MOM comes to save students from rising textbook costs - Jessica Kuang October 4, 2018
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MOM comes to save students from rising
textbook costs
Jessica Kuang
October 4, 2018Sabbatical Proposal
Jessica Kuang
10/04/2018
1. Background and Statement of Purpose: “Despite growing online markets for discounted
books, the average cost of college textbooks has risen four times faster than the rate of
inflation over the past 10 years. That has caused 65 percent of students to skip buying
required texts at some point in their college career because of a lack of affordability.”
(Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-behind-the-soaring-cost-of-college-
textbooks/).
In mathematics, instructors often require online homework platforms like MyMathLab
their classes. MyMathLab costs $140 per student. In Fall 2018, 28 sections required
MyMathLab, so the cost and potential saving for students is more than $150,000 per
semester.
An alternative for MyMathLab is MyOpenMath (MOM) which is an open education
resource (OER) and is completely free*. For the past 2.5 years, I have been working on
converting Statistics, Elementary Algebra, College Algebra and Trigonometry to OER
courses with online homework supported by MOM in my free time. Collectively, I have
helped to provide $162,400 saving to our students during the past 2.5 years (see table at
the end).
* Other OER Online Homework system like Lumen Learning’s OHM or WebWork either require fee for the
technical service or host local server for group adoption.
However, due to time restraints, those early versions of OER courses are somewhat limited
in the question collection and ancillary contents. During my sabbatical, my goal is to work
with Bret Black, Lilia Ruvalcaba and other colleagues to create template courses for
Elementary and Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, Trigonometry, and PreCalculus
packaged with OER Textbooks, online Homework or paper homework using MOM as the
algorithmic question bank, and other ancillary contents which are comparable to
MyMathLab. In addition, I will also develop a self-paced Basic Math and PreAlgebra review
course for returning students, so they can be better prepared for the credit classes.
In particularly, I will focus on expanding our current question library and on compiling OER
videos. I will also explore the Mastery Path function within Canvas and find solutions to
support and accelerate students in the AB705 co-requisite classes.
The project will continue for many years after my sabbatical. During the sabbatical year, I
will work primarily with Bret Black and Lilia Ruvalcaba. After the sabbatical year, I will
2focus on training other faculty members and help them adopt and adapt the template
courses. I will also continue to expand the question library and will provide constant
technical support to the department.
2. Rationale
a. Professional Development: As part of the project, I will survey and study the existing
OER resources, e.g., OER videos and OER simulators. The experience will help me become a
better instructor. I will collaborate with faculty within my department, faculty from other
California Community College campuses, as well as faculty from other states. This
experience will expand my professional horizons.
b. Value to Department: Faculty from the department will have the chance to co-develop a
homework question library which accommodates their own teaching styles. Adjuncts hired
at the last minute will be able to take advantage of ready-to-go templates.
c. Value to College or District: The templates we develop will be shared with Ventura and
Moorpark colleges.
d. Value to Students: Students will have access to high quality educational resources at no
cost. student-centered course designs tailored for local students will increase success and
degree completion.
e. Value to Community: This work will support AB 705 and help students to accelerate
through the college transfer math sequence. I will use the prerequisite and mastery path
functions from Canvas to assign extra review assignments to students who require more
remediate work. Use of OER and MOM emphasizes equity - all students have equal access
to the instructional materials regardless of the socioeconomic background
(https://www.cccoer.org/webinar/nov-15-how-oer-can-support-student-equity-and-
diversity/).
3. Implementation
a. Implementation Procedure: In Fall 2019, I will start working on Math 15 (Elementary
and Intermediate Algebra) with Bret Black. My goal is to have at least 25% of the template
done before the Fall semester starts.
During Fall 2019, I will finish the first version of Math 15 template course. Bret Black will
test the template and provide feedback. Bugs will be fixed for the online homework, more
resources will be added to the template.
3Bret and Lilia will provide improvement suggestions on the early version of Math 115
(College Algebra) and Math 116 (Trigonometry). More online questions will be coded and
help videos will be identified and embedded with the questions. Other ancillary resources
will be identified and added to the template.
During Spring 2019, all templates will be fine-tuned and finalized for general adoption.
More bugs will be fixed, and more ancillary resources will be added to the
template. Training workshop will be provided to faculty and faculty from other colleges
can be included.
I will also explore the Mastery Path function within Canvas and use adaptive learning to
accelerate students in the co-requisite classes.
b. Projected Results: Zero text cost for the students including access to the online
homework.
c. Dissemination Plan: During Spring 2019, I will start offering MOM professional
development workshops and help faculty adopt and adapt the new templates to their own
teaching styles, including non-technical, printed versions (using MOM as the algorithmic
question bank). After the sabbatical, I will continue to provide technical support and to
improve and update the templates.
d. Project Timeline:
August-September: Finish the first version of math 15 template
October-December: Revise current Math 115/116 template - code more questions and
embed more videos
January/February: Revise Math 15 template and add AB 705 algebra review to Math
115
March/April: Explore Mastery Path function within Canvas, help students to accelerate
in the AB 705 co-requisite class.
May: Plan training workshops.
4. Past Contributions to the District
Member of Distance Education Committee 2014-Present
Member of District-wide Distance Education Advisory Committee, Spring/Fall 2017 and Fall
2018
Member of ASCCC Open Education Resources Taskforce, Spring 2017-Present
Past Chair of Distance Education Committee, Fall 2016-Fall 2017
Past Member of Professional Development Committee, 2014-2016
4Provided $162,400 saving for Oxnard College Students from Spring 2016 to Fall 2018 (see
table below)
5. Length of Service: 7 years full-time
Past Sabbaticals Awarded: None
6. Additional Support Document (Past saving for students)
Term Faculty Courses (# of Sections) Saving for
Students*
Spring 2016 Jessica Kuang Math 105 – Statistics (1) $5,600
Fall 2016 Jessica Kuang Math 105 – Statistics (3) $16,800
Spring 2017 Jessica Kuang Math 105 – Statistics (2) $11,200
Fall 2017 Jessica Kuang Math 105 – Statistics (5) $39,200
Bret Black** Math 11 – Elementary Algebra
(2)
Spring 2018 Jessica Kuang Math 105 – Statistics (3) $39,200
Bret Black Math 11 – Elementary Algebra
Lilia (3)
Ruvalcaba Math 116 – Trigonometry (1)
Summer Lilia Math 116 – Trigonometry (1) $5,600
2018 Ruvalcaba
5Fall 2018 Jessica Kuang Math 105 – Statistics (3) $44,800
Bret Black Math 11 – Elementary Algebra
Lilia (2)
Ruvalcaba Math 115 – College Algebra (3)
Total: $162,400
* Assume 40 students per section and $140 per student.
** I created or compiled early versions of MOM courses for Bret and Lilia and provided them
technical support.
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