1. The Use of Open Educational Resources
as a Tool for
Student Satisfaction
{Success}
{Retention}
{Persistence}
#NercompPDO3

2. Goals Short term: Save students money
Long term: Keep students on the learning track through graduation

3. How’d I get here? Staying current I read about OER
I create the instructional tech curriculum
Staying current I read about OER
I added an OER seminar to the teaching with technology curriculum and IT WAS A SMASHING HIT!

4. By which I mean . . .
Various faculty dribbled in.
Occasionally.

5. In my copious . . .
free time I considered how I could sell this important issue to faculty busy with teaching, writing, service and that other thing . . .
oh yes, a real life.

6. What’s our role in all this?!
Then the Faculty
Senate discusses retention
90 minute closed meeting
Blame everyone, everything
But never ask:
What’s our role in all this?!

7. Long story short
I propose a committee discuss the issue &, as punishment, I’m named chair.
For first meeting I come up with talking points, one of which is OER
During 1st meeting someone asks “Why OER”?

8. And that’s how I found myself rifling through journals
Long story not as short
as it could be
Why OER? We all know the obvious answer.
But then I got to thinking . . .
And that’s how I found myself rifling through journals

9. Long story not as short as it could be, part 2
I decided no, it’s not about saving students money. It’s about saving money to keep them in the program through graduation. It’s about student success & student satisfaction. In administration-speak:
RETENTION

10. On a review of the literature
So pray let us embark
On a review of the literature

11. Breakdown Literature reviews Initiatives Planning Launching Reviewing
III. Efficacy
a. grades, drops, enrollment density
b. Faculty/student opinions
c. Student satisfaction/retention

12. Literature Reviews
D'Antoni, S. (2009). Open educational resources: reviewing initiatives and issues. Open Learning, 24(1), 3. 
Hilton, J. (2016). Open educational resources and college textbook choices: A review of research on efficacy and perceptions. Educational Technology Research and Development, 64, 573. 

13. Martin, M. T., et al. (2017). Analysis of student and faculty perceptions of textbook costs in higher education. Open Praxis, 9(1), 79.
Studied the real impact of textbook costs by interviewing ca. 700 students & ca. 600 Brigham Young re: impact of textbook costs & how they are dealing with the problem

14. Analysis of student and faculty perceptions (2017)
66% of students have not purchased a textbook because of costs
91% of faculty would use OER
53% of faculty would be open to help selecting and using OER.

15. Analysis of student and faculty perceptions (2017)
Methodology:
Separate surveys of faculty & students
Faculty: perception and understanding of OER adoption and usage
Students: Juniors & seniors asked about textbook costs

16. Analysis of student and faculty perceptions (2017)
Student responses affecting satisfaction
66% have not purchased a text due to cost
47% reported that not having a textbook negatively affected their grade
37% have dropped a class due to text costs
21% registered for fewer courses

17. Site: Houston Community College
Hilton, J., & Laman, C. (2012). Case Study:
One college's use of an open psychology
textbook. Open Learning, 27(3), 265.
Site: Houston Community College
Compared students using a traditional textbook with those using a Flat World Knowledge product
OER students scored higher in the dept. exam, had higher GPAs & higher retention

18. One college's use of an open psychology textbook (2012)
Methodology
Seven full-time faculty teaching 23 sections (690 students) on five campuses
Control group: previous semester
Research: surveyed the students

19. One college's use of an open psychology textbook (2012)
Results
Spring '11, trad. text
Fall 2012, FWK OER
GPA
1.6
2.0
Withdrawal rate
14%
7.1%
Dept. final exam
67.6
71.1
”Retention rates were also improved in classes that used the open textbooks.” p. 268

20. One college's use of an open psychology textbook (2012)
Critique
No data supplied re: retention
Survey of students not discussed
But a higher GPA, lower withdrawal rate and (slightly) higher final exam grades are all indicators of student success

21. More students accessed digital than purchased traditional texts
Feldstein, A. et al. (2012). Open textbooks and increased student access and outcomes. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, n2.
Year-long pilot study ca. 1,000 students in nine core VA School of Business
Swapped traditional texts for open texts with a Creative Commons license.
More students accessed digital than purchased traditional texts
Higher grades correlated with the use of open texts

22. Open textbooks and increased student access and outcomes (2012)
UVA School of Business began looking into OER when they discovered that under 50% of students purchased texts
They went with Flat World Knowledge and found that the solution increased access to educational materials.

23. Open textbooks and increased student access and outcomes (2012)
Method
Measure registration to FWK & download
Control group: Some courses used OER, some did not. They were not necessarily the same courses.

24. Open textbooks and increased student access and outcomes (2012)
The study lasted two semesters. Usage increased slightly in the second semester.
Survey response suggests 95% used FWK content, 87% used it online

25. Open textbooks and increased student access and outcomes (2012)
Students in courses using FWK content demonstrated
Higher grades
Lower failing rates
Lower withdrawal rates

26. Open textbooks and increased student access and outcomes (2012)
But –
5% did not access the online material
Gauging the number who accessed and read the material is challenging.

27. Pawlyshyn, N. , Braddlee, Casper, L. , & Miller, H. (2013)
Pawlyshyn, N., Braddlee, Casper, L., & Miller, H. (2013). Adopting OER: A case study of cross-institutional collaboration and innovation. EDUCAUSE Review, November.
Mercy is a minority-serving college teaching a Critical Inquiry (first year) seminar that wasn’t meeting the needs of students
During a “coffee fueled” discussion faculty and support staff settled on associating with a national project, The Project Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative (KOCI)

28. Adopting OER: A case study of cross-institutional collaboration and innovation (2013)
One barrier to progress was the need to work collaboratively with seven other institutions in a tight timeframe.
But they were darn tootin’ up for the challenge. “Free and better” soon became a catch-phrase.

29. Adopting OER: A case study of cross-institutional collaboration and innovation (2013)
Each of the seven institutions involved in the project were very different and Mercy found the “four Rs” of OER helpful in crafting a useful course.
The team created content modules drawn from material with a Creative Commons licenses.

30. Adopting OER: A case study of cross-institutional collaboration and innovation (2013)
Four Key Outcomes
End of semester assessments showed students in the classes using the KOCI material performed better than other students
Overall success and persistence rates increased in sections taught by KOCI faculty

31. Adopting OER: A case study of cross-institutional collaboration and innovation (2013)
Four Key Outcomes
3. Success rates continued to increase as more sections adopted the KOCI modules.
4. More KOCI modules are being created

32. Adopting OER: A case study of cross-institutional collaboration and innovation (2013)
“Creative use of OER offers tangible benefits to student success and retention, resulting in measurable performance increases.”
“Faculty collaboration, investment in professional development, and the ability to adapt to local conditions are keys to supporting OER adoption at the local level.”

33. Fischer, L. , Hilton, J. , Robinson, J. , & Wiley, D. (2015)
Fischer, L., Hilton, J., Robinson, J., & Wiley, D. (2015). A multi-institutional study of the impact of open textbook adoption
on the learning outcomes of postsecondary students.
Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 27, 159.
The purpose of the study was to analyze whether the use of open digital textbooks “significantly predicted students’ completion of courses, class achievement [grades] and enrollment intensity.”

34. Population Ca. 17,000 students, ca. 5,000 treatment subjects
A multi-institutional study of the impact
of open textbook adoption on the learning
outcomes of postsecondary students (2015)
Method Quantitative design with propensity-score matched sets to compare outcomes in treatment and control groups.
Population Ca. 17,000 students, ca. 5,000 treatment subjects

35. Rates of course completion Rates of a grade of C- or better
A multi-institutional study of the impact
of open textbook adoption on the learning
outcomes of postsecondary students (2015)
Questions
Rates of course completion
Rates of a grade of C- or better
Course grade
Enrollment intensity* during
Enrollment intensity after
*Credit load

36. A multi-institutional study of the impact
of open textbook adoption on the learning
outcomes of postsecondary students (2015)
Results
In the areas of course completion, grade of C- or higher, and final grade students in the treatment group all performed better than those the control.
Students in the treatment group all had higher course loads in the following semester.

37. Summary
Common metrics used to demonstrate the efficacy of OER are grades, withdraws, persistence, and course load.
Studies are our friends. They show us that OER influences student success, student satisfaction, and retention.

38. Bibliography
Feldstein, A., Martin, M., Hudson, A., Warren, K., Hilton, J., & Wiley, D. (2012). Open textbooks and increased student access and outcomes. European Journal of Open, Distance and E- Learning, 2
Fischer, L., Hilton, J., Robinson, J., & Wiley, D. (2015). A multi- institutional study of the impact of open textbook adoption on the learning outcomes of postsecondary students. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 27, 159.
Hilton, J., & Laman, C. (2012). Case study: One college's use of an open psychology textbook. Open Learning, 27(3), 265.
Martin, M. T., Belikov, O. M., Hilton, J., Wiley, D., & Fischer, L. (2017). Analysis of student and faculty perceptions of textbook costs in higher education. Open Praxis, 9(1), 79.
Pawlyshyn, N., Braddlee, Casper, L., & Miller, H. (2013). Adopting OER: A case study of cross- institutional collaboration and innovation. E DUCAUSE Review, November.

39. Thank you! Robert A. Harris harrisr@wpunj.edu
bit.ly//nercomp_OpenEd218