ERIC Number: EJ1017456
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Sep
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1492-3831
EISSN: N/A
The Adoption of Open Educational Resources by One Community College Math Department
Hilton, John Levi, III.; Gaudet, Donna; Clark, Phil; Robinson, Jared; Wiley. David
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, v14 n4 p37-50 Sep 2013
The high cost of textbooks is of concern not only to college students but also to society as a whole. Open textbooks promise the same educational benefits as traditional textbooks; however, their efficacy remains largely untested. We report on one community college's adoption of a collection of open resources across five different mathematics classes. During the 2012 fall semester, 2,043 students in five different courses used these open access resources. We present a comparison between the previous two years in terms of the number of students who withdrew from the courses and the number that completed the courses with a C grade or better. Our analysis suggests that while there was likely no change in these educational outcomes, students who have access to open access materials collectively saved a significant amount of money. Students and faculty were surveyed as to their perceptions of these materials and the results were generally favorable.
Descriptors: Educational Resources, Open Source Technology, Community Colleges, Mathematics Education, Departments, Adoption (Ideas), Textbooks, Electronic Publishing, Dropout Rate, Student Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Cost Effectiveness, Sustainability, Access to Information, Textbook Evaluation, Graduation Rate, Academic Achievement
Athabasca University. 1200, 10011 - 109 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8, Canada. Tel: 780-421-2536; Fax: 780-497-3416; e-mail: irrodl@athabascau.ca; Web site: http://www.irrodl.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Arizona
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A