Wo kshop
Recommended ci a ion: Howa d, T. P., Di Benede i, M., Saunde s, G., & Ga a d,
A. (2025). Open Educa ional Resou ces (OER) in Enginee ing Educa ion: F om
Awa eness o Ac ion. In Kangaslampi, R., Langie, G., Jä inen, H.-M., & Nagy, B.
(Eds.), SEFI 53 d Annual Con e ence. Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing
Educa ion (SEFI), Tampe e, Finland. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17631273.
This Con e ence Pape is b ough o you o open access by he 53 d Annual Con e ence
o he Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI) a Tampe e Uni e si y in
Tampe e, Finland. This wo k is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons
A ibu ion-NonComme cial-Sha e Alike 4.0 In e na ional License.
OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) IN ENGINEERING
EDUCATION: FROM AWARENESS TO ACTION
T. Howa da,
1
, M. Di Benede ib, G.N. Saunde s-Smi sc,
A. Ga a dd
a The Uni e si y o She ield, She ield, UK, 0009-0000-3625-1205
b The Uni e si y o She ield, She ield, UK, 0000-0001-7870-1323
c Del Uni e si y o Technology, Del , NL, 0000-0002-2905-864X
d The Uni e si y o She ield, She ield, UK, 0000-0002-8872-0226
Con e ence Key A eas: Open and Online Enginee ing Educa ion; Cu iculum
De elopmen
Keywo ds: Open Educa ional Resou ces, Enginee ing Educa ion, Teaching
Inno a ion, Digi al Lea ning
ABSTRACT
The e a e conside able bene i s o bo h Highe Educa ion Ins i u ions and he
communi y in making educa ion mo e openly accessible. As such, he awa eness
and app ecia ion o Open Educa ional Resou ces (OER) has g own conside ably
o e ecen yea s. In pa allel, a no iceable shi is aking place in Enginee ing
Educa ion owa ds p ojec -, p oblem- and challenge-based lea ning o ma s, which
u he aim o embed he a ainmen o ans e able skills. OER has he po en ial o
suppo he de elopmen o such new lea ning o ma s in a way ha allows
educa o s o le e age bes p ac ice wi hou ha ing o ein en he wheel, ye i has
ye o make an impac in his a ea.
This wo kshop will guide pa icipan s in unde s anding, c ea ing, and sha ing OER o
p omo e hei mo e widesp ead use. We will begin by explo ing wha quali ies as an
OER and ecognising ha we all in e ac wi h OER in a ious ways. F om he e, we
will ocus on how educa o s can c ea e and sha e hei own OER, iden i ying key
challenges and p ac ical solu ions. Finally, we will explo e how collabo a ion and
communi y can suppo OER adop ion, empowe ing pa icipan s o ake hei i s
s eps owa d de eloping and using OER in enginee ing educa ion. The session will
p o ide a s uc u ed ye in e ac i e en i onmen , ensu ing pa icipan s lea e wi h
conc e e akeaways and a s onge unde s anding o how o engage wi h OER in a
meaning ul way.
1
Co esponding Au ho
T P Howa d
.howa d@she ield.ac.uk
1 BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
Open Educa ional Resou ces (OER) ha e gained signi ican a en ion in highe
educa ion as a means o imp o e access, educe cos s, and enhance eaching and
lea ning expe iences. UNESCO de ines OER as "lea ning, eaching and esea ch
ma e ials in any o ma and medium ha eside in he public domain o a e unde
copy igh ha ha e been eleased unde an open licence ha pe mi s no-cos
access, euse, epu pose, adap a ion, and edis ibu ion by o he s" (UNESCO,
2024).
OERs p esen conside able bene i s o bo h lea ne s and highe educa ion
ins i u ions, including enabling access o educa ion ega dless o backg ound and
aligning wi h he UN's Sus ainable De elopmen Goal 4 o inclusi e and equi able
quali y educa ion (Uni ed Na ions, 2023). A a Highe Educa ion (HE) ins i u ional
le el, he e a e conside able economic bene i s o bo h ins i u ions and hei
s uden s; pi o ing o open-access online ex books and jou nals can allow lib a ies o
make huge cos sa ings, and s uden s bene i om ee and un es ic ed access o
equi ed cou se ma e ials (Ande son e al. 2017). Howe e , he widesp ead adop ion
and de elopmen o OER ace se e al challenges. Many highe educa ion
ins i u ions ha e ye o ully emb ace OER p ac ices, wi h adop ion slowe in Eu ope
and he UK han in he US (To a & Pied a, 2014). This can be a ibu ed o ac o s
such as a pe cei ed lack o quali y, di icul y in inding ele an con en , conce ns
abou adap abili y, and a gene al lack o ecogni ion as a iable eaching esou ce
(A enas and Ha emann, 2014). Addi ionally, he c ea ion o e ec i e eposi o ies o
OER can demand conside able echnical, social, cul u al, and inancial in es men ,
and a common pi all has been o o e emphasise he digi al in as uc u e a he
expense o he OER i sel (Smi h, 2009).
In addi ion, mos open educa ional esou ces aimed a Highe Educa ion o en
pe ain only o classical lec u es, al hough mo e ecen ly, he p omo ion o he
c ea ion and publishing o open (in e ac i e) ex books h ough uni e si y lib a ies is
aking ligh (Idema, 2023). Howe e , in Enginee ing Educa ion, a no iceable shi is
aking place owa ds p ojec -based, p oblem-based and challenge-based lea ning. In
addi ion, enginee ing cu icula now also include he o en embedded eaching o
ans e able skills as equi ed by he a ious p o essional bodies such as IMechE.
Sadly, ew such esou ces a e being sha ed as OER, which esul s in many
enginee ing educa o s ha ing o ein en he wheel, as ew esou ces a e a ailable.
Gi en he i al challenges ha lie ahead, assis ing educa o s by encou aging he
c ea ion and ( e)use o ele an OER would ease he bu den o implemen a ion and
inc ease he quali y o enginee ing educa ion.
2 WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
2.1 Ta ge audience
This wo kshop is designed o educa o s in enginee ing and ela ed disciplines who
a e in e es ed in explo ing OER, whe he hey a e new o he concep o looking o
expand hei p ac ice. Pa icipan s may include lec u e s, cu iculum de elope s,
lea ning echnologis s, and educa ional esea che s.
2.2 Expec ed lea ning ou comes
By he end o his wo kshop, pa icipan s will:
● Recognise and ca ego ise OER wi hin hei own eaching con ex , and know
whe e o ind hem.
● Iden i y oppo uni ies o make hei own ma e ials mo e openly accessible.
● Unde s and common ba ie s o using and c ea ing OER and explo e po en ial
solu ions.
● Ha e gained a basic unde s anding o wha makes an OER eusable
● De elop an ac ion plan o engaging wi h OER in hei eaching p ac ice.
● Es ablish connec ions wi h o he educa o s o os e collabo a ion and bes
p ac ice sha ing.
3 WORKSHOP DESIGN
The wo kshop will be s uc u ed o os e bo h awa eness and ac ion, using a mix o
sel - e lec ion, pee discussion, and in e ac i e engagemen in small g oups. The
session will be designed o ensu e pa icipan s lea e wi h angible nex s eps o
adop ing OER in hei own eaching en i onmen s.
Table 1. In ended schedule o he wo kshop
Run ime
Ac i i y
Fo ma
10 min
In oduc ion
P esen a ion & discussion
15 min
Ac i i y 1
Wha Do Enginee ing OER Look Like?
Sel - e lec ion & small g oup
discussion
15 min
Ac i i y 2
Pe cei ed challenges in using OER and
how o o e come hem
Small g oup discussion &
p esen a ion
15 min
Ac i i y 3
C ea ing you own OER
Small g oup discussion & sel -
e lec ion
5 min
Summa y o key akeaways and
oppo uni ies o Q&A
P esen a ion & discussion
The wo kshop will begin wi h an in oduc ion (10 min) o OER, es ablishing a sha ed
unde s anding o wha quali ies as an OER and explo ing i s bene i s.
This will be ollowed by Ac i i y 1, whe e pa icipan s will be asked o e lec on hei
own eaching and he eaching ma e ials hey ely on o his. Using pos -i no es,
pa icipan s will be able o independen ly w i e down examples o con ibu e o a
collec ion in he cen e o each able o he whole g oup o see. In g oups (pe
able), pa icipan s will hen be asked o iden i y which o he examples could al eady
be conside ed OER and which a en’ , leading o a u he p omp o conside how he
la e could be made mo e openly a ailable. This will help pa icipan s o build up a
pic u e o he ange o ma e ials ha could be conside ed OER, po en ially iden i y
exis ing amilia i y and highligh how OER migh al eady be (o could be) in eg a ed
in o eaching p ac ices.
Nex , Ac i i y 2 will ocus on he challenges pa icipan s migh pe cei e in
inco po a ing OER in o hei eaching p ac ice. Pa icipan s will be p o ided wi h a
la ge shee o pape pe able, and will aim o popula e his (ei he by w i ing di ec ly
o s icking pos -i no es on he shee ) wi h any po en ial challenges hey o esee. In
he inal pa o his sec ion, pa icipan s (in g oups) will hen be asked o conside
how he challenges ha hey ha e iden i ied could be o e come. This will hen be
ollowed by a sho (5-minu e) p esen a ion by he acili a o s, aimed a summa ising
some o he common examples b ough o wa d in he g oups, suppo ed by
p esen a ion o some common challenges ha a e ypically ci ed (disco e y, quali y,
c edibili y, licensing), and some po en ial solu ions.
Finally, Ac i i y 3 will shi he ocus speci ically o c ea ing OER, whe e pa icipan s
will s a by (independen ly) conside ing wha esou ces hey aspi e o c ea e, and
he po en ial ba ie s ha hey migh ace in achie ing his (commonly, aspec s such
as ime cons ain s, echnical skills, hos ing, and ins i u ional suppo ). G oup
discussion will hen aim o colla e challenges and iden i y key aining, suppo
s uc u es o collabo a i e app oaches ha could be employed o o e come such
ba ie s and enable OER de elopmen . Be o e he end o his ac i i y, pa icipan s
will be asked o (indi idually) de ine some angible nex s eps o achie ing hei
goals and whe e hey could go o seek he necessa y suppo hey migh need.
Pape empla es will be p o ided o pa icipan s o w i e on and ake away wi h
hem.
The session will conclude wi h closing s a emen s and key akeaways (5 min),
summa ising he main insigh s om he discussions and ein o cing p ac ical ac ions
ha pa icipan s can ake o wa d in hei eaching en i onmen s
4 WORKSHOP RESULTS
The inal epo was in ended o e lec on he session’s discussions, pa icipan
insigh s, and key ou comes. Un o una ely, no one a ended he session, so he e a e
no ou comes o epo .
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