Education Commons^™

No Textbook Cost General Education Pathway: An Effort To Increase Retention At Central Washington University, Maura Valentino, Geri Hopkins

Library Scholarship

Purpose

This study aims to describe a project that aims to give students a choice to complete their general education requirements without purchasing a textbook.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 26 faculty, teaching in the new general education curriculum, at Central Washington University were given stipends to eliminate expensive textbooks and use free to the student resources such as open educational resources (OER) or library resources. The data was collected on student savings and student and faculty satisfaction with the program.

Findings

Many paths were created through the general education curriculum, so a student may easily finish these requirements without purchasing a …

The Case For Oer In Lis Education, Stacy Katz

Publications and Research

The increasingly high cost of textbooks coupled with the pedagogical opportunities presented by Creative Commons licenses has provided fertile ground for the development of open educational resources (OER) initiatives as an impactful practice for improving student success. Librarians are leading advocates for OER, yet little has been published on how librarians learn about OER or how faculty use OER in library and information science (LIS) programs. For this study, the author surveyed LIS faculty about their awareness and usage of OER as well as the role they imagine for future librarians in open education. LIS faculty, current and future librarians, …

Collaboration Between Library, Faculty, And Instructional Design To Increase All Open Educational Resources For Curriculum Development And Delivery, Kelly Whealan-George, Anne Marie Casey

Publications

Students at universities spend an average of $1,250 yearly on textbooks and course materials. Can a collaboration between the Library and the Instructional Design Department create value for student populations by incorporating OER into the course development process? This is a case study of one University with a large online and distributed network with controls over the course design, timeline and curriculum delivered by the faculty. This University’s team tested whether the entire course could be designed in a scalable format using OERs collaborating with a librarian to organize the resources so students will have ready access to OER every …

An Evocative Appraisal Of The Awareness, Attitude And Utilisation Of Open Educational Resources At Kumasi Technical University, Joshua Appiah, Harry Barton Essel, Kwesi Opoku Amankwa

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are part of a growing, global movement in open practice in Higher Education; current and potential use of OERs have significant implications for the student in Higher Education. While investment in OERs has been considerable through the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH), there has not been an evaluation to develop a full understanding of how these Open Educational Resources are perceived and patronized by academic staff and students. The study, therefore, evaluated the awareness, attitude and usage of OERs by students and staff at the Kumasi Technical University. Questionnaires were administered to …

Results From A Psychology Oer Pilot Program: Faculty And Student Perceptions, Cost Savings, And Academic Outcomes, Juliana Magro, Sara V. Tabaei

Touro College Libraries Publications and Research

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 …