Contributors

Dr. Elkhoury is an assistant professor at Athabasca University, she is also the team lead of the alternative assessment project. She has extensive experience in teaching and learning in K12 and higher education settings within both Canada and internationally. Eliana’s latest work includes providing professional development to educators on alternative ways of doing assessments. Dr. Elkhoury has published and presented on STEM education, equity in education, and alternative assessments. Her current research interests include: Innovation in teaching and learning, Alternative assessment in multiple disciplines, faculty development, and teacher education.

Dr. Olivier is an Adviser: Higher Education at the Commonwealth of Learning, Burnaby, Canada. Before this he led the UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources (OER) and was a Professor at North-West University, South Africa until August 2022. His research interests include: open and distance learning, self-directed learning, multimodal learning, OER, blended learning, e-learning, multiliteracies, multicultural education, language planning and subtitling. He has acted as editor for the books Contextualised open educational practices: Towards student agency and self-directed learning, Open Educational Resources in Higher Education, and Radical Solutions for Education in Africa: Open education and self-directed learning in the continent.

Dr. Thurston is the founding Executive Director of the Center for Empowering Teaching Excellence in the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President at Utah State University. Travis earned his Master of Educational Technology degree from Boise State University, and earned his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with focus on Instructional Leadership from Utah State University. His teaching and scholarship center on digital-age teaching and instructional design approaches, and creating autonomy-supportive learning environments. He publishes interdisciplinary studies on the scholarship on teaching and learning, and is the production editor for the Empower Teaching Open Access Series.

Dr. Elkhoury is an assistant professor at Athabasca University, she is also the team lead of the alternative assessment project. She has extensive experience in teaching and learning in K12 and higher education settings within both Canada and internationally. Eliana’s latest work includes providing professional development to educators on alternative ways of doing assessments. Dr. Elkhoury has published and presented on STEM education, equity in education, and alternative assessments. Her current research interests include: Innovation in teaching and learning, Alternative assessment in multiple disciplines, faculty development, and teacher education.

Dr. Olivier is an Adviser: Higher Education at the Commonwealth of Learning, Burnaby, Canada. Before this he led the UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources (OER) and was a Professor at North-West University, South Africa until August 2022. His research interests include: open and distance learning, self-directed learning, multimodal learning, OER, blended learning, e-learning, multiliteracies, multicultural education, language planning and subtitling. He has acted as editor for the books Contextualised open educational practices: Towards student agency and self-directed learning, Open Educational Resources in Higher Education, and Radical Solutions for Education in Africa: Open education and self-directed learning in the continent.

Dr. Thurston is the founding Executive Director of the Center for Empowering Teaching Excellence in the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President at Utah State University. Travis earned his Master of Educational Technology degree from Boise State University, and earned his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with focus on Instructional Leadership from Utah State University. His teaching and scholarship center on digital-age teaching and instructional design approaches, and creating autonomy-supportive learning environments. He publishes interdisciplinary studies on the scholarship on teaching and learning, and is the production editor for the Empower Teaching Open Access Series.

Morgan Barker (she/her/hers) is the Sustainability Librarian at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, CA, and a faculty member in the Business, Agriculture, and Career Technical Department at Shasta College in Redding, CA. She holds a BA in Recreation Administration, an MBA, and an MLIS. Morgan’s professional adventure began in outdoor education and retail, where she grew her passion for sustainability and the environment. As her career evolved, she transitioned into design and international manufacturing, gaining valuable insights into global sustainability practices. In 2011, she ventured into higher education, bringing her expertise to teaching and consulting within academic spaces. With over a decade of experience in higher education, including a role as an Instructional Designer, Morgan now works as the first-ever Sustainability Librarian at Cal Poly Humboldt, where she serves the campus in advancing the university’s environmental sustainability research and curriculum.

Steven Clontz is Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. His scholarship includes research in general and set-theoretic topology, as well as the advancement of sociotechnical infrastructure underlying contemporary mathematics and STEM education research and practice. In the classroom, Dr. Clontz uses active learning techniques such as Team-Based Inquiry Learning to help his students discover mathematics for themselves.

Director, Open Knowledge Center & Head of Information Policy

Michael Tadeusz Dabrowski is the Academic Coordinator, Spanish at Athabasca University and has been a Spanish educator for over 30 years at Athabasca University and the University of Calgary. He focuses on creating collaborative learning environments and advocates for Open Educational Resources and Open Pedagogies. He has taught all levels of Spanish.

Teresa Focarile is the Director of Educational Development at Boise State’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Her scholarly work has focused on how educational developers can support institutional efforts such as program assessment and concurrent enrollment, as well as designing programs for adjunct faculty. At the CTL, she supports a variety of CTL and university-wide efforts, including the Course Design Institute, the Great Ideas for Teaching and Learning Symposium, and Program Assessment Reporting. She has taught at the college level for 18 years, the past twelve for Boise State, and the previous six for the University of Connecticut.

Lead Librarian for Agriculture and Life Sciences

Angela George is an Associate Professor of Spanish at the University of Calgary. Her research on the teaching and learning of Spanish has been published in various journals. She is also the co-author of Online Language Teaching in Diverse Contexts and the 2021 winner of CASLT’s Robert Roy award.

Sharona is a Math Instructor at California State University Los Angeles. In addition to teaching and coordinating Mathematics and Statistics courses, she is a faculty coach and instructional designer as well as researcher in the field of grading practices in Higher Education and their impact on student learning and success. She is the Executive Director of The Grading Conference, a 501(c)3 non-profit that hosts an annual conference about grading reform, and is the co-host of The Grading Podcast, a podcast dedicated to grading practices throughout K-12 and higher education.

Drew Lewis is a mathematician, faculty developer, and education researcher who works as an independent consultant. He researches, writes, and speaks on topics such as collaborative learning, alternative grading, inclusive pedagogy, open education, and quantitative justice. Previously he served on the faculty at the University of Alabama and the University of South Alabama.

Erin loves to engage students as intellectual peers in inquiry-based learning. As an ecologist, she sees the learning environment as a dynamic space where students and instructors can interact with each other, tools, and materials to create a shared understanding of complex course concepts. She aims to dispel stereotype threats amplified by the “ivory tower” through scholarly efforts to build reciprocal, collaborative, long-lasting partnerships that empower students and the general public with scientific literacy and belonging. To that end, she designs courses with activities and assessments that support scientific practices and professional development across diverse systems and applications. Beyond the classroom, she studies how microbial communities form over time and how they adapt to their environments. She has analyzed fecal samples from hundreds of animals in zoos and the wild, to learn how gut microbes affect health – and how humans can leverage or upset that balance. Her research has expanded to sourdough and other fermented foods that can be studied without laboratory equipment, using participatory science research to engage students of all ages, all over the world.

Information Studies Librarian, Associate Professor

Professor, Political Science & International Studies

Zoë Soon, PhD is currently an Associate Professor of Teaching, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) researcher and Biology Program Advisor at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Principal Librarian for Student Affordability

Lydia Watson (she/her) has been a faculty member at Capilano University for 17 years where she is currently an educational developer with the Centre for Teaching Excellence. She holds a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies from the University of British Columbia and her teaching and learning scholarship is focused on trauma aware pedagogy, specifically the importance of care in teaching. Her work and leadership in open educational practices has involved students, faculty, and staff on the adoption of open educational resources and open pedagogy in the classroom and the curriculum. She has presented at conferences and co-published work on the impact of using compassion in teaching and on the value of sharing pedagogy. Her work always places people at the heart center.

Open Knowledge & Research Impact Librarian