1. OER Panel
WSU Libraries

2. Agenda Introductions Meet the panel Questions for the panel
Audience Q&A

3. Background or experience with OER
By way of introduction: Can you talk a little about your background or experience with open educational resources?

4. Kate Watts English, member of WSU President’s Teaching Academy

5. Myiah Hutchens Murrow College of Communication

6. Carrie Cuttler Clinical Assistant Professor Psychology

7. Sample Characteristics
N = 517 Undergraduate Students
7 Sections of 4 Psych classes (2 OER vs. 2 Commercial)
4 Online sections (2 OER), 3 Face-to-Face sections (2 OER)
195 OER students, 322 Commercial Text students
OER vs. Commercial Text students equivalent in:
Age
Gender
ESL status
First generation status
Student loans and financial assistance

8. Debt, Income, and Text Costs
71% have a student loan from bank or government
52% receive financial assistance from university
44% receive financial support from family
Average student loan debt $18,452,24
Average monthly income is approximately $700
Average monthly income for those who work is approximately $1000
Report spending an average of $450 per semester on textbooks
Working students are spending 10% of their earnings on textbooks
Students earn little, spend a lot on textbooks, and are in a lot of debt

9. How have textbook costs influenced you?
67% bought used copies
53% bought books elsewhere
45% bought digital book
54% rented a printed book
20% rented a digital book
5% used library reserved copy
21% shared a book with someone
28% sold their used textbook
30% didn’t use a textbook
Only 4% report doing nothing to try to reduce costs
22% took fewer courses
20% didn’t register for a specific course
19% dropped or withdrew from a course
34% earned a poor grade because they couldn’t afford the book
Students feel the burden of textbook costs and are trying to minimize it

10. Students Read OER More and Found it More Useful for Completing Course Work* * * *

11. Students Rated the OER as Higher Quality and as Worth More Money* *

12. OER Students Reported Less Stress and Would Like to Take More Courses Using OER* *

13. Summary and Conclusions
Students earn little, spend a lot on textbooks, and have a lot of debt
Publishers do little but earn a lot by charging our students high prices
Who would you rather support?
Students feel the impact of textbook prices and do their best to reduce it
Shouldn’t we help them in these efforts?
Students spent more time reading the OER, they found it more useful, they perceived it to be higher quality and worth more money
Isn’t it our responsibility to provide high quality resources for our students?
Students want to take more classes using OERs
Let’s make them available!

14. Colleen McMahon ASWSU, Director of University Affairs

15. Replacing traditional with open
Myiah, Carrie, and Kate went through the process of replacing traditional with open resources.
For those three,
What was that process like?
How much work was it?
Where did you find open resources—did you adapt something or create something from scratch?
What tools did you use to help you through the process?

16. Traditional textbook vs. OER
Compared to courses using traditional textbooks, what have you noticed about using OERs in the classroom?

17. Benefits and challenges
What benefits have you experienced while using OER materials? What challenges?

18. Students as co-creators
An advantage of OERs is that students can be invited in as co-creators. Open licensing means that students can annotate course materials or help add to them over time.
Have you had experiences with using OERs to encourage student engagement in class?

19. Quality and effectiveness
What are your thoughts about the quality and effectiveness of OERs like the ones you used in class?
How have students responded to the OERs you’ve used?

20. Cost of course materials
An advantage of OERs is that they can be made available to students at no cost.
For Colleen - How does the cost of course materials affect you or other students? If you didn’t have to pay that cost, how would it affect you?

21. Advice for those considering OER
what advice do you have for faculty who are considering using OERs in classes?

22. Questions from the audience?

23. aoi.li@wsu.edu li.wsu.edu