Are You Using Materials That Are Zero or Low-Cost for Students?

For more than a decade, USask instructors have used open educational resources (OER) to lower costs for students and customize materials to best meet the needs of learners. While the university has tracked the use of OER, it hasn’t provided easy access to information about which courses use OER or otherwise have minimal costs for materials.

Given these tough financial times, USask is looking to raise the profile of courses and educators who keep materials cost at $50 or less. We need your help to capture your low–cost courses so we can add them into the search feature and more students can find them.

Take a look at all the ways a course might meet the criteria so we can profile it, and if your course is like the examples of low-cost courses below, please fill out this form. USask students want to know about courses that faculty have made more accessible with open or low-cost resources.

Included Costs

- Expenses included in the cost are:

• Books (print or digital)
• Access to homework systems
• Costs associated with required attendance at events (e.g. tickets)
• Lab equipment (goggles, dissection kits, etc.)

- Not included in these costs:

• Tuition and required university fees

Low-cost course offerings will be denoted in the USask registration system, as well as on a website to help students who are looking for such courses.

If you want help lowering your materials costs for learners, contact your Library liaison.

If you are interested in lower costs and potential customization of materials, specifically through open educational resources, please contact the GMCTL.

Examples

Below are some examples to help you determine if your course is a low-cost materials course.

• Example 1:  A student in the first year of Engineering must pay $35 + tax for access to the Mobius homework system. There are no other required material costs. ✅ This is a low-cost course.

• Example 2:  An instructor provides their course notes for free within Canvas. There are no other required materials costs. ✅ This is a low-cost course.

• Example 3:  An instructor uses an open textbook and materials available through the Library. There are no other required materials costs. ✅ This is a low-cost course.

• Example 4:  A student is required to buy access to one online resource, but a second is strongly recommended because some assessment questions may come from it. The first costs $25.99 plus tax, while the other costs $32.99. While the second book isn’t required, students who don’t have it may not do as well on those assessments without having read the book. ❌ This is not a low-cost course.

• Example 5:  A student is taking a course in the fall term and needs to pay $100 for access to the learning materials. The student maintains access to the materials for the academic year and will be using them in a different course they are taking in the winter term. As the student had to pay $100 in at least one of those courses, and not all students may take both courses during the same academic year, ❌ these are not low-cost courses.
  
  

This resource is shared by the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL), University of Saskatchewan, under a CC BY-NC-SA license.