Effectiveness of OER Use in First-Year Higher Education Students’ Mathematical Course Performance

Juan Ignacio Venegas Muggli,Werner Westermann

doi:10.19173/irrodl.v20i2.3521

Abstract

This article examines the effect of two Open Educational Resources (OER) - Khan Academy Collection and a teacher-authored open textbook - on mathematical course performance and attendance amongst first-year higher education Chilean students. It also aims to find out about teachers’ and students’ views on the use of OER in order to understand how these resources are used and valued. To this end, quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. Findings indicate that students in face-to-face classes who used Khan Academy resources obtained better examination grades than students who used the open textbook or relied on traditional proprietary textbooks. Moreover, it was also found that students who used both types of OER had significantly lower attendance levels than students who relied on traditional proprietary textbooks. Finally, it was observed that teachers and students had very positive opinions on the use of both the Khan Academy Collection and open textbook resources.

Highlights

IntroductionAs nations seek to develop their human capital in order to participate in a society of global knowledge, there is increasing pressure on educational systems, those in higher education, to meet growing demands for equal educational opportunities and to supply high quality, relevant, and efficient formal and informal educational processes
Education is a pivotal means of promoting development in any country
Each coefficient in the first row describes the effect of the use of an Open Educational Resources (OER) regarding a specific comparison group in terms of standard deviations, while the second row shows the standard errors of these effects

Summary

Introduction

As nations seek to develop their human capital in order to participate in a society of global knowledge, there is increasing pressure on educational systems, those in higher education, to meet growing demands for equal educational opportunities and to supply high quality, relevant, and efficient formal and informal educational processes. Both equity and quality are major challenges for national educational systems in terms of the level of innovation and transformation required. It promotes competencies such as critical thinking, imagining future scenarios, making decisions, and solving problems in a collaborative way

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion