Open Education in the Psychology Department and Classroom

Open education is a philosophy about the way that educators create, reconstruct, and share knowledge. Specific aspects of open education, such as open science, open textbooks, and open teaching practices are increasingly popular in higher education. For example, in the last decade, faculty in British Columbia have saved students about 23 million U.S. Dollars in textbook fees. Even so, a number of concerns and skepticism serve as obstacles to more widespread adoption of open education; especially regarding open resources.

In this presentation, two open education advocates describe their experiences with open education as it relates to psychology. First, Farhad Dastur, former Associate Dean and Department Head at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Canada) discusses systemic issues related to openness. These include the culture of the psychology department and evaluations of the quality of open resources. Farhad provides practical suggestions for opening a department.

Next, Robert Biswas-Diener, the editor of Noba, describes his experiences creating open resources, highlighting both the benefits and problems of doing so. He also describes the wide range of reactions he has received from the hundreds of instructors who have adopted Noba resources.

Presenters: Farhad Dastur, Kwantlen Polytechnic University; Robert Biswas-Diener, Noba Project