Scaling up a Bridge to Success

Helping US Community Colleges use OER

Scaling up a Bridge to Success!

Diverse Audiences and Unexpected Outcomes in Cross-Institutional OER

PracticePatrick McAndrew, Tim Coughlan and Beck Pitt

http://b2s.aacc.edu/

Overview and Aims

• What is the project and what was involved? • Research overview: what we did… and

how we did it!• Piloting the content • Beyond Content… • Conclusion and next steps• Resources and Bibliography

How? What? Who?

The project aimed to offer free, open educational resources to prepare adults to successfully and confidently transition to a college environment in the US, to pursue advanced qualifications, or to be successful in their chosen careers…

Next Generation Learning Challenges

Use of B2S materials to date

Research Overview: What we did… and how we did it!

Product Design/Adaptation Process

Contexts of Use

Student and Institutional Experience

Student Outcomes

Project Impact

Surveys, interviews, focus groups

In-depth student evaluation, unit by

unit

Institutional student data

Action research interviews with project

team

Analytics of website use

Analysis of interviews, meetings,

emails etc.

Who piloted the content? As at August 2012

• A total of eleven college and non-college institutions (October 2011 – August 2012).

• A total of 17 out of 26 completed pilots had been conducted with cohorts of low-income students. A further 16 pilots were ongoing at this date (total = 42 distinct pilots).

• Bridge to Success (B2S) exceeded its unique user and pilot participant targets: 1822 current/completed participants and, by September 2012, over 6,000 unique users of B2S materials.

From theory to practice… Piloting the content

Piloting the Content: Colleges and data collection challenges

• Nine colleges piloted Bridge to Success materials during the project’s pilot phase (October 2011 – August 2012).

As at August 2012

• Of the completed pilots that have submitted 100% of their data, and as reported by instructors, 88% of students who completed B2S materials persisted to next semester.

• 98% of these students mastered the subject matter and 96% mastered deeper learning.

63% of these college students were low income.

Of these low income students, 99% persisted to the

next semester, 96% mastered the subject matter

and 94% mastered deeper learning.

Case Study One: Diverse audiences International Workforce Development Agency: supported people across Maryland for over 90 years.

This pilot utilised specific units of the B2S maths course until end of August 2012 to enable students to complete a new requirement math pre-test for a Weatherization program.

Students who originally failed the math entrance exam, 80% passed after working with B2S resources for a 1-3 week period.

Currently B2S courses are being translated into Spanish via a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Open Translation Tools and practices lead by the OU (UK) Department of Languages. Massive potential for use with Hispanic speaking populations both in the US and elsewhere.

Case Study Two: Diverse Audiences

Family Support Centre in residential area where:

“85% of families are headed by a single female parent;

90% have not completed high school and do not have a GED;

95% are unemployed, underemployed or receive welfare or other social services.”(Source: Case Study Two Family Support Centre leaflet 2012)

Piloting both B2S courses within context of specific GED/Pre-GED classes.

“Challenges that are unique to our setting and population”

Time

Other commitments: parenting

Lack of access to computers

Beyond Content… “I’m not a computer literate person, I always

dealt with things hands-on, it’s paper and

pencil and I deal with things hands-on … I

mean I came out of school in ’88…For me to go

online and learn online, it’s a challenge.”

(Bridge to Success pilot participant, March

2012)

Math & Learning/Personal Development: Content of B2S courses relevant to all.

Access to OER remains a critical issue: relation between low income and access to internet at home.

Accessibility and mobile devices: making materials multi-format, e.g. ePubs, printable versions, etc.“The National Assessment of

Educational Progress found that

41% of eighth graders in free and

reduced lunch programs have

home Internet access compared to

72% of their fi

nancially better off

peers.” (Kaminski, S

eel & Cullen,

2003)

Conclusion and Next Steps… What next for Bridge to Success?

• More research – with Hewlett funded OER Research Hub.

• Refined content – based on analysis and feedback.

• Link with other material - Overcoming Math Anxiety webshop.

• Challenges – soft accreditation/badge ready.

• More use – integrated into college curriculum and beyond.

• Content transfer – Saylor Foundation/DVD for prisons.

• Supporting the under-served.

THANK YOU!

Tim Coughlan [email protected]

@t1mc

Patrick McAndrew [email protected]

@openpad

Beck Pitt [email protected]

@BeckPitt

Resources and what to do next

• Watch a review of Bridge to Success functionality and the courses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pHyYO5d01I

• Visit the Bridge to Success website: http://b2s.aacc.edu/

• Find out more about the Open Educational Resources at the Open University and how our research can help you! http://www8.open.ac.uk/about/open-educational-resources/

Bibliography

• Bailey & Cho Issue Brief: Developmental Education in Community Colleges prepared for The White House Summit on Community Colleges (October 2010)

• Bridge to Success Report One: Adaptation, Integration and Engagement

• Case Study Two Family Support Centre Leaflet 2012

• Kaminski, K. Seel, P. & Cullen K. Technology Literate Students? Results from a Survey (2003, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, No 3)