OpenStax An Open Education Case Study

Opportunities Enabled by Digital Texts

•  Broaden access through free and open digital textbooks

•  Improve learning with integrated technology and cognitive science

BROADEN ACCESS

OpenStax College

3

Context

•  $1.2T student debt

•  $3.2B in financial aid spent on textbooks annually

•  70% of college students forgo buying texts

•  78% of those students believe they will perform worse in the course

•  24% of students take fewer credit hours due to expense

•  50% of community college students use financial aid

MarkPerry,AmericanEnterpriseIns5tute,July2015

OpenStax College Objectives

•  Increase access to high-quality educational experiences

• Provide students financial relief

•  Increase academic freedom and flexibility for faculty

•  Increase persistence and graduation rates

• Spur innovation

OpenStax College Library

Macro-eco- nomics

Principles ofEco-nomics

Principles ofMicro-eco-nomics

Principles of

Psych-ology

Introductory

Stat-istics

Pre-calc-ulus Hist-

ory

U. S.

Impact Since 2012

•  1.6M students in 4,081 courses have saved $155M •  Number of students and savings are doubling every year •  Significant positive “Return on Investment” for our foundation partners

•  27% of all US degree-granting institutions use

at least one OpenStax text •  Sustainable business model (40+ ecosystem partners)

IMPROVE LEARNING

OpenStax Tutor

OpenStax Tutor

•  Objective: Improve not only access but also learning outcomes

•  OpenStax Tutor embeds homework, review questions, and analytics directly into a digital textbook

•  Real-time feedback to students and teachers improves and personalizes learning

•  Pilots: 400 Houston-area high school students, 12,000 college students

•  Generous support from the Gates Foundation, Arnold Foundation, John and Ann Doerr, NSF, DOD, and others

data

feedback

2.3 million questions solved since January 2016

Machine Learning

Cognitive Science

87

55

23

93

62

student knowledge

profile

Susan

B

Machine Learning

Learning Principles from Cognitive Science

Retrieval practice retrieving information from memory is not a neutral event; rather it changes memory

Spacing distributing practice over time produces better long-term retention than massing practice

Feedback closes the learning feedback loop must be timely

TOUR

OpenStax Tutor

Tour of OpenStax Tutor

•  Personalized learning tool designed in conjunction with a “Learning Advisory Team” of high school teachers and college instructors in Spring/Summer 2015

•  25 person years of effort on design and coding

integrated reading, practice, homework

interactive reading

2-step response format with free-form text box

timely feedback

personalized questions (via machine learning)

learning analytics to student and instructor

THE ROAD AHEAD

OpenStax Vision

Revolutionize education at all levels: transform the student path to and through college and improve learning and graduation rates

•  Access Radically increase the number of students who complete college

•  Insight Provide students, teachers, and administrators with “power tools” to enrich and intervene

•  Empower teachers and students to take control of their teaching and learning

openstax.org