Authors

Prakash Ghimire received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, in 2016. Currently, he is working as an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Louisiana State University at Alexandria (LSUA). He has taught many undergraduate mathematics courses in face-to-face and online formats. So far, he has taught Applied Algebra and College Algebra using Open Educational Resources at LSUA. The OER that he is using in his classes not only helps students reduce their textbook expenses but also helps them obtain excellent outcomes. So, he decided to join the Applied Algebra Cohort to develop the Applied Algebra OER to help students from all over the world academically and financially.

Karen Perilloux has taught mathematics since 1993 and has been a Mathematics Instructor at River Parishes Community College in Gonzales, Louisiana since 2023. Karen earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics Education from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana and continued there to receive a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision. Her additional 30 graduate hours are in Mathematics and Education. Karen has worked on LOUIS OER Textbook Development Cohorts for College Algebra, Applied Algebra, and Applied Calculus. She teaches College Algebra, Applied Algebra, Finite Mathematics, Trigonometry, and Applied Calculus at RPCC.

Lauren C. Johnson is a Math Instructor at Southeastern Louisiana University. Her career background includes 6 years as an analyst for the state of Louisiana and 5 years as a high school math teacher in Louisiana. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Louisiana State University in Shreveport and a Master’s Degree in Mathematics from Southern University in Baton Rouge. She is currently a Ph.D candidate in the Math and Science Education program at Southern University in Baton Rouge.

Kristina VanDusen is an Instructor of Mathematics at Southeastern Louisiana University. She received a BS in Mathematics and a BS in Physics from the University of New Orleans, and went on to earn a PhD in Mathematics from Tulane University. She teaches Applied Algebra, College Algebra, Precalculus with Trigonometry, and Elementary Statistics, and is the Course Coordinator for the Applied Algebra course.

Jared Eusea has been teaching at River Parishes Community College since January 2011, where he has been promoted from Instructor to Associate Professor and has been named the Department Chair of the Mathematics Department (starting in Fall 2021). He is an author and editor/reviewer/contributor for five math textbooks (College Algebra, Trigonometry, Applied Calculus, Finite Mathematics and Statistics) was created through “Connecting the Pipeline: Libraries, OER, and Dual Enrollment from Secondary to Postsecondary,” a project funded by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network and the Institute of Library and Museum Services, to support the extension of access to high-quality post-secondary opportunities to high school students across Louisiana and beyond by creating materials that can be adopted for dual enrollment environments. He has taught lecture, online (asynchronous and synchronous), and hybrid (blended) courses for Developmental Mathematics, College & Applied Algebra, Introduction to Statistics, Trigonometry, and Calculus. All of his courses are 100% OER content! He has created lecture notes following the OpenStax textbooks for faculty to use and has shared these on the OpenStax OER Commons website. In addition to teaching a full-load each semester since he started at RPCC, Jared has led committees in redesigning the math curriculum and sequence and led discussion for establishing course commonality for all mathematics courses, including course and unit objectives, textbooks, assessment policies, and a standard homework system. Jared has been instrumental in moving forward improvements in online teaching and learning at RPCC by developing Master courses that could be used for all math online courses. He has also been the chair of the committee at RPCC that reviews those courses being offered online at RPCC to check that they are designed following certain criteria consistent to the QM standards and has been involved with faculty on an internal Instructional Design Team to develop a common course template for use towards our college’s goal of fully online programs. Jared is a QM Peer Reviewer and has dealt with the three main LMS platforms: Blackboard, Moodle, and Canvas, so I have seen a lot of various course designs. I have been a faculty participant and Principal Investigator for two system-wide eLearning Innovation Fund Grants, one Affordable Learning Grant, and a Summer Faculty cohort, where funding was provided to faculty who developed fully online OER courses to share within our system. I participated as a reviewer in the previous course design projects that was led by the LOUIS team.