Library Guides: Open Educational Resources: Research and Opinions

Research

Although open educational resources are still relatively new and thus so is research about them, a number of studies have looked at the pedagogical outcomes of using OERs in the classroom.

Major Study Finds OER Students Do Just as Well - or Better
This 2015 study, from researchers at Brigham Young University, the Michigan State Department of Education and Lumen Learning, involved 16,000 undergraduate students and looked at course completion, final grade, final grade of C or higher and enrollment intensity.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Open-Access ChemWiki Resource as a Replacement for Traditional General Chemistry Textbooks
This experiment, published in 2015, at UC Davis found students in a chemistry class who used an OER performed about the same, in both grades and time spent with their books, as students who used a traditional textbook.
University students and faculty have positive perceptions of open/alternative resources and their utilization in a textbook replacement initiative
Researchers in this 2016 article surveyed faculty and students in 13 classes at Kansas State University who used OERs. Overall, students said they preferred using OERs to traditional textbooks, and most faculty members also favored using them, citing the ability to customize them to their needs.
A Review of the Effectiveness & Perceptions of Open Educational Resources As Compared to Textbooks (video)

User Views

Check out these resources below to see what faculty who have used open educational resources think about them.

Washington faculty views
Hear from nine faculty and students in Washington state about their perspectives on using OERs.
Roxann Schroeder Biology Humboldt State (video)
Liz Harris Communication Studies San Jose State (video)

Open Educational Resources: Research and Opinions

Research

User Views

Guide Licensing