The Effectiveness of Open Educational Resources (OER) for Student Success

The rising cost of traditional educational materials, particularly textbooks, has created significant barriers, especially to student success in higher education. As institutions and educators seek innovative solutions to reduce these barriers, Open Educational Resources (OER) have become a promising alternative. OERs are freely accessible, openly licensed materials that can be used for teaching, learning, and research. They encompass a wide range of resources, including textbooks, course materials, multimedia, and other educational content, designed to be adaptable and customizable to meet diverse educational needs.

The concept of OER is built around the wider open-access movement and educational equality. Students who cannot afford expensive educational resources are being reached via free resources accessed online as contributed by this service. This is particularly important today because the cost of textbooks and other learning materials act as a major barrier to student success rates. Through research findings, the use of OER has been found to have a positive impact on student outcomes, including improved grades, reduced dropout rates, and increased engagement with course materials. These benefits can be attributed to several factors, including the ability to customize OER to fit the specific needs of students.

The Impact of OER on Student Performance

Academic Achievement

Numerous studies have investigated the influence of OER on academic outcomes, often measuring aspects like grades or exam scores. A case in point is a study by Colvard, Watson, and Park (2018) which found that students who utilized OER in their courses performed better academically compared to those who used traditional textbooks. In particular, the research found that final examination results and course grades were higher among students enrolled in OER-adopting courses. The improvement in academic achievement can be attributed to the ability of OER to be tailored to specific course content and student needs. Educators can modify and adapt OER to better align with their teaching objectives, thus creating a more effective learning environment. This flexibility ensures that the materials are not only relevant but also engaging, which can contribute to better understanding and retention of course content.

Course Completion Rates

In addition to academic success, research shows that OER may lead to increased course completion rates. According to a paper by Hilton, Gaudet, Clark, Robinson, and Wiley (2013), students who utilized OER were more likely to accomplish their courses. The explanation for this is a decrease in financial load which can be one of the main causes of students leaving school. Thus students are not burdened by costly textbooks they are less prone to leave due to economic pressure.

OER availability at the beginning of the course would ensure that all students have immediate access to needed materials and thus avoid any delays in learning. This quick access is very helpful, especially for learners who would otherwise find it hard to afford books or wait until later in the semester before acquiring them.

Student Engagement

OER has also exhibited some positive results in terms of student performance in engagement. The learning experience can be made lively and attractive to students through the interactive nature of many OERs, which consist of multimedia resources in most cases. This raised involvement could make them involve themselves more in class activities and discussions hence enlightening them deeper about what they are learning.

This is supported by Feldstein et al.’s (2012) study that found higher levels of course material engagement among OER users compared to students using traditional sources. It was noted that access and interaction with a range of materials such as quizzes, videos, and interactive simulations, increased their participation.

Cost Savings and Financial Impact of OER

Cost Savings for Students

The financial burden of purchasing textbooks is a well-documented issue in higher education. This cost can be prohibitive, especially for students from low-income backgrounds, leading some to forego purchasing required materials altogether consequently, affecting their academic performance negatively.

OER offers a solution by providing free or low-cost alternatives to expensive textbooks. Fischer, Hilton, Robinson, and Wiley (2015) found that students in courses using OER saved an average of $66 to $121 per course compared to those using traditional textbooks. These savings can add up significantly throughout a student's academic career, reducing the financial strain and allowing students to allocate their resources to other essential needs, such as tuition, housing, and food.

Broader Financial Impact on Institutions

In addition to helping students cut their costs, the adoption of OER may have major fiscal implications for educational institutions in general. Involving OER in curricula reduces students’ need for financial aid or loans to pay the cost of textbooks. This in turn will decrease the debt burden for learners by ensuring more graduation rates and retention.

Likewise, schools that switch to Open Education Resources (OER) are likely to experience an increase in enrollment in such classes. If a student realizes that they can get free or low-cost materials for a course, it is often very tempting for them especially when money issues are biting hard. Institutions benefit from this because course completion increases while revenue increases.

OER has also proved key towards addressing the equity gap in education—this is not true with high-cost textbooks whose high-cost biases against those from deprived backgrounds who face several other barriers to academic excellence too. Through the provision of free and accessible educational resources, therefore, OER seeks to level the playing field so that regardless of one’s financial status, every learner gets the necessary materials needed for achievement.

Pedagogical Benefits of OER

Support for Innovative Teaching Practices

The flexibility of OER makes it possible for educators to customize learning resources that match their students’ specific needs and course objectives. Unlike textbooks, which are often rigid and unchangeable, OER can be adapted, remixed, and restructured to align with different teaching methods and learning styles. This flexibility allows educators to experiment with innovative pedagogical approaches, such as flipped classrooms, problem-based learning, and personalized instruction.

For example, in a flipped classroom model, students can go through OER materials like videos, readings, or interactive modules before class hence allowing the teacher to engage them in activities such as practicals; discussions, and group projects. This change in how teaching is done helps students develop a better understanding of the concepts taught as well as enhances the learning process.

Due to its adaptability, OER makes sure that content can be easily updated in case there are new developments in one’s fields or feedback from learners. This means the learning resources are always up-to-date; which is crucial especially within rapidly changing specializations.

Promotion of Collaboration and Sharing Among Educators

Another thing, OER also helps in developing a collaborative culture among teachers. Teachers contribute to the global community of practices by openly licensing resources so that ideas, resources, and teaching methods can be shared freely. The spirit of sharing not only enhances the quality of educational materials but also facilitates professional growth and development as well as creative learning.

Studies by Petrides et al., (2011) show that OER is inherently collaborative with teachers who use them often becoming part of communities of practice where they share experiences, create content together, and offer peer feedback. Consequently, collaboration may lead to the production of richer and more varied educational assets that cater to different contexts.

There is an international dimension to OER which means educators can draw on a huge amount of material created by colleagues in other countries. Through this approach, diverse views and strategies enrich curricula wide enough to expose students to a broad range of ideas and cultures.

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References:

• Hilton, J. (2016). Open educational resources and college textbook choices: A review of research on efficacy and perceptions. Educational Technology Research and Development, 64(4), 573-590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9434-9
• Weller, M., de los Arcos, B., Farrow, R., Pitt, R., & McAndrew, P. (2015). The impact of OER on teaching and learning practice. Open Praxis, 7(4), 351-361. https://doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.7.4.227
• Bliss, T. J., Robinson, T. J., Hilton, J., & Wiley, D. A. (2013). An OER COUP: College teacher and student perceptions of open educational resources. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2013(1), Art. 4. https://doi.org/10.5334/2013-04
• Colvard, N. B., Watson, C. E., & Park, H. (2018). The impact of Open Educational Resources on various student success metrics. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 262-276. http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE3386.pdf
• Hilton, J., Gaudet, D., Clark, P., Robinson, T. J., & Wiley, D. (2013). The adoption of open educational resources by one community college math department. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 14(4). http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1523/2652
• Feldstein, A., Martin, M., Hudson, A., Warren, K., Hilton, J., & Wiley, D. (2012). Open textbooks and increased student access and outcomes. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v14i4.1523
• Fischer, L., Hilton, J., Robinson, T. J., & Wiley, D. (2015). A multi-institutional study of the impact of open textbook adoption on the learning outcomes of post-secondary students. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 27(3), 159-172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-015-9101-x
• Grimaldi, P. J., Mallick, D., Waters, A. E., & Baraniuk, R. G. (2019). Do open educational resources improve student learning? Implications of the access hypothesis. PLoS ONE, 14(3), e0212508. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212508
• College Board. (2022). Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2022. https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/trends-college-pricing-student-aid-2022.pdf
• Petrides, L., Jimes, C., Middleton-Detzner, C., Walling, J., & Weiss, S. (2011). Open textbook adoption and use: Implications for teachers and learners. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(1), 39-49. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680513.2011.538563
• Wiley, D., Webb, A., Weston, S., & Tonks, D. (2017). A preliminary exploration of the relationships between student-created OER, sustainability, and students’ success. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i4.3022