Surveying the Landscape: Exploring STEM Instructors' Selection Criteria for Instructional Materials

Abstract

Required and supplemental instructional material selection is a key component for the design of college courses. Our research explores the criteria that college instructors use when choosing books, videos, news items, and other instructional materials for students in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical science (STEM) courses. We surveyed college and university STEM instructors to determine if they were utilizing Open Education Resources (OER) and Open Access (OA) books, articles, or other resources. We also asked whether instructors are selecting materials based on accessibility, diversity of format types, representation of a variety of identities within STEM professions, or other criteria. We asked what information resources are consulted when instructors select instructional materials. Using qualitative coding analysis of free text responses, we identified several themes in the data that will help librarians and publishers to find, curate, and advertise more useful materials for STEM course instructors. We add the voices of these instructors to the literature on how science, engineering, and technology college instructors are selecting resources. We discuss what engineering and other STEM librarians can do to increase resources from diverse perspectives, OER, and other OA resources used in these courses, which may make the coursework more accessible to additional students.