OER Structure
How to use these guidelines
The following guidelines will help you think about the structure of your OER as you complete your project outline. Following the questions in this box, the guidelines include lists of the elements you might include in the beginning, main body, and conclusion of each chapter. As you complete your outline, use the following questions to guide your decisions on how to structure the chapters in your OER:
- How can you enable the students to practice key skills, build competencies, and transform attitudes central to the topics in your OER?
- How can you help students build transferable skills and competencies?
- How can you create checkpoints for students to recognize their growth?
- How can students fail forward and recover from “mistakes” in helpful ways?
The information in this textbox and included in the list of chapter elements below is adapted from Plan OER Structure Template created by the Rebus Community, licensed CC BY 4.0.
Chapter Elements
Chapter Openers
Plan to begin each chapter in a way that engages students’ prior knowledge and/or provides a framework for the chapter content. Chapter openers should be consistent throughout the text. You may include one or two of the following:
- An overview
- An introduction
- An outlines (text, bullets or graphics)
- A set of focus questions (knowledge and comprehension questions)
- Learning goals / objectives / outcomes / competences / skills
- A case study or problem
Pedagogical Devices Used Within Chapters
Like chapter openers, the main body of each chapter should be consistent in structure, though there is more flexibility. The main thing is to be sure that these pedagogical devices are used in a predictable way. You may include any of the following—but bear in mind that there can indeed be too much of a good thing.
- Emphasis (bold face) of words
- Marginalia that summarize paragraphs
- Lists that highlight main points
- Summary tables and graphics
- Cross references that link backwards (or sometimes forwards) to important concepts
- Markers to identify embedded subjects (e.g. an “external” term used and that needs explanation)
- Study and review questions
- Pedagogical illustrations (concepts rendered graphically)
- Tips (to insure that the learner doesn’t get caught in misconceptions or procedural errors)
- Reminders (e.g. make sure that something that was previously introduced is remembered)
- Case studies
- Problem descriptions
- Debates and reflections
- Profiles (case descriptions)
- Primary sources and data
- Models
Chapter Closers
Like chapter openers, chapter closers should be consistent throughout the text. You may include one or two of the following to give students the opportunity to practice or reflect on what they have learned:
- A conclusion or summary (may include diagrams)
- A list of definitions
- A reference box (e.g. computer instructions)
- Review questions
- A self-assessment (such as a simple quiz)
- Small exercises
- Substantial exercises and problem cases
- A fill-in table (for “learning-in-action” books) to prepare a real-world task
- Ideas for projects (academic or real world)
- Bibliographies and links (that can be annotated)
Additional Resources
- Take a look at the project outline created for the CUNY Pressbooks Guide, which is provided via a link in the gray box at the beginning of chapter 8, “Planning Your Project.” Compare the outline for the guide with the guide itself.
- See “Textbook Design Rules” from Open Text Publishing Guide by Erin Fields, Amanda Grey, Donna Langille, and Clair Swanson for an excellent overview of textbook design principles.
