Laboratory Program Manager Stuart MacKinnon awarded $10,000 from the BCcampus Zero Textbook Cost Initiative for STEM

Laboratory Program Manager Stuart MacKinnon is on a mission to reduce the cost of books for post-secondary students in B.C.

Last summer, he collaborated with colleagues across the province to produce a laboratory manual for first-year physical geography courses. The beta version of the manual was used in GEOG 108 last fall and GEOG 109 this semester, eliminating the $25 mandatory laboratory fee for 481 students at UBCO, and supporting the learning of several thousand post-secondary students across B.C. at no cost.

Now, Stuart has received a $10,000 award from the BCcampus Zero Textbook Cost Initiative for STEM to make revisions to the beta version based on student and instructor feedback. These revisions will be done by Stuart and a colleague and co-author from Okanagan College, Dr. Chani Welch, in consultation with the original team of authors.

The project will be completed this summer, with a final version of the manual available through the BCcampus catalogue for instructors to use with their students this fall.

We congratulate Stuart and thank him for his efforts in supporting open education resources in B.C.