Research Guides: Open Educational Resources and Zero Textbook Cost: Examples of OER Developed at Queens College

Examples of OER Developed at Queens College

Since 2018, the OER Initiative at Queens College has supported the development of zero-textbook-cost courses and openly licensed teaching and learning materials in over 30 academic departments. These materials have taken a variety of forms, from a simple syllabus using free or openly licensed resources, to full course sites, readers, or original textbooks. The samples below are just a few of the open educational resources archived in CUNY Academic Works and OpenEd CUNY. You are free to adopt or adapt these resources for your own classroom use, or find inspiration in them to develop something new!

Sample Projects

Writing About Literature
by Rachael Benavidez and Kimberley Garcia
A compendium of resources for instructors teaching Writing About Literature, part of the first year writing program. Sections include Academic Writing Strategies and Practices, Literary Analysis Strategies and Practices, Readings on Writing, Literary Texts, and Research and Engaging Sources. See how Rachael Benavidez selectively includes materials from this reader in her section of English 130, "Writing about Literature in Global Contexts."
An Introduction to Archival Practice
by Caitlin Colban-Waldron
LBSCI 730: Archival Appraisal, Arrangement, and Access is the first course in the core sequence for the Advanced Certificate in Archives at the Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. This site is both a course tool and an evergreen hub for resources. You can return to it at any time as you start your careers in the archives and cultural heritage fields to revisit readings, check resources, and develop your own practice.
Primary Sources in the History of Western Music (up until 1750)
by Emily Wilbourne
This site collates a number of primary sources that are to be read and perused in conjunction with MUS 246 Music History I: From the Earliest Notations to 1750.
Fetal Pig Dissection Manual
By Nathalia G. Holtzman and Daniel J. Yakubov
This book is a guide to the basic fetal pig dissection conducted as a part of the Queens College, CUNY Biology Department Bio105 General Biology: Physiology and Cell Biology course. This course is the first half our two-part series for biology majors. The actives are designed to be conducted over a three- 3-hour lab periods which focus on the relationship of form and function of the pig anatomy and physiology. Step by step instructions for the dissection are provided along with some microscopy tasks to look at the histology of key organs.
Lecture Notes on Cloud Computing
by Jun Li
A comprehensive textbook designed for use with CSCI 346, covering all aspects of cloud computing, including data centers, virtualization, Hadoop, Spark, resource scheduling, key value storage, and machine learning.