How to Launch an OER Degree | 2017 NE OER Summit

Discussing the early implementation research of ATD’s OER Degree Initiative

How to launch an OER degree

Unless otherwise licensed, this presentation is licensed CC BY 4.0.

Success is what counts. 2

Richard SebastianDirector, OER Degree InitiativeAchieving the Dream

Cheryl HuffChair of the VCCS OER ConsortiumGermanna Community College

Ann FiddlerOpen Education LibrarianOffice of Library ServicesCity University of New York


June 20, 2017


The mission of Achieving the The mission of Achieving the Dream is to lead and support a Dream is to lead and support a national network of community national network of community colleges to achieve sustainable colleges to achieve sustainable institutional transformation institutional transformation through sharing knowledge, through sharing knowledge, innovative solutions and effective innovative solutions and effective practices and policies leading to practices and policies leading to improved outcomes for all improved outcomes for all students.students.


OER OER

OER OER

OER

OER

OER

The mission of Achieving the The mission of Achieving the Dream is to lead and support a Dream is to lead and support a national network of community national network of community colleges to achieve sustainable colleges to achieve sustainable institutional transformation institutional transformation through sharing knowledge, through sharing knowledge, innovative solutions and effective innovative solutions and effective practices and policies leading to practices and policies leading to improved outcomes for all improved outcomes for all students.students.


The redesign of a pathway of The redesign of a pathway of existing courses that lead to a existing courses that lead to a degree or certificate using OER degree or certificate using OER instead of proprietary course instead of proprietary course materials.materials.

What is an OER Degree?


Offer at least one OER degree with at least one (1) section of every required course and at least one (1) section of a sufficient number of general education and other elective courses

Collect and share student data to support the initiative’s research and evaluation program

Grantee Goals


Share all educational materials developed through this project with the public

Ensure access by and support for low income students and students of color in their OER degree programs

Grantee Goals


Research & evaluation

Educational outcomes of OER Degrees

Economic outcomes of OER Degrees

Implementation of OER Degrees


Funders & partners


Timeline


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Research & evaluation


Most research on OER effectiveness has focused on course-level outcomes. This project will focus primarily on student progress to degree.

Research & Evaluation


Quasi-experimental studies: to estimate the impact of OER Degrees on key student outcomes

Cost analysis: to measure cost effectiveness and sustainability

Implementation research: to provide formative feedback to grantees and broader community

Aggregate pass/completion data: to evaluate the overall impact of the OER Degree Initiative i.e. how many OER course sections are offered, how many students are involved, etc.



Do students who take multiple OER degree classes make more progress to degree than similar students who take traditional classes?

Are OER degrees more or less beneficial to particular subgroups of students? What are the key mediators of effects on student outcomes?

What are best practices, facilitators, and barriers associated with implementation of OER degree programs?

What impacts do OER degrees have on key stakeholders’ experiences and on institutional culture?



Outcome MeasuresProgress towards degrees will be measured by the following leading indicators:



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Who is participating in the OER Degree Initiative?


Questions?


Across the colleges, OER pathways are planned for 52 degrees or certificates.

Degrees and certificates


Fall 2016 enrollments


OER Degree Initiative Faculty

Over half of the instructors are or will be teaching with OER for the first time. 83% of instructors have taught online and/or hybrid courses

Instructors participating in the OER Degree Initiative have considerable experience with collaboration


Majority of instructors in STEM fields


Quality of materials drives selection


Grassroots Led

Numerous faculty members had independently taken the initiative to experiment with OER and convert their courses. These pioneers established proof of concept on their campuses and spread the word among their colleagues. In a few cases where departments achieved strong consensus around the decision to use OER, entire gateway courses have been converted to OER.


Administrator Led

One or more senior administrators were the first to learn about OER degrees and saw this model as a strong fit with their institution’s strategic goals and mission. They took the lead in recruiting faculty, building support among key constituents, and shepherding resources to launch their OER degree initiatives.


Service Unit Led

Librarians or units responsible for innovation in teaching and learning (e.g. instructional designers and technologists) were the first to introduce OER to their campuses. These proponents began by offering OER workshops to faculty, attracting a few early adopters and providing support for their course development.


What Does It Take to Launch an OER Degree?

CC-0: https://pixabay.com/en/faculty-workshop-979900/


OER courses vs. OER degreesDeveloping an OER degree involves a broader set of institutional investments in course development and infrastructure than supporting individual faculty-led OER course conversions.



Course developmentThe largest initial investment required to launch a complete OER degree pathway (typically about 20 courses) is the conversion of courses to OER.

Personnel costs are expected to account for thelargest upfront investment in developing OERdegrees.



Course developmentInstructors report that the time required to locate and vet OER content presents the largest challenge to teaching with OER.

This extra time commitment may reflecttheir desire or need to create customized coursesinstead of adopting existing OER materials intheir entirety.



Course developmentSome instructors found that courses they hadpreviously thought of as OER used materials thatwere free to students but not openly licensed.

Instructors are taking advantage of supportsavailable to them through their institutions. Greater use of supports from service units may further reduce the burden of OER course development



CollaborationCollaborating with colleagues on thedevelopment and/or collection of OER materialsis appealing to many faculty members but can bechallenging.

Nearly half the ATD grantees are participatingin consortia composed of multiple collegesfrom the same state systems.



“I think the challenges of doing this from astandpoint where there’s not a… team istaxing.”

– Faculty

Because it’s so time-consuming, it’s difficultfor some faculty to want to share to thatdegree. They put in a lot of work and buildfantastic courses so it becomes competitivebecause you want your classes to fill.

– Faculty


Training Makes a DifferenceThe provision of professional development opportunities through Lumen and CCCOER is a critical component of ATD’s OER Degree Initiative, and there has been considerable progress in engaging faculty with these supports.

•70% of instructors had received training•Over 50% sought help from an instructional designer or technologist



Training Makes a DifferenceThe provision of professional development opportunities through Lumen and CCCOER is a critical component of ATD’s OER Degree Initiative, and there has been considerable progress in engaging faculty with these supports.

•Instructors satisfied with the training generally perceive lower barriers to OER course development and are more likely to recommend OER to colleagues.



CC 0:https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-and-black-desk-calculator-on-white-graphing-paper-159804/

What About Sustainability?


The sustainability of OER degrees depends on the extent to which the intervention becomes embedded in organizational systems and connected to the broader institutional strategy.



Most instructors see the primary advantage of OER as alleviating a cost burden for students.

Some participants raised concerns that a case for OER based on student cost savings alone will not sustain long-term efforts.

Develop and share understanding of strategic rationale for OER degree


OER creates pedagogical advantages for faculty such as having access to more up-to-date course material rather than textbooks that often become outdated within a year or two.

Faculty are not yet widely taking advantage of or seeing the benefits of the adaptability that an open license provides.



Instructors who have taken advantageof supports for course development such as instructional designers and library services and who have experience using OER are more likely to report changes in pedagogy.



It’s wonderful that I can adapt and remixother sources and learning objectives. …And I can also include other strategies thathelp students be successful… That’s thebeauty of OER, you can adapt and make thematerials work for your classroom.

– Faculty


Next steps

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Next steps

Fall 2017Student surveyGrantee site visitsSpring-Fall 2018Grantee site visits2nd Instructor surveySection, student, and cost data

How to Launch an OER Degree | 2017 NE OER Summit

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