For the past few months, I have been collecting data. I know, not the most exciting way to begin a post, but this data is exciting to me! I have been collecting information from faculty at Camosun about courses and programs at the college that are Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) and/or using Open Textbooks.
Guess what? We have several programs at Camosun that are either completely ZTC or very close. I am very grateful to all the faculty working hard to save our students money. And I am still compiling courses as we speak, so this is only a drop in the Camosun ZTC bucket.
Some programs/departments have many courses that are ZTC, some of which might surprise you.
- For example, all courses in the Sport Management and Adventure Education Programs are ZTC, using a combination of academic articles, research studies, guest experts, applied learning and other vehicles to support their courses!
- The Community Learning Partnerships (CLP) program area and the Education and Career Planning (EDCP) program (which are both tuition free) also have all ZTC courses.
- 17 of 22 of the courses in the Communications program are already ZTC.
- All but three courses in the Education Assistant and Community Support program are ZTC, with faculty working to phase out one more textbook.
- Almost all the courses in the Community, Family, and Child Studies and the Civil Engineering programs are ZTC, and more are coming.
In addition, the lists for courses not requiring paid textbooks in Math and Stats courses is growing (both in the Math Department and in Math Access), there are several courses in Social Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, English, Accounting, and Indigenous Studies that offer ZTC courses as well.
I would be remiss as well if I didn’t mention some of the leaders in using Open Textbooks at the college, the Trades where faculty like Sandra Carr, Brian Coey, and Rod Lidstone have developed Open Textbooks for use in their courses, as well as for the Common Core content which is used across all the Trades.
In the new year, I will be posting more comprehensive information of what is happening at Camosun both with regards to ZTC and use of Open Textbooks. I am also hoping to interview some people in the new year and share some more in-depth stories then so we can celebrate the good work already being done!