Missouri A&OER Conference 2024

Degrees of Open: The how and why of incorporating open education into courses one step at a time
Presenter(s): Virginia Clinton-Lisell, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Educational Foundations and Research at the University of North Dakota where she is a Rose Isabella Kelly Fischer Professor. She holds a masters’ degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from New York University and a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Clinton-Lisell’s research focuses on open education and digital reading.

In this presentation, attendees will learn about the Open Education Fellowship–its creation, funding sources, program schedules, and view sample work created by fellows. Attendees will leave the presentation with concrete ideas and resources to begin or grow a similar program at their own institutions, including ideas on how to market such programs, how to support participating faculty, how to overcome potential obstacles, and celebrate successes.

By attending this session, participants will learn: • How OERs can impact student retention, persistence, and completion • Case studies demonstrating the academic impact of OERs • How to connect with faculty members, even in remote learning environments, to promote the benefits of OERs • Low-budget initiatives institutions can employ to alleviate the financial burden of course materials for students • Results and impact of several OER initiatives at a small, private, nontraditional institution

This presentation focuses on the teaching experience of Dr. Mark Kinney, a Missionary in Residence at Evangel University, who used an open textbook for his senior course “Enculturation and Spiritual Development Across Cultures” with an emphasis on anthropology. Being new to the world of digital learning, he had to overcome some challenges while working on his first course design. During this process he was introduced to the field of Open Educational Resources by one of the Evangel University librarians.

This presentation addresses the apprehensions often associated with adopting Open Educational Resources (OER) for the first time and provides guidance on integrating these resources seamlessly into educational settings. OER, with its potential to enhance accessibility, affordability, and adaptability, presents a valuable opportunity for educators to transform traditional teaching and learning methodologies. However, many instructors face initial trepidation when considering the shift towards OER due to unfamiliarity with the resources and the perceived complexities involved. In our presentation, we aim to demystify the process of utilizing OER by acknowledging common concerns and offering practical strategies to alleviate anxieties.

The increasing number of English as a Second Language (ESL) students seeking education, the escalating costs of tuition, and the high proportion of students from racial minorities dropping out call for course content that is accessible, affordable, and all-embracing. First, recent studies have consistently found that most Open Educational Resources (OER) are designed for learners with advanced levels of English proficiency, which counters the purpose of offering curriculum to the general public.

We’ll begin by discussing how this work starts with defining “open” and the powerful potential of creating resources with students as opposed to for students, clarifying misunderstandings, and pointing to existing work and examples that go by different terminology, like shared google documents for a group project. Next we’ll discuss how the methods of advocacy differ between students and instructors. Then we’ll discuss responding to resistance and also differing levels of knowledge from both groups—the vulnerability in getting it wrong from students and the loss of control and difficulty assessing success by instructors. Finally, we will facilitate a conversation where attendees brainstorm successes, difficulties, resources, questions, and ideas. Attendees will hopefully learn to better navigate ambiguity and be able to take next steps to find support or implement a community of practice. This session is geared for attendees from medium to large sized private institutions, but all are welcomed.

Open educational resources (OER) have reduced the cost of educational content for students, but quantifying these savings is challenging. In this talk, I describe my process of compiling and curating granular data on OER usage, and enrollment numbers. Using transparency-focused methods on data from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, I have built interactive Tableau dashboards showing substantial cost savings from OER adoption over the course of several semesters. These clear data visualizations make a compelling financial case for expanding OER initiatives. In this talk I discuss how openly sharing the methodology, raw data, and visualizations used in this project can empower more analyses of OER impacts in the future.

Southeast Missouri State University began an A&OER initiative in 2020 which included faculty workshops and surveys to support faculty use of A&OER. However, until last spring, student voices had not been included in the initiative. Inspired by a professor’s experience using A&OER in a classroom in 2019 and 2021, and sponsored by an internal grant, undergraduate students were surveyed. There were 422 students survey responses from whom 15 volunteers were randomly selected to join two focus groups. The responses were demographically representative of the student body except for slightly higher reported GPA and more upper-level students. Significant survey findings included barriers to reading as well as changes in reading activity and hours enrolled if materials were embedded in learning management systems. Explore focus group questions that allow students to elaborate on survey responses, their perceptions of a sample OER, and feedback on a campuswide A&OER initiative.