Erin Shanle, assistant professor of biology, and Jan Dowell, adjunct instructor of biology, are developing an open education resource (OER) textbook for LLCC ‘s Human Nutrition course as part of Illinois Support for Creation of Open Educational Resources (SCOERs) grant project funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education. The LLCC Illinois SCOERs team received a 3D printer as part of the grant program, and Carmen Allen, professor of computer science, will design and develop projects for students to complete as a part of the class. The Human Nutrition course will incorporate a gardening project for students to learn how to grow their own food and to begin community gardens. The 3D printer will be used to produce gardening hand tools to support the gardening project and models of macromolecules associated with human nutrition to assist with student learning. The Illinois SCOERs grant project supports lessening financial barriers of textbooks costs for students and increasing community engagement by promoting community gardening. As part of the grant project, a team of LLCC employees with a variety of skills and expertise has been formed to support the OER process.

The LLCC Illinois SCOERs team members and their team roles:
Carmen Allen, 3D Printing Coordinator
Jan Dowell, Industry Sector Representative
Kim Eddings, Accessibility Coordinator
John Freml, Instructional Designer
Tammy Kuhn-Schnell, Principal Investigator
Leslie Ross, Grant Librarian
Erin Shanle, Subject Specialist and Author
Brent Todd: Co-Principal Investigator and Proofreader
Amanda Wiesenhofer: Copyright Coordinator

CARLI representatives in photo: Michele Leigh and Nicole Swanson