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Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Higher Education and Open Educational Resources: A Case Study on Course Design Heather Kanuka and Geneviève Gauthier
Abstract This chapter presents an overview of cultural and disciplinary ways of knowing, and the challenges of applying open educational resources between and across diverse cultures and disciplines. One way to ensure disciplinary and cultural relevance of open educational resources is to establish an evaluation process. The present chapter offers a case study illustrating how the use of surveys, interviews and evaluation frameworks can ensure the relevance of adapted open educational resources. Whilst conducting an evaluation of repurposed educational resources is time consuming, we illustrate in this chapter the value of the process — especially in relation to achieving the educational goals within diverse contexts. It is not enough simply to provide open access to educational resources. Those accessing these resources also need to apply them in a manner that is both disciplinarily and culturally relevant. Keywords: course design, cultural and disciplinary boundaries, evaluation, pedagogical content knowledge
Introduction The concepts of open educational resources (OER) and open courseware (OCW) are generally well understood, largely valued and accepted worldwide. However, even when OER/OCW are provided without restrictions or caveats, receiving access to decontextualised information is often insufficient in and of itself. This is particularly true with OER/OCW in post-secondary-level settings, where unique disciplinary ways of teaching make curricular generalisation and application a challenge. Without question, OER/OCW can advance the delivery and dissemination of educational materials by providing opportunities for use via open access to learning materials at no cost and/or minimal resources. Questions
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