OER Panel WSU Libraries

Agenda Introductions Meet the panel Questions for the panel Audience Q&A

Background or experience with OER By way of introduction: Can you talk a little about your background or experience with open educational resources?

Kate Watts English, member of WSU President’s Teaching Academy

Myiah Hutchens Murrow College of Communication

Carrie Cuttler Clinical Assistant Professor Psychology

Sample Characteristics N = 517 Undergraduate Students 7 Sections of 4 Psych classes (2 OER vs. 2 Commercial) 4 Online sections (2 OER), 3 Face-to-Face sections (2 OER) 195 OER students, 322 Commercial Text students OER vs. Commercial Text students equivalent in: Age Gender ESL status First generation status Student loans and financial assistance

Debt, Income, and Text Costs 71% have a student loan from bank or government 52% receive financial assistance from university 44% receive financial support from family Average student loan debt $18,452,24 Average monthly income is approximately $700 Average monthly income for those who work is approximately $1000 Report spending an average of $450 per semester on textbooks Working students are spending 10% of their earnings on textbooks Students earn little, spend a lot on textbooks, and are in a lot of debt

How have textbook costs influenced you? 67% bought used copies 53% bought books elsewhere 45% bought digital book 54% rented a printed book 20% rented a digital book 5% used library reserved copy 21% shared a book with someone 28% sold their used textbook 30% didn’t use a textbook Only 4% report doing nothing to try to reduce costs 22% took fewer courses 20% didn’t register for a specific course 19% dropped or withdrew from a course 34% earned a poor grade because they couldn’t afford the book Students feel the burden of textbook costs and are trying to minimize it

Students Read OER More and Found it More Useful for Completing Course Work * * * *

Students Rated the OER as Higher Quality and as Worth More Money * *

OER Students Reported Less Stress and Would Like to Take More Courses Using OER * *

Summary and Conclusions Students earn little, spend a lot on textbooks, and have a lot of debt Publishers do little but earn a lot by charging our students high prices Who would you rather support? Students feel the impact of textbook prices and do their best to reduce it Shouldn’t we help them in these efforts? Students spent more time reading the OER, they found it more useful, they perceived it to be higher quality and worth more money Isn’t it our responsibility to provide high quality resources for our students? Students want to take more classes using OERs Let’s make them available!

Colleen McMahon ASWSU, Director of University Affairs

Replacing traditional with open Myiah, Carrie, and Kate went through the process of replacing traditional with open resources. For those three, What was that process like? How much work was it? Where did you find open resources—did you adapt something or create something from scratch? What tools did you use to help you through the process?

Traditional textbook vs. OER Compared to courses using traditional textbooks, what have you noticed about using OERs in the classroom?

Benefits and challenges What benefits have you experienced while using OER materials? What challenges?

Students as co-creators An advantage of OERs is that students can be invited in as co-creators. Open licensing means that students can annotate course materials or help add to them over time. Have you had experiences with using OERs to encourage student engagement in class?

Quality and effectiveness What are your thoughts about the quality and effectiveness of OERs like the ones you used in class? How have students responded to the OERs you’ve used?

Cost of course materials An advantage of OERs is that they can be made available to students at no cost. For Colleen - How does the cost of course materials affect you or other students? If you didn’t have to pay that cost, how would it affect you?

Advice for those considering OER what advice do you have for faculty who are considering using OERs in classes?

Questions from the audience?

aoi.li@wsu.edu li.wsu.edu