Mike Klymkowsky, a molecular, cellular and developmental biology professor who saved students over $5 million in textbook costs by making his co-authored texts open access, is being honored with an Open Educator Award.
The award is given annually by the University Libraries and the University of Colorado Boulder Student Government to honor educators who reduce the cost of an education and enhance learning by creating, sharing, supporting or using open educational materials in their teaching. Klymkowsky’s co-authored textbooks for introductory and organic chemistry have also been the subject of several research studies into effective open educational resources. These studies show that student learning improved as a result of adopting the textbooks as course materials.
