A textbook that could save University of Hawaiʻi students more than $400,000 a year has earned a WOW award from the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technology (WCET). UH is a member of WICHE (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education), which works to improve access to higher education and ensure student success. The WOW (WCET Outstanding Work) award, recognizes outstanding efforts to apply innovative solutions to a challenging educational need.
Annually, more than 4,000 UH students across 10 campuses can benefit from the anatomy textbook project since they take human anatomy and physiology courses, paying around $200 for just one of their many textbooks.
President David Lassner announced the recognition in his October 29, 2024 report to the UH Board of Regents. He called the project a great opportunity to create a zero-cost textbook that would reflect Hawaiʻi’s culture and instill a sense of belonging in students, while providing a significant cost benefit.
Kapiʻolani Community College Associate Professor Sheryl Shook and former UH Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Hae Okimoto worked with dozens of faculty, 11 of them co-authors, across all 10 UH campuses on the multi-year Online Educational Resource (OER) project, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting textbook covers two semesters of course content. Because it is an OER, faculty can continue to update, refine and improve the content and pedagogy.
Lassner said. “Congratulations to all of them. They were supported by many colleagues who provided input, administrators and staff who supported them in spending their time on it. Important and impactful work like this truly takes a village.”
Shook and other UH instructors and colleagues are currently working on a second edition of the textbook with a focus on diving deeper into Native Hawaiian culture and language, further development of accessibility, and responding to student outcomes and student and faculty feedback.
Anatomy and physiology OER textbook coauthors
Luria Namba, Hawaiʻi CC–Pālamanui
Lissandra Baldan Jenkins, Hawaiʻi CC (Manono)
Gabriel Peckham, Honolulu CC
Amanda Lee, Kapiʻolani CC
Rachel Lindsey, Kapiʻolani CC
Sheryl Shook, Kapiʻolani CC
I-Chia Shih, Leeward CC
Trenton Niemi, UH Maui College
Jason Higa, UH Mānoa
Rebecca Romine, UH West Oʻahu
Joel Kaufmann, UH Hilo
Related story:
- Free online anatomy textbook to save students more than $400K, August 26, 2022
