Reducing Student Barriers: The Impact of Adopting OER at Scale

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]