UCSB Library is committed to open research and teaching and supports faculty in using open educational resources (OERs) to create learning experiences with fewer technical, financial, and copyright deterrents. In celebration of Open Education Week 2025 (March 3-7), UCSB Library is highlighting a UCSB professor who has incorporated OERs into her courses.
The Library's Open And Affordable Course Materials Committee interviewed Alexandra Phillips, an Assistant Teaching Professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. Her teaching and research concentrate on environmental communications to students, scientists, policymakers, and the public. Below is what she shared about her experience using OERs and other affordable resources in her courses.
In which classes do you use OERs?
As an environmental communication professor, I integrate open-access resources in every class I teach! This quarter, I am teaching a course on public speaking for scientists, and each week, we take advantage of the incredible wealth of videos available on YouTube to critique scientific talks. Last quarter, in my writing class, we read open access articles across the Los Angeles Times, academic journals, blog posts, policy reports, and more. Occasionally, an article may be behind a paywall, but I can simply use the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to provide an open resource.
How did you decide to use these free and open resources?
Open access is part of my teaching philosophy, so I am very cognizant to always choose open materials for my courses. It sometimes takes me longer to identify them, but there is always a way to make readings free and available, and accessible for students. I’m careful to also publish all of my work as an open access resource itself, with links to my slides and assignments on my website for other instructors to use freely.
Did the OERs replace another costly textbook?
There aren’t as many options for me for textbooks in communication courses like there may be in an intro chemistry or biology class, so I’m not sure they are a direct replacement.
How have students reacted to your use of free OERs?
Students have enjoyed reading materials that are being published right now instead of a textbook that may be a bit behind the times. Using open access materials allows me to be more responsive to the moment during the class - for example, listening to podcast episodes and reading articles on the recent LA wildfires.
What would you say to other instructors considering using open educational resources for teaching at UCSB?
Although it feels like there are a lot of barriers to providing OERs in education, the library and university offer many great resources to navigate the extra difficulty! I often will email my librarian and ask for their help locating an open access version of the text I want to use or finding alternatives for my students. They often connect me to new resources I didn’t even know I had access to.
Interested in learning more about how you can adopt OERs into your course curricula? View UCSB Library’s Open Education Resources Research Guide for help to find, adopt, evaluate, or publish materials for your next course, or contact your liaison librarian.
