Programmatic Characteristics of Open Education Initiatives at U.S. Post-Secondary Institutions

Abstract

Although a number of academic research papers showcase the benefits of Open Educational Resources (OER) on student success metrics, the literature still lacks a central collection of knowledge identifying programmatic characteristics between 4 year public, 4 year private, and 2 year community colleges that support these OER initiatives in the United States. To address this gap in the literature and provide evidential statistics that suggest common programmatic characteristics, this quantitative study collected 149 survey responses from program managers of OER-related initiatives at institutions of higher education in the United States. While some previous research on this topic has focused on regional adoption or other aspects of OER usage, this research focuses on how these initiatives are started, funded, governed, and assessed. The results of this study build on existing evidence that OER programs tend to be overseen by committees, are more likely to offer incentive payments for faculty, and offer at least some form of program assessment.

Awareness and Future Use of Open Educational Resources by Music Faculty

“…This factor requires a conceptual understanding of OER and the user’s ability to differentiate between OER and other learning materials (Cox & Trotter, 2017). Awareness of OER in post-secondary education has been investigated several times, including through a national survey conducted annually in the United States (Allen & Seaman, 2012). In the 2019 report, survey results indicated that awareness of OER among faculty increased from 35% in 2015 to 53% in 2019 (Seaman & Seaman, 2019).…”