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Reviewer, Textbook, and Course Selection

Preamble:

The CA-OER Council's survey of faculty across CCC, CSU, and UC demonstrated that faculty were concerned about the authority, reliability, and peer review of OER textbooks. The CA-OER Council created a system by which OER textbooks for 50 highly-enrolled courses across the three segments could be rigorously peer reviewed. All of the peer reviews are available, including the faculty's name and institutional affiliation. We anticipate completing reviews of at least 3 textbooks for each of the 50 courses by August 2015 with online access to the reviews by November 2015. Read below for information about course, textbook, and reviewer selection. Interested in becoming a reviewer (and you are a faculty member at a CSU, UC, or CCC), read on:

1. Selection of the 50 courses: for the criteria to select the 50 courses, see Course Selection Criteria.
2. Selection of OER Textbooks: OER textbooks to be reviewed in conjunction with each of the 50 courses were selected based on the following criteria: 1) Creative Commons license (CC-BY), if possible; 2) free or low cost ($30 or less); 3) able to be re-mixed, if possible (we haven't found many of these); 4) updated regularly; 5) offered in at least 2 different formats (e.g., online/pdf); and 6) maintained in an easily accessible and sustainable environment with a persistent URL.
3. To Recommend an OER Textbook that fits the above criteria fill out this Google Form.
4. See our list of Courses, Textbooks, and the Schedule for Review Phases.
5. How to Become a Reviewer: Fill out the faculty survey and indicate that you'd like to review for this project (the last question in the survey). We will contact you with a request for more information. If selected for a panel (these can be competitive!), we will provide access to all of the textbooks, the review rubric, and a stipend for your reviews ($250/textbook with a minimum of 3 textbook reviews).
6. Selecting Review Panelists: Panelists are drawn from faculty across CCC, CSU, & UC. These reviewers are self-identified based on response to the faculty survey. The selection of reviewers is competitive but is based on a balanced criteria: 1) 1 panelist from each of the 3 segments (CCC, CSU, UC); 2) balance of experience with OER materials; 3) balance of place in the career. The resulting reviews are public along with names & institutions of each faculty member. (See the other reviews on the COOL4Ed website.) The reasons for making the the reviewers' identities public is discussed in the Reviewer's Bootcamp video.
7. What's Involved in Being a Reviewer? Watch this Reviewer's Bootcamp Video. Take a look at a sample Review Rubric.
8. What if I'm the author of one of the OER Textbooks that has been reviewed? If you have any questions about the review or you have revised/updated your OER textbook since the published review, please contact the CA-OER Council with the update information. We will endeavor to have your textbook re-reviewed.

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