Post on 16-Feb-2017
Katrice A. Hawthorne, PhD
Karen Vignare, PhD
Reducing Student Barriers: The Impact of Adopting
OER at Scale Open Education Conference
November 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 Sources
E-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
● 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
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 & ContactKaren Vignare, Vice ProvostCenter for Innovation in Learning and Student SuccessUniversity of Maryland University College240-684-2610karen.vignare@umuc.edu
Katrice A. Hawthorne, Associate Director, Evaluation and ResearchCenter for Innovation in Learning and Student SuccessUniversity of Maryland University College240-684-2875katrice.hawthorne@umuc.edu