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Research Between 2002 and 2017: A Summary

To date, a total of 17 peer-reviewed studies that examine the efficacy of OER have been published; these studies involve 154,958 students. While there certainly are limitations in individual studies, collectively, there is a robust finding that utilizing OER in the classroom does not appear to de- crease learning outcomes and saves considerable funds.

In terms of perceptions, at the time of this writing, 21 peer-reviewed studies of student and faculty perceptions of OER have been published. These studies involve 7,969 students or faculty members. While people may debate whether students are biased towards free books, or the extent to which they are good judges of what constitutes quality, it is clear that a strong majority of both faculty and students who have used OER prefer them to commercial textbooks.

Based on the increasingly extensive research on the efficacy and per- ceptions of OER, policy makers and faculty may need to judiciously exam- ine the rationale for obliging students to purchase commercial textbook when excellent, free, openly licensed textbooks are an option. But signif- icant questions remain. How can OER be more extensively utilized on college campuses? To what extent should administrators encourage the use of OER? What are the roles of libraries in increasing faculty aware- ness of OER? Are there additional pedagogies that become available when OER are the primary learning resources? As will be described in the fol- lowing pages, these are important questions, and this book provides the beginnings of some very meaningful answers.

References

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Chiorescu, M. (2017). Exploring Open Educational Resources for College Algebra. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(4). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3003/4223

Coleman-Prisco, V. (2017). Factors influencing faculty innovation and adoption of open educational resources in United States higher education. International Journal of Education and Human Developments, 3(4), 1–12. Retrieved from http://ijehd.cgrd.org/ images/vol3no4/1.pdf

Cooney, C. (2017). What impacts do OER have on students? Students share their experiences with a health psychology OER at New York City College of Technology. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(4). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3111/4216

Croteau, E. (2017). Measures of student success with textbook transformations: The Affordable Learning Georgia Initiative. Open Praxis, 9(1), 93–108. Retrieved from https://openpraxis.org/index.php/OpenPraxis/article/view/505/251

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Delimont, N., Turtle, E. C., Bennett, A., Adhikari, K., & Lindshield, B. L. (2016). University students and faculty have positive perceptions of open/alternative resources and their utilization in a textbook replacement initiative. Research in Learning Technology, 24.

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Section 2:

The Pedagogical Implications of OER

Section2:ThePedagogicalImplicationsofOER

Selection of course materials is one of the few ways in which faculty have complete control over one of the costs of higher education. The role of OER in reducing these costs cannot be understated. However, OER also have the power to enable new forms of open pedagogy. Course materi- als that are free from most copyright restrictions allow faculty to design and implement innovative teaching methods which can engage students in new and exciting ways. This section showcases the potential of open pedagogy, and describes the role of the academic librarian within it.

First, Amaral explores the complementary alignment of the OER community and academic libraries. Through the lens of OER initiatives supported by the City University of New York (CUNY) and implemented at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), Amaral describes how an active and engaged culture can emerge when librarians set clear goals and work collaboratively for the public good.

In a similar vein, Reed talks about collaboration between scholarly communication librarians and information literacy librarians in support of OER initiatives, and underscores the importance of partnering with colleges and departments in the development and use of OER and open pedagogy.

Reed and Turner share that there are experiential learning oppor- tunities inherent in OER initiatives. Specifically, the authors describe a student internship program focused on designing guidelines, criteria, and standards for evaluating OER for accessibility for disabled students and their use in the classroom.

Decisions on the adoption of course materials into open resources can be based on more than cost and accessibility. These decisions are often

complex and influenced by existing cultures, policies, and other consid- erations. Walz explains an opportunity for open education advocates to overcome these obstacles to create more transparent, deliberate practices when evaluating and selecting required materials.

Finally, through multiple examples of open pedagogical practice across several disciplines, Jhangiani and Green explore how pedagogy, not tools or texts, is at the heart of OER advocacy efforts. For these authors, the resources and staff of an academic library provide the optimal locale to cultivate an individual’s pedagogical efforts.

From Textbook Affordability to Transformative