacPherson Institute's annual Innovations in Education Conference (IEC)

*See the Planning document to help create your project plan.

**See information on Accessible Publishing for instructors. Contact Library Accessibility Services for assistance.

***See the Final Report document.

For Adaptation or Creation:

In addition to the expectations listed above,

For Peer Review Honorarium:

  • Submit and permit the open publication of the review for a textbook, in the corresponding collection, prior to June 30, 2025.

  • If suitable, add the reviewed textbook to the OER by Discipline Guide: McMaster University

  • Consider adopting the reviewed textbook as a course resource.

  • Note: A submission of a final report is not required.

 

Please send questions about the OER Grant Program to oer@mcmaster.ca

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND PROCESS

Evaluation Criteria

The following criteria will be considered during the evaluation process:

  • Number of learners served (as measured by class size and/or number of sections)

  • Potential impact on cost savings to students 

  • Potential for the reuse of the OER in subsequent terms or other credit courses to be offered at McMaster and at other institutions

  • Evidence of need for OER on this topic (for Adaptation or Creation)

  • Feasible goals and timelines

  • Feasible budget

  • Plan for measuring learners’ experience with the OER*

  • Plan for measuring project success* 

  • Plan for regular review (and revision, if Adapting or Creating)*

  • Inclusion of content map/plan (for Creation)

  • Outline of proposed plan (for Adoption)

  • Outline of proposed plan/changes or additions (for Adaptation)

  • Evidence of teaching experience or courses taught in the subject of the textbook the applicant has applied to review (for Peer Review Honorarium)

*Draft plans may be submitted upon application with the understanding that successful applicants will meet with the OER Committee co-chairs to complete agreed-upon timelines and deliverables. See the Application Process and Support and FAQ pages for more details.


Evaluation Process

Please read all of the information about the Grant Program included in the OER Grant (McMaster) LibGuide before starting your application.

Applications will be evaluated by members of the McMaster OER Committee, which includes members from the University Libraries, the MacPherson Institute, McMaster University Continuing Education, and faculty and student representatives

 

Please send questions about the OER Grant Program to oer@mcmaster.ca

SUPPORT AND FAQ

Support

The MacPherson Institute and the University Libraries are building a service to assist instructors to adopt, adapt or create open textbooks or other open educational resources for use in their courses. The grant will give instructors support through collaboration and/or consultation with staff in the MacPherson Institute and the University Libraries.

OER Grant Drop-in Sessions:

Learn more about the OER Grant Program at a virtual information session happening during MacPherson's May Teaching and Learning Month (dates TBD).

Discover how the Ontario Open Library, Pressbooks and H5P can help YOU - with eCampusOntario (recording)

Stephen Wilfread, Ontario Open Library Coordinator from eCampusOntario provided a brief overview of Open Educational Resources, and the eCampusOntario Open Library. Together we discussed the work that the eCampusOntario Open Library is doing, including the eCampusOntario H5P Studio and the eCampusOntario Pressbooks Instance. Watch the recording to find out how the supports eCampusOntario have built offer educators and learners opportunities to enhance their tech-enhanced learning in a flexible, easy-to-use ways.

 

Creating Interactive Content with H5P (video recording)

Interested in learning how to use H5P to create an OER for your course? Watch this video recording to learn about the H5P Studio, the content types available and the thousands of examples available for you to explore and use. Register for an account to the H5P Studio by going to the eCampusOntario H5P Studio website. Click on "Register" in the top right, and sign up for a free account with your mcmaster.ca email https://h5pstudio.ecampusontario.ca/

More Information

For additional questions about the McMaster OER Grant program or to request a consultation regarding your application, project or peer review, please contact Joanne Kehoe, Lead Educational Developer, Digital Pedagogies at oer@mcmaster.ca.

See the Planning document to help create your project plan.

See the Final Report document.

Please read all of the information about the Grant Program included in the OER Grant (McMaster) LibGuide before starting your application.

 

FAQ

Where can I find open textbooks to adopt, adapt or review?

There are many OER collections or repositories available to find open textbooks and other open educational resources for coursework. These collections or repositories normally contain a combination of peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed titles. If an open textbook has already been reviewed, the review(s) will appear with the record for the textbook.

OER collections or repositories, including those listed below, may be found on the OER Collections page.

 

Where can I find information about adopting, adapting, or creating open textbooks?

Several OER Faculty toolkits are available to get you started on your open textbook project. These resources, including those listed below, may be found in the McMaster OER LibGuide: OER & Faculty.

 

Where can I find calls for the peer review of open textbooks?

In addition to searching for open textbooks in collections or repositories such as those listed in the McMaster OER LibGuide: Collections, some organizations release a call for reviews. The Collections page of the OER Research Guide will be updated as calls for the peer review of open textbooks are announced.

The Rebus Community maintains a Contributor Marketplace forum where you can post or reply to calls for contributors, peer reviewers, editors, etc. for open textbook projects.

 

Please send questions about the OER Grant Program to oer@mcmaster.ca.

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