Member Spotlight: Carlos Goller
A NC State microbiologist couldn't find the right textbook for cutting-edge lab techniques, so he and his students stopped looking and started creating.
Carlos Goller teaches microbiology at NC State University, where his job is helping undergraduates learn modern laboratory techniques. The tricky part is that developments in the field have a tendency to outpace their own documentation. "We often don't have textbooks for cutting-edge molecular biology techniques, or new areas of research that are accessible for undergraduate and graduate learners," he says. For specialized topics like metagenomics, the study of genetic material recovered from complex samples, “I struggled to find "the" resource to use,” says Carlos.
Then, NC State University librarians introduced him to OER, and it clicked. Carlos already ran undergraduate research experiences where students actually do science alongside faculty. Open education followed the same logic: students as active contributors rather than passive recipients, learning together and adding to a body of knowledge that others could use.
Carlos’ work with open education has connected cleanly to his interests in open science, Universal Design for Learning, and the idea of scholars as creators of knowledge. "All of these are values I want to practice and share with learners," he says. "Open education allows me to LEARN WITH students. This is what scholars do: learn from each other."
Knowledge grows best in conditions that allow for exchange. “I knew we were doing something correctly when students were excited to do their open education projects,” he says. “Graduate students created tutorials that were much more accessible to peers than what I could find or create.” The classroom conversations have shifted too; now, his students discuss co-creation, intellectual property, commitment to open and reproducible science. “A learning environment that offers options and opportunities for interdependence, co-creation, and sharing is the driving force for creativity and development of scholars.”
Open education, Carlos finds, is good for scientific research. Next, he wants to bring the rigor of scientific research to open education. "We need more assessment and student data research to learn how co-creation and use of OERs impact learning and our identities," he says. “ For this,” he says, “we have to collaborate across institutions and create common tools.” Open gave science a model for sharing knowledge. Now, science can return the favor.
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