An OER-based degree, sometimes referred to as a Zero-Textbook-Cost degree, is a pathway to a degree or credential with no textbook costs. Faculty have redesigned the courses in the pathway to use open educational resources (OER) instead of traditional commercial textbooks and early research shows students are succeeding as well or better than peers in traditional courses while saving up to 25% on the cost of attendance. Additional research has shown that a college may be able to increase tuition revenue through increased student persistence and success in these pathways.
With the largest OER degree grant initiative of its kind launched last year at 38 colleges in 13 U.S. states, Achieving the Dream, has undertaken research to look at the academic and financial impact to students and their institutions. Grant partners SRI, along with partner rpk GROUP, is conducting research and evaluation to identify impact and cost as well as the facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of this model. Join us to hear from the researchers about methodology, benefits and challenges for colleges, and findings from the first semester of the grant.
When: Wed, April 12 1st, 10amPST/1pmEST
Featured Speakers:
- Jessica Mislevy, PhD is a senior researcher with SRI Education’s Center for Technology in Learning and one of the key researchers for the ATD OER Degree Initiative.
- Rick Staisloff is the founder and a principal of rpkGROUP, a leading national consulting firm supporting colleges, universities, and other non-profits with their growth and reallocation strategies, who leads the cost analysis for institutions and students participating in the ATD OER Degree Initiative.
We regret that this webinar was cancelled due to technical issues. It will not be rescheduled at this time as a full report on research findings from the first semester of the OER Degree Initiative will be released later in May. The report will be linked to from this site.
Featured Image: “DNA Origami by Alex Bateman @sangerinsti” by dullhunk, on Flickr, cc-by license.
Posted by Una T. Daly, Director of Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources, email: unatdaly@oeconsortium.org