Cost, Outcomes, Use, and Perceptions of Open Educational Resources in Psychology: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Abstract

Open educational resources (OER) have been developed to free students from the expense and instructors from the restrictions of commercial materials. There has been a wealth of empirical examination on numerous aspects of OER. The purpose of this narrative review is to synthesize and integrate the findings on OER in psychology to assist instructors in making informed decisions about course materials. Topics in this review were organized according to the Cost, Outcomes, Usage, and Perceptions framework. Results indicated that OER adoption yielded cost savings while generally having similar or better outcomes in terms of grades. Students typically reported similar use and perceptions of OER compared to commercial course materials. Resources for instructors interested in OER are described. Criticisms of OER, such as concerns about quality, are addressed as well as limitations of reviewed research and future directions for research and development of OER.

An Embedded Librarian’s Experience Piloting a Subject-Specific OER Initiative

“…Of all the OER stakeholders, liaison faculty, or faculty assigned to a librarian's liaison area, hold the most decision-making power and influence as traditional course creators, text selectors, scholarship producers, and lynchpins amongst librarians' connections and relationships. Over the years, multiple textbook affordability and OER studies discuss the role of faculty perspectives and buy-in to textbook affordability initiatives (Annand & Jensen, 2017;Belikov & Bodily, 2016;Clinton, 2019;Wesolek et al, 2018). Butcher et al (2011) calls the university's financial investment in faculty OER creation and professional development "critical".…”

“…V also presents on higher education DEIA issues and supporting graduate student research. resources (OER) scholarship (Belikov & Bodily, 2016;Clinton, 2019;Colson et al, 2017;Crozier, 2018;Nicholls, 2009;Senack & The Student PIRGs, 2014;Wesolek et al, 2018;Woodward et al, 2017) and on open advocacy organization websites such as SPARC (SPARC, n.d.). However, graduate textbook estimates prove more difficult to locate on graduate school admissions websites.…”

“…Increasing textbook costs may encourage students to make choices that may hinder or prolong their degree and/or certification pursuits (Clinton, 2019), such as decreased courses/credit hours per term (Florida Virtual Campus, 2016), not purchasing required texts despite course enrollment (Clinton, 2019), or using obsolete older editions (Florida Virtual Campus, 2016;Senack & The Student PIRGs, 2014). E-textbook editions packaged with assignment software or textbook codes also affect textbook affordability, as students are forced to purchase new textbooks for the code or assignment software access instead of being able to purchase cheaper used copies.…”

“…OER emerged as a response to increased textbook costs (Clinton, 2019). OER scholarship usually defines OER from existing, similar definitions provided by Creative Commons, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) or the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Crozier, 2018;Wesolek et al, 2018).…”

Comparing Student Learning From and Perceptions of Open and Commercial Textbook Excerpts: A Randomized Experiment

“…However, these studies have all been quasi-experimental or correlational; therefore, causal claims were not possible. Moreover, students in these studies were aware that the open textbooks were free whereas the commercial textbooks were not, which could bias their attitudes (Clinton, 2019). An experimental examination with participants who are naive to the cost of the textbook would address the confounds related to student awareness of cost.…”