Impact Of Open Educational Resources Research Articles

Post-COVID-19 assessment of the use of Open Educational Resources at five European Library and Information Science higher education institutions

This article presents an analysis of the impact of Open Educational Resources (OER) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their potential use in the post-pandemic, in Library and Information Science (LIS) higher education institutions. The research explored how OER were used and created, what were the main barriers and drivers in practice and some main lessons learned that can help to improve the quality and increase the use of OER beyond times of crisis. The research was based on fieldwork carried out in the LIS departments of the universities of Barcelona (Spain), Hildesheim (Germany), Osijek and Zagreb (Croatia) and the University of Library Studies and Information Technologies in Sofia (Bulgaria). The methodology approach was qualitative and was based on interviews with faculty and focus groups with students. Results show that faculty members were still hesitant to adopt OER since they generally did not consider them. Moreover, those who did use them did so on their own initiative and as additional resources. We discuss the different speeds of OER implementation that have been observed depending on the faculty’s prior level of knowledge, and on whether their institutions and countries are prepared to support the use of OER. The promotion of post-pandemic OER involves greater capacity building, as well as collaboration and institutional support. Students’ attitudes about the usefulness of OER focus on their availability. The large number of teachers and students who participated in the study, as well as the international scope of the study, constitute a strength in the treatment of a topic such as the use of OER where the user perspectives and LIS context have been little addressed in the literature.

The Impact of Open Educational Resources Based Professional Development on the Bhutanese Secondary Biology In-service and Pre-Service Teachers

This study examined the impact of Open Educational Resources (OER) based professional development of secondary school biology teachers in Samtse Dzongkha in Bhutan. It highlights the importance of teaching and learning biology in secondary classrooms, emphasising its relevance to students' understanding of science, the environment, and their future academic and career choices. Recognising the challenges faced by teachers and students in biology education, STEM teacher educators from Samtse College of Education underwent professional development using OERs and online sessions facilitated by experts from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in India. These educators collaborated with peers from Tanzania, Nigeria, and TISS to develop six-week-long OERs on specific biology topics, which were then shared with selected in-service and pre-service biology teachers in Bhutan through Moodle platform. Additionally, an online Community of Practice (CoP) was established on Telegram to support the ongoing professional development. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, utilising pre and post-test scores, lesson plans, reflections, and interviews to assess the impact of the OERs on teachers. The CoP network was also analysed to understand communication patterns and knowledge sharing within the community. The results from pre-test and post-test assessments across these modules showcased marginal improvements in teachers' subject content knowledge. Detailed analysis of lesson plans and reflections revealed evolving proficiency in various pedagogical domains. Notably, many teachers sought technological integration, demonstrating an eagerness to utilize digital tools for enhancing student engagement. Despite these positive trends, a significant gap in high expertise levels among teachers was observed, particularly in the Genetics module. This hints at an underlying need for enriched professional development opportunities in specific content areas. Therefore, findings of this study concludes by recommending educational institutions to support continuous professional development for biology teachers through the integration of OERs, thereby improving the quality of biology education.

The impact of open educational resources on student achievement: A meta-analysis

The cost of course materials has continued to increase over time. Consequently, the use of Open Education Resources (OER) have become increasingly popular among instructors and institutions as a method of reducing college costs. Furthermore, using OER also reduces inequity in higher education by increasing the accessibility of course materials to all students. The present study investigated the efficacy of courses that used OER compared to those that did not on student achievement. Twenty-six articles were included in this meta-analysis. In OER courses, there was a higher completion rate with students earning at least a C (k = 12; d = 0.29) or at least a D (k = 6; d = 0.61). Furthermore, OER courses were associated with a higher course grade (k = 26; d = 0.17). These findings suggest that adopting OER can be a scalable, cost-effective, powerful, and successful method for educators and institutions to reduce the cost of attending college while bolstering student success.

3D open educational resources and emergent pedagogy in university training in health sciences. The affordances and pedagogies of creativity

Introduction: UNESCO defines Open Educational Resources (OER) as freely accessible and adaptable educational materials, whose integration in education, especially in post-pandemic times and in the digital era, has been limited, despite the efforts of institutions such as the Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza to promote their use in hybrid and flexible teaching modalities. This study analyzes the transformation of higher education in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the integration and impact of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Methods: A literature review and analysis of current educational practices in universities was conducted, with special attention to the adoption of OER and the use of hybrid and digital teaching methodologies. Results: The results indicate that, despite the accessibility and adaptability of OER, their adoption in university education has not been extensive, mainly attributed to lack of knowledge about their use and potential. The pandemic has accelerated the need to adapt pedagogical strategies, highlighting the importance of interaction and collaboration in learning. Maker pedagogy and 3D printing are identified as valuable tools to improve understanding and practical skills, especially in the health sciences. Conclusion: The study concludes that post-pandemic education requires an adaptive, interactive and technologically integrated approach, promoting continuous learning and adaptation to changing cultural and cognitive practices. It underscores the need to democratize design and manufacturing technologies and to foster collaborative and participatory learning communities through OER.

Impact of open educational resources on student performance in an introductory Geography course

ABSTRACT There is a growing body of evidence that Open Educational Resources (OERs) are a viable alternative to traditional “for cost” teaching materials. This paper provides a reflection on the process and outcomes of developing and implementing OER within an introduction Human-Environment Geography lecture-laboratory course. Evidence is further provided in support of improvements to the academic performance and completion rates of students enrolled in the course after the implementation of OERs over a period of 4–6 years. Results of the study indicate students’ academic performance significantly increased once OERs were incorporated into the classroom compared to the use of traditional materials purchased by the students. The rate of student withdrawal also was significantly less once OERs were implemented. The improvements to students’ academic performance and retention occurred despite OER being only used in the laboratory component of the course, suggesting that even a partial implementation of OERs can still have significant positive effects. The use of OERs can be considered as a legitimate option to increasing retention and student academic success in the Geography classroom.

Open educational resources and the 2020 AACSB accreditation guidelines

The revised Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) 2020 Standards inspire the deployment of a sophisticated Assurance of Learning program and promote important impact expectations. Open Educational Resources (OER) projects offer a unique opportunity for public institutions to work together to promote the important standards of learner success and societal impact. A collaborative OER project between two public, accredited institutions, produced outcomes supporting several standards in the revised 2020 AACSB Accreditation Guidelines. While access to quality education is a core AACSB value, the impact of OER in business education is understudied. This article highlights how the benefits of OER flow beyond student satisfaction and access, to include prospects of accreditation success for an institution.

OER Impact Assessment: A framework for higher education institutions and beyond. Approaches to assess the impact of Open Educational Resources

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of approaches to and insights for impact assessment on open educational resources (OER) in higher education and building on this to sketch a framework for university focussed OER impact assessment. The authors describe the literature on impact assessment in the OER context and the existing contributions to OER impact assessment in higher education. Findings of the analysis are that there are few contributions on the effects of OER in general or of specific OER initiatives. Four contributions are presented in more detail. From these examples and the literature analysis, derivations, and challenges for OER impact assessment are drawn, such as the large diversity in OER purposes and the invisibility of the re-usage of OER. The contribution sketches a framework model for describing OER-relevant results, outcomes, and impact, and more specifically demonstrates how this can be done for exemplary OER-related objectives. This contribution is thus of relevance to funding bodies and institutions working in the context of higher education that wish to systematically evaluate and monitor statements about the effectiveness of OER activities according to the UNESCO (2019) OER recommendation.

Open educational resources as an innovative teaching practice in Kazakhstan

The pandemic period has influenced the fact that digital technologies have become social, as there is coverage of users of all levels of social institutions - family, educational organizations, society. The purpose of the article is to present the results of a pedagogical study on the impact of open educational resources on the educational process of a higher Kazakh school. The methodology of the study was the theoretical teachings of D. Atkins, J. Brown and A. Hammond; sociological survey of studying universities operating in Aktobe region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The results of the study were the results of a sociological study to identify the level of the formed system of ICT competencies, carried out according to the Bocharova S.T. methodology "Tool for assessing the formation of ICT competence of students." The authors analyze the features of social technologies, their influence on the educational process on the example of universities in the Aktobe region. Keywords: open educational resources, online courses, e-learning, Internet technologies, educational marketing

Let Students Choose: Examining the Impact of Open Educational Resources on Performance in General Chemistry

General chemistry is a gateway course for most STEM majors, so student success is a priority for chemistry faculty. Providing quality information resources for students, including textbooks, is one way that instructors can support student learning. However, these resources can be prohibitively expensive for some students, causing them to opt out of purchasing a textbook or incur stress from the costs of time and money to obtain a textbook. Open educational resources (OERs) are no-cost materials, available in the public domain, that students and instructors can use to reduce the financial burden of college coursework. However, as chemistry instructors consider adopting OERs, they may be concerned about the time cost to reframe their courses around different materials, the risk of negatively impacting student learning, and whether the benefits to students outweigh those costs and risks. Although the financial benefits to students have been established, and the evidence suggests minimal risk of poor academic outcomes, the cost to instructors continues to be prohibitively high. In this study, the instructor used a commercial text as the official resource for the course and offered students a choice to use either the commercial textbook or an OER textbook. This soft adoption of OERs dramatically reduced the time cost associated with using the OER for the instructor, while providing financial benefits to students who chose the OER. To address the risk that using an OER might negatively impact student performance, we investigated the impact of student textbook choice on student performance in general chemistry, controlling for relevant academic and affective variables. We found that students using OER performed as well as students using the commercial textbook. With minimal effort, chemistry instructors can provide a no-cost alternative for students, with confidence that it will not detrimentally affect their learning.

Impact of OER in Teacher Education

The purpose of this research study, which employed a quantitative research design, was to determine if there was a difference in the grades achieved by students who were enrolled in an entry-level Foundations of Education course using Open Educational Resources (OER) versus the grades achieved by students who used textbooks in other course sections. The goal was to find out whether OER was of the same or higher quality as textbooks in our minority-serving higher education institution. The outcomes revealed that there was no significant difference in grades for course sections that used OER when compared to course sections that used textbooks. Thus, it can be concluded that OER were as good as the textbook usage. The study was conducted at Hostos Community College (HCC), a two-year college of City University of New York (CUNY). CUNY is comprised of 25 campuses across the five boroughs in New York City, USA.

How Directing Formal Students to Institutionally-Delivered OER Supports their Success

The OpenLearn platform was launched in 2006 with the aim of delivering excerpts of the Open University’s (UK) (OU) curriculum as open educational resources (OER). Now reaching over 8.5m learners a year, the platform delivers free courses, educational interactives, videos and articles across a broad range of subjects reflecting what is delivered formally to students and through topical, engaging content. The OU is the UK’s largest university for undergraduate education with around 170,000 enrolled students primarily engaged in online, distance education.Whilst previous studies on OpenLearn had revealed the demographics of learners using the platform (Law et al., 2013; Perryman et al., 2013; Law & Jelfs, 2016), platform-derived analytics showed that a high proportion of OU students were also using OpenLearn, despite it not performing any formally directed role in the delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. This paper discusses research undertaken with OU students in 2017 to examine their experience and motivations for using OpenLearn and the potential impact on their learning. Surveys were issued to 10,000 students with the resulting data informing university strategy around the function of OER as a means to motivate, prepare and retain students.Data showed that students are using OpenLearn for module choice, as a taster of OU study before signing up, for study preparedness, time-management planning, confidence-building, assessment support and professional development. In addition, OU students who use OpenLearn are more likely to be retained and to progress to their next course.This paper will also discusses recommendations and actions taken from this research that were realised in 2018 and early results from this, ostensibly the impact of a project to integrate OER into the student induction process.The data revealed in this paper will be of interest to the wider academic community, HE policy-makers, those involved in delivering non-accredited learning and the impact of OER.

Results from a Psychology OER pilot program: faculty and student perceptions, cost savings, and academic outcomes

This case study describes the library’s experience of collaborating with an undergraduate Psychology Department at Touro College to integrate open textbooks into their program. We discuss the pedagogical changes as well as explore the impact of Open Educational Resources (OER) on students’ savings, their academic outcomes and perceptions of OER. Furthermore, we highlight the successes and shortcomings in having the library as a central OER partner. To measure the results, we surveyed students and conducted a faculty survey and a focus group, in addition to analyzing the students’ final grades. This pilot program delivered strong results. The students’ perception was very positive, and faculty’s opinions on the textbooks used were mixed. Some professors felt that the textbook lacked important content, but because of its openness, they added their own content to the book. Students enrolled in OER courses performed better than those enrolled in the same courses using a commercial textbook.

Impact of Open Educational Resources on Course DFWI Rates in Undergraduate Online Education

Impact of Open Educational Resources on Course DFWI Rates in Undergraduate Online Education

A Social Justice Framework for Understanding Open Educational Resources and Practices in the Global South

At the heart of the open educational resources (OER) movement is the intention to provide affordable access to culturally relevant education to all. This imperative could be described as a desire to provide education in a manner consistent with social justice which, according to Fraser (2005), is understood as “parity of participation”. Drawing on her concept of social justice, we suggest a slight modification of Fraser’s framework for critically analysing ways in which the adoption and impact of OER and their undergirding open educational practices (OEP) might be considered socially just. We then provide illustrative examples from the cross-regional Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) project (2014-2017) to show how this framework can assist in determining in what ways, if at all, the adoption of OER and enactment of OEP have responded to economic inequalities, cultural inequities and political exclusions in education. Furthermore, we employ Fraser’s (2005) concepts to identify whether these social changes are either “affirmative” (i.e., ameliorative) or “transformative” in their economic, cultural and political effects in the Global South education context.

Evaluating the Impact of Open Educational Resources: A Case Study

This paper presents a case study of the replacement of a textbook with free to use materials in a class on Human Factors and Ergonomics. Data on exam grades, course grades, and student opinions over a total of five semesters are reported, before and after the implementation. The results show that class performance remained similar before and after. The use of free resources has not appeared to negatively affect learning outcomes. Advantages and challenges to the development and use of free materials are discussed.

The Impact of OER on Instructional Effectiveness: A Case Study

Background:This descriptive study aims to investigate the instructional effectiveness of Open Educational Resources (OER).Materials and methods:It was conducted with 1196 university students who were enrolled in a general chemistry course with an experimental laboratory section. These students voluntarily used OER for their lab activities. Data were collected via a printed, 18-question survey.Results:Results showed that about half of the students were aware of the OER, and half of these informed students used it. Nonetheless, four advantages of the OER were determined: preparation for topic in advance, facilitating learning, time saving, and improving grades.Conclusions:Although OER have several advantages, only a limited number of them actively use it. Thus, it appears that students should be more informed about the system, which would ultimately pave the way for increased usage.

Who are the Open Learners? A Comparative Study Profiling Non-Formal Users of Open Educational Resources

Abstract Open educational resources (OER) have been identified as having the potential to extend opportunities for learning to non-formal learners. However, little research has been conducted into the impact of OER on non-formal learners. This paper presents the results of a systematic survey of more than 3,000 users of open educational resources (OER). Data was collected between 2013 and 2014 on the demographics, attitudes and behaviours of users of three repositories. Questions included a particular focus on the behaviours of non-formal learners and the relationship between formal and non-formal study. Frequency analysis shows that there are marked differences in patterns of use, user profiles, attitudes towards OER, types of materials used and popularity of different subjects. The experience of using OER is fairly consistent across platforms in terms of satisfaction and impact on future behaviour. On the whole, non-formal learners surveyed were highly positive about their use of OER and believe they will continue to use them. With regards to this making formal study more likely some degree of polarization was observed: some believed formal study was now more likely, while others felt it made this less likely. On the whole, while non-formal learners are enthusiastic about using free and online resources, the language and concept of OER does not seem to be well understood in the groups surveyed. A range of findings relating to OER selection and use as well as differences between repositories are explored in the discussion.

Mainstreaming Open Textbooks: Educator Perspectives on the Impact of OpenStax College open textbooks

<p>This paper presents the results of collaborative research between OpenStax College, who have published 16 open textbooks to date, and the OER Research Hub, a Hewlett funded open research project examining the impact of open educational resources (OER) on learning and teaching. The paper focuses primarily on the results of two surveys that were conducted with educators during 2013 and 2014/2015. These surveys focused on use and perceptions of OER and OpenStax College materials, financial savings and perceptions of impact on both educators and students. This paper reports on the research findings related to the impact of OER on educator practice and make a series of specific recommendations based on these findings. </p>

Simulando colisiones. Integración de la tecnología en el nivel secundario

La inclusión del uso de simulaciones en el aula proporciona a los docentes una herramienta alternativa para la implementación de clases de Física. En este trabajo se comentan los resultados de una estrategia implementada en el tema de colisiones elásticas e inelásticas, en una dimensión. La misma se llevó a cabo con alumnos de cuarto año del nivel secundario, que desconocen el tema. En la clase se utilizó una simulación en el marco de una investigación más amplia sobre el impacto del uso de recursos educativos abiertos. Las actividades se desarrollaron con la interpretación de imágenes apoyadas con la simulación. Los estudiantes mostraron entusiasmo en la tarea y la mayoría logró interpretar el fenómeno físico, pero el tiempo destinado para el desarrollo de las tareas no fue suficiente para internalizar el vocabulario científico.

Learning the Lessons of Openness

The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement has built up a record of experience and achievements since it was formed 10 years ago as an identifiable approach to sharing online learning materials. In its initial phase, much activity was driven by ideals and interest in finding new ways to release content, with less direct research and reflection on the process. It is now important to consider the impact of OER and the types of evidence that are being generated across initiatives, organisations and individuals. Drawing on the work of OLnet (<span style="text-decoration: underline;">http://olnet.org</span>) in bringing people together through fellowships, research projects and supporting collective intelligence about OER, we discuss the key challenges facing the OER movement. We go on to consider these challenges in the context of another project, Bridge to Success (<span style="text-decoration: underline;">http://b2s.aacc.edu</span>), identifying the services which can support open education in the future. <span class="sub_head">Keywords:</span> OER, policy, open education, services, reflection, collective intelligence