Transcript Open Educational Resources in Action: Beyond the Textbook

Cost Savings and User
Perceptions of OER
John Hilton III
http://johnhiltoniii.org
Open Education Group
http://openedgroup.org/
Problems
• Textbook costs are a significant part of overall
college expenses.
• High costs of education may deter some students
from pursuing or continuing their education.
• While free resources are sometimes available,
some question whether books that are
distributed for free online will have the
educational impact of full-color textbooks that
have been vetted by traditional publishers.
Frustration with the Rising cost of education
• According to the Consumer Price Index, from 2007
to 2011
– The cost for Educational Books and Supplies has risen 26%
– The cost for Tuition has risen 21%
• According to the National Center for Education
Statistics
– Average earnings for college students have dropped by 3%
Image Source: http://thethinkerblog.com
Attempts to contain costs of Textbooks
• Containing textbooks costs is difficult.
– New Editions are released with no significant added value.
– Used books are often unavailable due to
• Discontinuation by the bookstore
• Design of the book itself
• Need for an Online Software Package
• Attempts to teach a course without a textbook
– Limit the resources available to the student
– Place a much greater workload on faculty
– Increase printing costs for the college
Solutions
• We can ask users of textbooks (professors,
students) how they perceive the quality of OER
replacements for textbooks.
• We can quantify the amount of money saved by
OER.
• We can measure the effectiveness of students in
classes utilizing OER versus those in classrooms
with traditional textbooks.
Can Open Textbooks Make a Difference?
Comparing Open and
Traditional Textbooks
• Houston Community College’s use of OER in
their Introduction to Psychology course
• Scottsdale Community College’s use of OER
across several math classes
• The Kaleidoscope Project
Houston Community College
• Houston Community College (HCC) is a large
community college with more than 70,000
students. 33% of its students are Hispanic, 33%
are African American, 17% are white, 14% Asian,
and 3% are classified as ‘other.’ Fifty-nine per
cent of the students are female, and 41% are
male.
• HCC’s Psychology department chose to adopt an
open textbook for their introductory psychology
course.
Why an Open Textbook?
• They could modify it to meet the needs of
their students (lowered the reading level,
added in additional learning videos).
• It was a lot cheaper (free) when compared to
other textbooks!
• Came with a variety of other resources,
packaged along with it.
• During a pilot study 690 students used the
open text.
• So what happened?
HCC – Student Feedback
• Of the 157 students who responded to the
survey question regarding the type of book they
used, 57 (36%) said they purchased a print copy.
Only two (1%) purchased an e-book, and 62%
used the free version online. These usages
correspond to previous research on open
textbooks.
HCC – Student Feedback
• Eighty-four percent of students surveyed agreed
with the statement that ‘Having a free online
book helps me go to college’.
• Of the 108 students who responded to a
question regarding the difficulty of using an
online text, 45 (42%) said that it was easy, 28
(26%) said that it was moderately easy, 26 (24%)
said that it was neither hard nor easy, and nine
(8%) said that it was moderately difficult.
HCC Aggregated Data Spring 2011 (Traditional Text) v.
Fall 2011 Free Text – Multiple Campuses and Instructors.
Spring 2011
Fall 2011 (Open
(Traditional
Textbook)
Textbook)
GPA
1.6
Withdrawal
rate
Dept. Final
Exam
14%
67.6%
2.0
7.1%
71.1%
HCC – Results Comparing Students “Instructor
A,” who taught in Spring 2011 and Fall 2011
Sp. 2011 (Traditional Fall 2011 (Open
Textbook)
Textbook)
5 Sections (N-158)
6 Sections (N= 182)
GPA
1.64
Withdrawal 21%
rate
Dept. Final 65.4
Exam
2.0
16%
73.2
HCC – Results Comparing Students “Instructor
B,” who taught in Spring 2011 and Fall 2011
Spring 2011
(Traditional Textbook)
7 sections (N= approx.
210).
Fall 2011 (Open
Textbook)
8 sections
(N=approx.240).
GPA
1.37
Withdrawal 9.7%
rate
1.78
0.75%
Dept. Final 65.86
Exam
66.25
Scottsdale Community College
Image Source: Wolfram Alpha
One of 10 Colleges – Maricopa
Community College District
SCC Statistics
•
•
•
•
•
•
11,000 student enrollments each semester
Full time = 12 credits, Average = 7
Full-time students: 30%
Age range: 17 to 92, average = 29
Female (55%), Male (45%)
Tuition - $76 per credit hour (in-county
resident)
Source: http://www.scottsdalecc.edu/admissions/fast-facts
SCC Statistics (cont).
• Ethnicity
– 4% American Indian, 10% Hispanic
– 3% Black, non Hispanic, 3% Asian/Pacific Islander
– 71% White, non-Hispanic, 9% Not specified
• International Students
– Almost 1000 students from almost 100 countries
– SCC students study abroad in Australia, New
Zealand, Mexico, France, Italy, and other parts of
Europe
Source: http://www.scottsdalecc.edu/admissions/fast-facts
Introductory
Algebra
1250 Students
Intermediate
Algebra
1352 Students
College
Algebra
701 Students
Publisher Learning Resources
Text Book and Interactive Learning
Environment Package provided by
Wiley and Pearson Education
$110.26 per Student
$182,086.76 per Semester
Introductory
Traditional
Algebra
Copyrighted
1250 Students
Material
Transition
College
Open
Algebra
Educational
700 Students
Resources
TextBook
Bookand
andInteractive
Interactive Learning
Learning
Text
Environmentprovided
providedthrough
throughOER
OER
Environment
Maximum of
$15 per Student
86% decrease in costs
SCC’s Open Learning System
http://sccmath.wordpress.com
Open Educational
Resources
Learning Resources
Online
Homework
Software
Workbook
Textbook
Video
Tutorials
Locally created OER workbooks are the main
support for content delivery for each course.
Workbooks contain video examples, You Try
problems, practice problems, lesson assessments.
Created
InHouse
Workbook
Video Tutorials – primarily created in house by SCC
faculty – support the delivery of content through
the MiniLessons in each workbook.
Created
InHouse
Video
Tutorials
SCC IMathAS is an open source web based
mathematics assessment and course management
platform. This system provides delivery of
homework, tests, and diagnostics with rich
mathematical content.
SCC
IMathAS
Online HW
Software
CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization
with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook
materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S.
and worldwide.
CK-12
Textbook
Video
Tutorials
D
A
Y
Online
Homework
Software
D
A
Y
1
Practice Problems
Workbook
2
Online
Homework
Software
MiniLesson
Workbook
You Try
Before Class
Between Classes
Textbook
After Classes
Results
Percentage of
Fall 2010
Students Earning a C
Grade or Better
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
MAT 09x
67%
(n=704)
63%
(n=721)
64%
(n=388)
61%
(n=109)
48% (n=82)
51%
(n=643)
62%
(n=764)
65%
(n=461)
58% (n=95)
MAT 12x
MAT 15x
MAT 182
MAT 187
62%
(n=790)
60%
(n=748)
65%
(n=448)
56%
(n=106)
53% (n=72)
55% (n=80)
Results
Completion
Rates
MAT 09x
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
75% (n=790)
79% (n=704) 64% (n=643)
MAT 12x
79% (n=748)
76% (n=721) 75% (n=764)
MAT 15x
73% (n=448)
72% (n=388) 76% (n=461)
MAT 182
58% (n=106)
72% (n=109) 72% (n=95)
MAT 187
68% (n=72)
62% (n=82) 64% (n=80)
Overall, the materials adequately
supported the work I did in class
550
500
491
450
400
350
300
250
263
200
150
100
105
50
28
12
11
0
No Response
Strongly agree
Slightly agree
Neutral
Slightly disagree
Strongly disagree
Overall, the materials adequately
supported the work I did outside of class
450
426
400
350
300
285
250
200
150
139
100
50
34
9
17
0
No Response
Strongly agree
Slightly agree
Neutral
Slightly disagree
Strongly disagree
I would recommend the use of these
materials to my classmates.
550
500
483
450
400
350
300
250
200
210
150
133
100
50
33
26
25
0
No Response
Strongly agree
Slightly agree
Neutral
Slightly disagree
Strongly disagree
“What additional comments do you have
regarding the quality of the open materials used
in your class?” (210/255 (82%) positive)
• “They were good. Definitely worth not
having a massed produced book for.”
• “I never had an open materials class before.
It made work less stressful and learning more
enjoyable – didn’t constantly feel frustrated
and was able to look through notes when I
got stuck.”
• “The quality was excellent. It really helped
my understanding.”
“What additional comments do you have
regarding the quality of the open materials used
in your class?” (210/255 (82%) positive)
• “Buying textbooks is out of date and I think
materials should be inexpensive.”
• “I love saving money, I am poor.”
• “I like the open materials, textbooks are so
expensive that it makes me not want to buy
them.”
Faculty Responses
Of the fifteen instructors who responded to the
question, “Do you feel that the OER materials
adequately supported the work that was completed
INSIDE the classroom? Why or why not?” thirteen
answered “yes,” and then provided an explanatory
comment. The following are two examples: “Yes,
although I will rearrange some of the material next
time around. For example, I like to cover properties of
exponents BEFORE exponential and logarithmic
functions as we use these properties at that time in
my class” and “Yes, it is a complete resource.” The two
responses that did not begin with a “yes” are as
follows: “Need more specific examples” and “Most of
the time it was supported.”
Faculty Responses
Similarly, of the fifteen instructors who responded to
the question, “Do you feel that the OER materials
adequately supported the work that was completed
OUTSIDE the classroom? Why or why not?” thirteen
answered “yes.” Sample responses are “Yes. These
materials provided the students useful resources” and
“Yes. It focused in the lesson well.” The remaining two
responses were “Mostly - often students had online
questions, which were discussed through MathAS or
in class” and “In Math 12x, the online HW contained
questions that were not written in the style of the
workbook questions. Some students had difficulty in
transferring their skills to the online questions.”
Thorns and Roses – A massive
department OER effort
Thorns
 Huge amount of
development time
 Maintenance and updates
 Distribution (bookstore!)
 Adjunct faculty buy-in
Roses
 Cost savings for students
 Department community
building and support
 Energy of the new users
 Support of department
and administration
 Introduction of creative
teaching approaches
For More Details…
• See “The adoption of open educational
resources by one community college math
department.”
Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative
The study context is an open education initiative
called Project Kaleidoscope (http://www.projectkaleidoscope.org/). This initiative was originally
comprised of eight community colleges serving
predominantly at-risk students (this number has now
expanded). These colleges work together to create
courses that replace traditional, expensive textbooks
with OER. During the 2011-2012 academic year, the
Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative (KOCI) impacted
over 4,000 students across 80 teachers in a controlled
pilot, with another 5,000 students using KOCI course
designs and materials outside the controlled pilot.
Project Kaleidoscope – Teacher Perceptions
• 58 teachers from 8 PK institutions completed
some items on the questionnaire.
• Student preparedness. Most teachers (63%)
believed that their students were equally
prepared in the course with PK texts compared to
students in the same course before
implementation of PK texts (Figure 3). At the
same time, more than a quarter of teachers
(26%) felt that students were more prepared than
students in the same course in the past. Only 11
percent perceived students as being less
prepared.
Project Kaleidoscope – Teacher Perceptions
• Teacher perceptions of quality. Twenty out of 57
(35%) teachers indicated that they thought the
OER textbook was better than texts they had
used previously to teach the course. Only 6 (11%)
felt the OER texts were worse than traditional
texts. The remaining 31(54%) teachers indicated
that their OER texts were of the nearly the same
quality as other texts they had used in the past.
Project Kaleidoscope – Student Perceptions
• 490 students from all eight PK institutions
completed the questionnaire. 60% were
female.
• 39% of students indicated that they thought
the OER textbook was better than texts they
had used in other courses. 6% felt the OER
texts were worse and 55% indicated that their
OER texts were of the nearly the same quality
as other texts they had used in the past.
Project Kaleidoscope – Student Perceptions
• 160 students provided a description of what they
thought made the OER texts better. Their
responses clustered in six major categories:
technical advantages (8%), learning aides (9%),
customization (10%), cost (20%), access (26%),
and quality/presentation (27%).
• Conversely, 20 students provided a description of
what they thought made the OER texts worse
than other texts they had used in the past. Their
responses clustered in 2 major categories; six
students described technology issues and 15
students took issue with text quality.
For More Details…
• See “An OER COUP: College Teacher and
Student Perceptions of Open Educational
Resources.”
• COUP = Cost, Outcomes, Use, Perceptions
Cerritos College
Class
Average
Students
Textbook
enrolled in
Cost for non- KOCI sections
KOCI
sections
Fundamentals of
Business (BA 100)
$42.97 944
Intro.to College
Composition (Eng.
52)
63.11 317
Physical Geography
(Geog. 101)
Advanced College
Reading (Read 54)
Critical and
Augmentative
Writing (Eng. 103)
Students
enrolled in
non-KOCI
sections
44
Potential
amount
saved by
KOCI
students
Potential
amount
spent by
non-KOCI
students
$40,563.68
$1,890.68
2,943
20,005.87
185,732.73
102.00 363
731
37,026.00
74,562.00
36.54 49
589
1,790.46
21,522.06
90.14 54
408
4,867.56
36,777.12
Big Numbers…
• If the average non-KOCI textbook cost $90.00
– Students in these classes could potentially save
1.2 million dollars per year.
• If the average textbook costs $90.00 and the
average student buys ten per year that is
– $900.00 saved per student.
• There are approximately twenty million
students in the United States.
– They could save 18 Billion dollars per year
– 72 Billion over a four-year degree program
Cost Savings and User
Perceptions of OER
John Hilton III
http://johnhiltoniii.org
Open Education Group
http://openedgroup.org/