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Open Textbook: Web and Cloud-based Distributed Systems
TILT program: Teaching and Learning Development Grant (TLDG)
Principal Investigator: Ouldooz Baghban Karimi, lecturer, School of Computing Science, Faculty of Applied Sciences
Project team: Ifeoma Ibeto, research assistant, Beedie School of Business
Timeframe: January 2022 to February 2023
TILT Support: $5000
Course addressed:
- CMPT 474 - Web Systems Architecture
- CMPT 756 - Distributed and Cloud Systems
Final report: View Ouldooz Baghban Karimi’s final report (PDF) and Appendix A (PDF)
Description:
This project investigated student learning needs and preferences for open educational resources (OER) to inform the development of an open textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in web and cloud-based distributed systems. The project was motivated by observations across multiple offerings of CMPT 474 and CMPT 756, where students expressed a desire for a single, coherent resource to replace a collection of readings that included research papers, technical reports, book excerpts, and internally compiled materials.
Given rising textbook costs and increased reliance on digital learning resources, the project aimed to understand content gaps, accessibility needs, preferred resource formats, and barriers to effective learning. Data were collected through analysis of course performance metrics, surveys, and follow-up interviews. Survey results indicated a strong preference for video-based learning, including lecture recordings and short, topic-focused videos, followed by practice problems and code examples. Students overwhelmingly preferred electronic resources, especially PDFs and interactive formats, and valued high-quality, easy-to-access, and free materials. High cost, excessive content, and outdated examples were identified as major obstacles in traditional textbooks.
Based on these findings, project priorities shifted from immediate development of an open textbook toward creating short, topic-based instructional videos as a more effective and timely form of OER. These videos will serve as foundational learning resources and future building blocks for an open textbook, supporting accessibility, engagement, and conceptual understanding in advanced computing courses.
Questions addressed:
- What are the main needs in CMPT 474 and CMPT 756 courses (resource gaps) to be covered in textbook?
- What are main student accessibility and usage needs in using Cloud and Web Systems open textbooks and companion resources and materials?
- What are main reasons students may prefer using textbook to other alternatives?
- What access method can help better use of textbook by students?
- What kind of support and companion material can help better use of textbook by students?
Knowledge sharing: Discussions with colleagues in School of Computing Science regarding OERs. Working on poster submission to Computer Science Education Conference. The project findings have informed the development of additional OERs with hopes to see adoption at SFU and beyond.
Keywords: OER, Open Educational Resources, Open Textbooks, student learning preferences, video-based learning, distributed systems, cloud computing, learning management systems, accessibility, computer science education