To mark the 10th anniversary of Affordable Course Content grants, here’s a selection of 10 projects supported by the program through the years that reflect the program’s impact and range. To learn more about all past awarded projects, visit the Affordable Course Content Awards website. 

Language and Culture in Context: A Primer on Intercultural Communication by Robert Godwin-Jones is an open textbook for Communicating Across Cultures (WRLD302). Godwin-Jones has collaborated with co-authors in the ongoing development of this resource, including Mayda Topoushian, Jill Blondin, and Aradhna Malik (of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur). The text strives to incorporate findings and perspectives on intercultural communication from many different approaches, especially through the lens of language. 

The Craft of Sociological Research: Principles and Methods of Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Social Science Data by Victor Tan Chen, Gabriela León-Pérez, Julie Honnold, and Volkan Aytar was supported by both the ACCA grant program and a statewide course redesign grant from VIVA, the Virginia academic library consortium. The textbook aims to provide broad but sound coverage of widely used methodologies, giving students the background they need to both evaluate and conduct research. This text was designed to support all research methods-focused sociology classes at VCU. While targeted at undergraduates, the textbook includes optional sections that provide more advanced methodological training. It also features Q&As with prominent sociologists and sidebars on topical issues that social scientific research has helped illuminate.

A Guide to Children’s Literature by Lisa Cipoletti, Valerie Robnolt and Elizabeth Morris is a resource for students of Children’s Literature I (TEDU386), plus teachers, families, librarians and anyone interested in learning about literature for children. It is an introduction to the purpose of literature for children as well as an overview of the major literary genres.

Nutrition: Science and Everyday Application, adapted by Jill Reid, is a customization of an existing open educational resource on human nutrition for Principles of Nutrition (BIOL217). Reid added media and interactive self-assessments, and nutritional examples relevant to the VCU community via students. Reid’s work in open education has also launched a secondary project, Human Nutrition: The Biology of the Mediterranean Diet, which is a collective, “living textbook”, written in collaboration by students enrolled in Human Nutrition: The Biology of the Mediterranean Diet.

Biological Basis of Behavior by Caroline Cobb is designed for graduate students of Biological Basis of Behavior (PSYC629). It gives an overview of the study of human behavior through a biological lens and focuses on the role of the central nervous system in the regulation and control of human behavior. This text also includes supplemental resources to integrate the social context related to these topics and address the impact of historic harms to minority populations from a behavioral neuroscience lens. Cobb has also compiled a supplementary resource in collaboration with students of PSYC629, Biological Basis of Behavior: Research Review Presentations, which is a repository of student research for current and future students. 

Foundations of Business is on its second edition. The project was started by Manika Avasthi as a remix of three existing open textbooks to curate a standard introduction to business materials as well as a section on professionalism for Foundations of Business (BUSN201). When Avasthi left VCU, the project was adopted by another author, Holly Jackson. Jackson built on the resource, eventually publishing the second edition with an original section on mentorship, written in collaboration with other team members from the School of Business. 

Dental Practice Management by VaCora L. Rainey, D.D.S., is an adaptation of an existing small business management resource, customized for the Practice Management Course (DENS730) taken by third-year dental students. The customized content will supplement the lectures and provide resources on how to run a dental practice after graduation.

Percussion Techniques and Pedagogy is a collaboration between VCU faculty member Justin Alexander and Annie Stevens, a faculty member from Virginia Tech. Currently in progress, the team will create a new, open source textbook for the teaching of Methods and Techniques: Percussion (MUED307) and comparable courses offered at any institution that offers a music education degree. This text is written with non-percussion music education students in mind and will introduce students to the playing techniques of different percussion instruments from both Western and non-Western cultures.  

Special Populations in Public Health by Andrea Reed, DNP, RN and R. D. Featherstone, MSN, WHNP, PMHNP is forthcoming in 2026. This open resource will serve as a supplement to the existing open textbook, Community and Public Health Nursing: A Call to Action that will address the needs of commonly unacknowledged or overlooked, including erotically marginalized folks (2SLGBTQIA+, the nonmonogamous, those engaging in alternative sexual practices, sex workers), religious minorities, stateless people (Palestinian, Roma and Ashkali, among others), and non-nuclear families. This resource will serve Population Health, Prevention, and Wellness Concepts Across the Lifespan (NURS535), Chronic Care Concepts Across the Lifespan (NURS547), and Acute Care Concepts Across the Lifespan (NURS550).

Foundations of Community Pharmacy: Practice and Nonsterile Compounding by Dayanjan (Shanaka) Wijesinghe, Ph.D., Lauren Caldas, Pharm.D., M.Ed., BCACP, Krista Donohoe, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP, Erica Brody, MPH, MSLS is being authored in the newest cohort of the program. This project will leverage an innovative AI workflow for creating an openly licensed digital textbook to support Foundations (PHAR523), a course focused on developing foundational pharmacy practice skills. Beyond creating a resource for a single course, this project will establish a scalable and replicable model for AI-assisted development of open educational resources.