Lessons Learned Developing Living Open Engineering Textbooks

Speaker: Austin Downey This short talk reflects on the process of developing two open engineering textbooks, ”Machine Learning for Engineering Problem Solving and Vibration Mechanics, that began as personal projects and evolved into classroom-adopted, openly licensed educational resources. The presentation focuses on lessons learned at the intersection of faculty motivation, student needs, and the realities of sustainable OER development. Topics include balancing what is enjoyable and intellectually motivating to write with what best supports student learning; managing time and scope when OER development is not formally recognized as scholarship; and navigating the transition from a "hobby project" to a shared educational product used by students and colleagues. The talk will also discuss perceptions of credibility and quality, strategies for encouraging adoption by peers, integrating OER into active courses, and gathering meaningful feedback from students and other instructors. Rather than presenting a prescriptive model, this session offers a candid account of challenges, trade-offs, and unexpected benefits encountered along the way, with the goal of helping other faculty realistically assess whether and how to begin or sustain their own OER projects.