Hanaa Alkassa was awarded a $30,000 grant from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) to write an OER textbook for Introduction to Arabic. Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational materials that are available at no cost and provide greater access to education for all students.
The textbook will be written in partnership with other community college faculty and will ensure free access to textbooks that are appropriate for the diverse backgrounds and lived experiences of Arabic-speaking students. Cuyamaca College has a robust Arabic program, this textbook will serve students entering the program and will help to defray costs that often lead to students stopping out of their education. Approximately 250 students enroll in this course across the district each semester.
The textbook will be available to students in Fall 2023.
Since 2019, Cuyamaca College faculty have led, or been part of teams securing more than $100,000 in funding to create and curate OER materials.