reducing student barriers: the impact of adopting oer at scale
TRANSCRIPT
Katrice A. Hawthorne, PhD
Karen Vignare, PhD
Reducing Student Barriers: The Impact of Adopting OER at
Scale Open Education
ConferenceNovember 18 - 20,
2015Vancouver BC, Canada
◼One of 11 accredited, degree-granting institutions in the University System of Maryland
◼Largest public, online open access university
◼Primarily online, but serving 50% military including bases worldwide
◼Undergrad & Grad Enrollment: 87,000
University of Maryland University College
◼47% minority (34% African American)◼20% Pell eligible ◼74% of undergrads enrolled in stateside programs work full-time
◼54% are working parents◼31- median age for stateside undergrads
UMUC Students
◼Fall 2014: 50% of undergraduate courses have free embedded e-resources
◼Fall 2015: 100% of undergraduate courses have free e-resources
◼Fall 2016: 100% of graduate courses have free e-resources
Scope and Timeline
◼A team of faculty, instructional designers, and librarians reviewed the learning outcomes of each course.
◼Located and identified appropriate OER◼Comprehensive review of each resource
performed◼When necessary, the team developed in-
house content to fill in gaps.◼Programming and production team
formatted the selected resources.
Implementation
Open Courseware ◼Open Learning
Initiative (OLI)◼MIT Open
CourseWare◼National
Repository of Online Courses (NROC)
Types of SourcesE-Books◼College Open
Textbooks◼Books 24x7
Subscription◼Openstax College◼Project Gutenberg
◼In Summer 2015, chi-square test conducted to examine the relationship between course completion and OER adoption.
◼34,099 students in 49 courses before and after OER adoption were examined.
Method
◼Significant difference in course completion after OER adoption, Χ2(1)=16.378, p < .001.
◼1.8% increase in course completion.
◼1.7% decrease in D and F grades.
Findings
◼In Fall 2015, log-linear analysis conducted to examine the relationship between course completion, OER adoption, and Pell status.
◼18,861 students in 49 courses from spring 2013, spring 2014, summer 2013, and summer 2014 before and after OER adoption were examined .
Method
◼Total sample = 18,861▪33% (n = 6,203)
◼Before OER sample = 9,681▪31.7% (n = 3,068)
◼After OER sample = 9,180 ▪34.2% (n = 3,135)
Sample - Pell
Findings Before OERn = 3,068 (Pell)
After OERn = 3,135 (Pell)
◼In Fall 2015, log-linear analysis conducted to examine the relationship between course completion, OER adoption, and military status.
◼18,861 students in 49 courses from spring 2013, spring 2014, summer 2013, and summer 2014 before and after OER adoption were examined .
Method
◼Total sample =18,861▪38% (n =7,097) service members.
◼Before OER sample = 9,681▪36% (n = 3,485) service members.
◼After OER sample = 9,180▪39% (n = 3,612) service members.
Sample - Military
Findings
FindingsBefore OER
Service Membersn = 3,485
Military - Othern = 1,653
Non-military n 4,543
After OER
Service Membersn = 3,612
Military - Othern = 1,605
Non-military n = 3,963
Cost-Savings Analysis
◼Spring, Summer, and Fall 2014 Enrollment = 70,014
◼Average Textbook Cost = $94.06
◼Potential Cost Savings = $5,167,748.82
◼601 undergraduate courses with a total headcount of 106,127 students
◼Potential cost-savings of $7,869,185.32
Fall 2015 Cost-Savings Analysis
Limitations◼Non-experimental design◼Limited controls◼Threats to validity◼Cost-savings analysis assumes all students would purchase new textbooks
◼Enhanced faculty and staff expertise in content development
◼Increased opportunity for learner-content interaction
◼Increased college affordability
Return on Investment
◼OER do not seem to negatively impact student learning.
◼Potentially save millions of dollars in out-of-pocket textbook costs.
Discussion
Questions & Contact
Karen Vignare, Vice ProvostCenter for Innovation in Learning and Student SuccessUniversity of Maryland University [email protected]
Katrice A. Hawthorne, Associate Director, Evaluation and ResearchCenter for Innovation in Learning and Student SuccessUniversity of Maryland University [email protected]