open educational resources impact in community colleges

OER Impact at Community Colleges

Dr. Rob FarrowThe Open University Una DalyCCCOER

Background

• Research project at The Open University (UK)

• Funded by William & Flora Hewlett Foundation for two years

• Two professors lead four researchers among a team of ten

• Tasked with building the most comprehensive picture of OER impact

• Organised by eleven research hypotheses

• Collaboration model across different educational sectors

• Global reach but with a USA focus

OER Research Hub

oerresearchhub.org

Keyword Hypothesis

Performance OER improve student performance/satisfaction

Openness People use OER differently from other online materials

Access OER widen participation in education

Retention OER can help at-risk learners to finish their studies

Reflection OER use leads educators to reflect on their practice

Finance OER adoption brings financial benefits for students/institutions

Indicators Informal learners use a variety of indicators when selecting OER

Support Informal learners develop their own forms of study support

Transition OER support informal learners in moving to formal study

Policy OER use encourages institutions to change their policies

Assessment Informal assessments motivate learners using OER

Collaboration Model

Collaboration Model

CCCOER Mission & Goals

Promote adoption of OER to enhance teaching and learning• Document impact of OER on teaching and learning • Promote integration of OER into curricula• Share best practices for OER through professional development opportunities.

Funded by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

General stuff about OERRH & CCCOER, collaboration

240+ Colleges in 16 states & provinces

Research Collaboration

Focus on impact of OER adoption on teaching practice, institutional policies and factors of cost and access

Feb-May 2013

Faculty Survey Development

IRB Process

May-Dec 2013

Survey Deployment

Ongoing

Interviews and focus groups with faculty; policymakers; students

Incorporation of institutional evidence into impact map

Jan-Apr 2014

Analysis & Dissemination

Survey Research in Community Colleges

• Many community colleges require IRB approval for faculty surveys

• IRBs may meet infrequently particularly during academic breaks

• IRBs limit approvals to prevent duplication and survey fatigue

• The process can take longer than expected - good planning is essential!

OER Impact Map

OER Impact Maphttp://chaos.open.ac.uk

Survey of College Educators

Methodology

136 usable survey responses were recorded:• De Anza College, CA (5)• Foothill College, CA (33) • Houston Community College, TX (41)• Northern Virginia Community College (30)• Roane State Community College, TN (13)• South Florida Community College, FL (4)

This is being supplemented with qualitative data gathered from college visits in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, and California.

Masters Degree61%

PhD or Professional Doctorate

36%

Bachelors Degree4%

Highest Educational Qualification

72%

11%

10%

6% 1%

Years of Teaching Experience

More than 107-104-61-3Less than 1

Work-based train-

ing

Part-time blended (face to face and distance/

online) teaching

Part-time face-to-

face teach-ing

Full-time distance/

online teaching

Full-time blended (face to face and distance/

online) teaching

Part-time distance/

online teaching

Full-time face to

face teach-ing

Series1 20 23 26 31 39 46 49

5

15

25

35

45

55

15%17%

19%

23%

29%

34%36%

Types of Teaching Activity

No.

of

resp

oses

I have adapted open educational

resources to fit my needs

I have created open educational

resources for study or teaching

I have added a re-source to a reposi-

tory

I have created resources myself

and published them on a Cre-ative Commons

(CC) licence

I have added comments to a

repository regard-ing the quality of a

resource

I have added comments to a repository sug-

gesting ways of us-ing a resource

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

52%

24%18%

11% 9% 7%

Patterns of OER Use

Of those that create OER (24%) less than half publish them on an open (CC) licence

• Most respondents were experienced teachers with postgraduate degrees

• A majority teach full-time and are involved in online instruction

• Around half have adapted/used OER but only around half of these create or upload OER

OER Behaviours

Data sets

Whole course

Interactive games

Infographics

Audio podcasts

Learning tools, instruments and plugins

Lesson plans

E-books

Tutorials

Elements of a course (e.g. a module/unit)

Open textbooks

Quizzes

Lectures

Images

Videos

7.9%

10.8%

12.2%

18 %

23%

25.2%

25.9%

29.5%

32.4%

34.5%

37.4%

38.1%

38.8%

64.7%

69.8%

Types of OER Used

Multimedia content is around twice as popular as other OER (including textbooks)

Few reported using a whole course of OER, suggesting they cherry pick resources as needed

Very few are using openly available data to teach

OER Repositories Used

Joru

mCur

riki

CK-12

OpenL

earn

Saylor

Fou

ndat

ion

Conne

xions

Wiki

book

s

MIT

Ope

n Cou

rsew

are

MOOC

Mer

lot

Creat

ive C

omm

ons

Khan

Acade

my

iTun

es/iT

unes

U

TED talks

YouTub

e/You

TubeE

du/Y

ouTub

eSch

ool

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

1% 2% 4% 5%9% 11% 13%

17% 20%26% 26%

32% 35%

43%

71%

Factors relevant to choosing OER

Being required to use a resource for a project/task

The resource featuring a catchy title or attractive image(s)

The resource having previously been used with students

Evidence of interest in that resource (e.g. lots of downloads)

The length/complexity of the resource

The resource being recently created, uploaded or updated

Personal recommendation

Having previously used this resource successfully

Use of interactive or multimedia content

Positive user ratings or comments about the resource

A description of learning objectives or outcomes being provided

The resource having a Creative Commons license

A detailed description of the resource content

The resource being easy to download

The resource having an open license allowing adaptation

Created/uploaded by a reputable/trusted institution/person

The resource being relevant to my particular interests/needs

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

7%

9%

21%

29%

33%

36%

42%

42%

43%

43%

48%

48%

48%

49%

51%

58%

69%

Impact on teachers/students

Impact on teaching practice from OER use

I make use of a wider range of multimedia

I reflect more on the way that I teach

I have broadened my coverage of the curriculum

I now use OER study to develop my teaching

I have improved ICT skills

I more frequently compare my own teaching with others

I have a more up-to-date knowledge of my subject area

I use a broader range of teaching and learning methods

I collaborate more with colleagues

I make more use of culturally diverse resources

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

6%

13%

14%

14%

16%

18%

19%

21%

22%

23%

3%

5%

1%

3%

4%

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

strongly agree– agree– neither agree nor disagree–disagree– strongly disagree–

OER: perceptions of impact on learners

... increases interest in the subjects taught

... builds confidence

... allows me to better accommodate learners' needs

... increases collaboration and/or peer-support

... increases enthusiasm for future study

... increases participation in class discussions

... increases satisfaction with the learning experience

... leads to improved student grades

... increases engagement with lesson content

... develops independence and self-reliance

... leads to interest in a wider range of subjects

... Increases experimentation with ways of learning

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

8.5%

8.6%

8.7%

11.5%

11.8%

12.3%

14.3%

15.2%

15.2%

15.4%

15.5%

17.1%

Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

Financial Savings

Has your institution saved money through OER?

yes44%

no20%

don't know37%

“OER resources are old-school, low-tech modules that are not peer-reviewed or nationally normed. There are some interesting tentative attempts at creativity but much of OER is cr*p.”

“Students return for additional classes”

“They don't like losing the revenue stream from the bookstore”

“I know that some instructors are only using OER which provides substantial savings for our students.”

Have your students saved money through OER?

yes62%

no13%

don't know25%

“Saving money is a big incentive for students and institutions.”

“I still use publishers' textbooks in my classes. I use OER as supplements to the textbook.”

“My students tell me and enrollment in my classes has continually increased over those of my peers.”

“I developed an online textbook for the personal health class that I teach. This saves each of my students approximately $100.”

“I know that some instructors are only using OER which provides substantial savings for our students.”

Student Retention

strongly agree12%

agree26%

neither agree nor disagree

50%

disagree7%

strongly disagree4%

“OER use helps at-risk students to continue their studies”

“Driving down the cost coupled with the ability to modify and adapt the material to meet the needs of my learners are two major factors in why I like using OER materials.”

• More than 1/3 believed that OER use promotes student retention

• Around half feel it has no effect

• The remainder (12%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with one noting that “other things are more important”.

Attitudes

“Some at-risk students benefit from OER because of the obvious release of financial obligation. Others are challenged by the technology and OER actually makes their success rates drop.”

“My concern is that at-risk students don't seem to do well in online environments because it doesn't always provide them the structure they need.”

“Many at risk students don't have the means to access high speed internet or have limited technological availability. To assume they do is simply wrong. Additionally, they have more complicated extrinsic factors impacting their lives, which may require more intensive contact from the instructor to keep them involved in the course. OER is not going to be a make or break issue of retention. It is not a panacea for at-risk students.”

“The biggest factors in physics for student attrition are time-constraints and insufficient previous preparation, neither of which is affected by the class resources.”

OER and retention of at-risk students: comments against

Materials are available in different languages

Availability of culturally-relevant ma-

terials

Materials can be used for improv-ing non-na-

tive lan-guage skills

Materials can be

adapted to suit student

needs

Greater range of learning methods

Use of re-sources for improving

study skills

Materials can be used

flexibly

Materials can be

accessed at any time

Reduced cost of

study mate-rials

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

11%18% 21%

35% 36% 36%

47%57% 60%

OER as promoter of student retention: factors

Importance of Open Licensing

How important is open licensing (e.g. CC)?

crucial20%

very important35%somewhat important

19%

neither important nor unimportant

22%

not at all important5%

More than half feel that open licensing is important, but fewer actually practice it.

This could indicate either 1) that educators are not confident about licensing their work or 2) they feel it is an avoidable addition to their workload.

Summary

Summary of Results

• Most of the respondents have used some sort of OER, though only around a quarter create OER

• Most report positive effects on their teaching practice as a result of OER use, particularly around peer collaboration and improved subject knowledge

• A smaller proportion (but still in excess of 40%) feel that OER use directly leads to improved reflection on pedagogical practice

• Positive effects were also identified for learners, especially around increased self-reliance, subject interest and experimentation

• There were similar numbers who thought OER wasn’t making much of a difference and a core of what might be termed ‘anti-OER’ responses

Summary of Results

• There were mixed views about whether OER was saving institutions money, but approximately 2/3 felt that students had saved money

• Around 1/3 believe that OER is improving student attrition while around 1/2 believe it is not having an effect

• Only around half of OER creators have used open licensing

• There is a core of advocates who understand and actively promote OER; they adopt open educational practices and believe it leads to benefits

Next Steps

Next Steps

• Further analysis of this cohort, including isolation of the OER advocates and OER detractors to identify behavioural and attitudinal patterns

• Mapping the survey data

• Cross-referencing with other OERRH surveys, e.g. Saylor ‘informal learners’ survey (n=3014) to build picture of different stakeholders/sectors

• Integration of institutional metrics and qualitative data gathered in field work

• Open dissemination of raw data; openly licensed research instruments

• Adding your data to OER Impact Map?

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