Launching a Z CredAn Early Snapshot of Achieving the Dream’s

OER Degree Initiative and Emerging Lessons

Richard Sebastian, Director, Achieving the Dream’s OER Degree Initiative

Unless otherwise licensed, this presentation is licensed CC BY 4.0.

What does Motörhead’s Lemmy Killmeister have

to do with the Periodic Table of the Elements?

6

Audience Poll

High textbook costs are a barrier to post-

secondary access, academic success, and

college completion

Textbook Costs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHsiRyyDVTc

-2016, Florida Virtual Campus Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey

One promising solution to high textbook

costs is the adoption and use of open

educational resources (OER)

Open Educational Resources

CC-BY: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johanl/6966883093

OERare freely available materials that can be

downloaded, edited, and shared to better

serve all students.

• Make and own a copyRetain

• Use in a wide range of waysReuse

• Adapt, modify, and improveRevise

• Combine two or moreRemix

• Share with othersRedistribute

Maintaining Momentum Toward Graduation OER and the Course Throughput Rate

Hilton, Fischer, Wiley, and Williams

International Review

of Research in Open and

Distance Learning (IRRODL)

Course Throughput Rate

Hilton, et.al,2016

Drop

Deadline

Withdraw

Deadline

Final

Grade

Students

Commercial vs OER

2.3% | 1.8%

9.9% | 8.1%

68% | 74%

Face to Face

60% | 66%

Drop

Withdraw

C or Better

CTRHilton, et.al,2016

Commercial vs OER

4.0% | 1.4%

13.7% | 13.1%

66% | 70%

Online

54% | 60%

Drop

Withdraw

C or Better

CTRHilton, et.al,2016

OER adoption and useImproves affordability

Increases student access and

success

Invigorates pedagogy*

Virginia Community College System

Z-Degree

Zx23 Project

OER Degree Initiative Colleges

38 colleges in 13 states

The mission of Achieving the Dream is to lead and support a national network of

community colleges to achieve sustainable institutional transformation through

sharing knowledge, innovative solutions, and effective practices and policies leading

to improved outcomes for all students.

Achieving the Dream's

Institutional Capacity Framework

OER

OER Degree Initiative Colleges

38 colleges in 13 states

Funders

Partners

The redesign of a pathway of existing courses

that lead to a degree or certificate using OER

instead of proprietary course materials.

What is a OER Degree?

Develop minimum 20 OER courses that meet

the requirements for a degree

Course certified as open by Lumen Learning

What is a OER Degree?

Offer at least one OER degree Zed Cred with

at least one (1) section of every required

course and at least one (1) section of a

sufficient number of general education and

other elective courses

Collect and share student data to support the

initiative’s research and evaluation program

Grantee Goals

Goals

Share all educational materials developed

through this project with the public

Ensure access by and support for low

income students and students of color in

their OER degree programs

Grantee Goals

Goals

Degrees and CertificatesAcross the colleges, OER pathways are planned for 53 degrees or

certificates.

1. Academic outcomes: Do students who take multiple

OER degree classes make more progress to degree

than similar students who take traditional classes?

2. What are the economic impacts of OER degrees on

institutions and students? How cost effective is this

model?

3. What are best practices, facilitators, and barriers

associated with implementation of OER degree

programs?

4. What impacts do OER degrees have on key

stakeholders’ experiences and on institutional culture?

Research questions

Timeline

June Feb

Final Report

September 2019

June 20, 2017

Download the reporthttps://goo.gl/Qg4YB8

33

Key Takeaways

1. Converting 20+ courses to OER is a lot of work.

Important to consider what supports and incentives are

needed to recruit and retain a wider circle of

instructors.

1. OER degrees are an opportunity to build momentum

and a strategic framework around grassroots OER

efforts, and connect individual work to larger purpose

1. Launching and sustaining OER degrees requires

coordinated effort across units to provide coherent

student experience and a shared vision of success

1. Grow faculty engagement and positive

attitudes

2. Lower barriers to course development

3. Ensure academic freedom and grassroots’

support

4. Ensure continued funding and resources

5. Connect to institutional systems and

policies

6. Share understanding of strategic rationale

Sustaining OER Degree

Pathways

Grow faculty

engagement and

positive attitudes

Sustainability

Use of OER “aligns with our institutional focus on culturally

relevant pedagogy and community-based learning, which

furthers BHCC’s commitment to fostering the success of

diverse student populations.”

Sustainability

Sustainability

Lower barriers to

course development

Sustainability

Ensure academic

freedom and

grassroots’ support

Sustainability

Sustainability

Ensure continued

funding and resources

All students who earn an associate’s degree at Odessa College will be able to complete the 42 hour degree core without paying any textbook costs.*

Sustainability

Sustainability

Connect to

institutional systems

and policies

43

Sustainability

Sustainability

Share understanding

of strategic rationale

Sustainability

“Open education is a part of the Pierce College

Strategic Plan. By defining open education as a

shift in course materials as well as a shift in

pedagogy, this strategic plan seeks to create

access to education through lower costs while

adding both rigor and engagement to our

teaching.”

Sustainability

https://www.cccoer.org/casestudy/

Richard Sebastian

Director, OER Degree Initiative

rsebastian@achievingthedream.org

Today’s slideshttps://www.slideshare.net/oer_degree

Pathways to OER Degree

How did colleges arrive at this point?

OER as

core

strategic

initiative

Grassroots led

Administrator led

Service unit led

How did

colleges arrive

at this point?

Where can this

lead?

Faculty Engagement

As of fall 2016, 410 instructors

were involved in developing and/or

teaching OER courses.

Over half of the instructors are or

will be teaching with OER for the

first time.

51

Instructor Characteristics and Background

These instructors are also…

• Experienced with technology

• Experienced with collaboration

Recruited personally

52

Faculty Time Required To Develop OER

Course

37.0%

26.4% 26.0%

1.3% 0.4%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Much more time(twice as much

or more)

More time(about one andhalf times as

much)

About the sameamount of time

Less time (aboutthree quarters

as much)

Much less time(about half asmuch or less)

Does using OER take more or less time than using traditional instructional materials?

53

Perceived Barriers to OER Course

Development

54

Use Of Supports By Instructors

55

Attracting and Retaining Instructors

• Lower barriers to OER conversion by providing training, course

development supports, and mechanisms to collaborate with

colleagues

• Instructors who are satisfied with their training generally perceive

lower barriers and are more likely to recommend OER to

colleagues

• Address concerns about academic freedom and instructor

control over course content

• Get students involved in evangelizing and raising awareness of

the financial burden of textbooks

• Communicate the bigger vision of the OER degree to instructors

and other stakeholders