Dr. Alicia Strandberg, a recipient of the 2022-23 OER Faculty Adoption Grant, shared reflections about using open educational resources in MSA 8115, a graduate level course on Multivariate Data Analysis.    The questions I asked her about are in bold and a loosely transcribed summary of Dr. Strandberg’s responses follow.

Why did you choose free to use, open licensed books instead of commercial textbooks for this course?

The students in this course have unique characteristics.  The program is 100% online and this is the final course in a cohort sequence.  I needed resources for all different types of learners coming from different backgrounds.  The age and work experience distribution is broad.  Some students are recent undergraduates, others have extensive work experience.  There isn’t one book to meet their varied needs.  I was fortunate that the standard textbook is open.  The additional texts I discovered while preparing the course.  I found them useful for offering an alternative perspective, so thought students might too.

I didn’t want to overwhelm students with resources, so it is important to find a balance.  If using multiple resources, I recommend labeling key and optional materials.  Beyond that it is helpful to specify which optional materials are helpful for students struggling with specific topics.  In my experience, students are less likely to use an undifferentiated list of resources, they are more likely to use them when given a path mapping topics to resources.

One shortcoming is that I’m not aware of a way to track student usage of these materials.  It would be helpful to know how often students utilize these resources and which materials are more popular or less popular.

Tracking usage is a key feature of many online learning systems because it can be used to determine where students have difficulties and need more support, but it also may undermine privacy and have a negative effect on the student-faculty relationship…

I agree there are some concerns there, but I don’t need personalized data. I would love to have information that showed how many students used a resource, such as in a class of twenty five, seven students used one resource. I don’t need to know which seven students may have used it.  That may tell me where more attention needs to be focused.  Meaningful insights can be given by counts.  For example, knowing if there were seven different students or the same one student revisiting a resource could help me address or change my approach to some of the topics.

Were the open resources different than commercial textbooks you’ve used?

I don’t think the textbooks themselves were different, but how students accessed them was.  Because it’s an online course all materials were supplied as links.  I did recieve feedback from a small group of students that they missed paper textbooks and some purchased paper editions, but that is a very small group of students.  So I think it is working well.

What works was involved in redesigning the course around openly licensed books?

It helps that I was the creator of the course.  Because it was going to be an online course, in the design phase we were encouraged to look at open materials and we were challenged to keep costs low for students especially because they are paying graduate tuition.  It was a bit of luck that I really liked the main textbook and it is open.  It is an intermediate book, so I knew for some students it would be challenging to jump in. I needed other resources for students who might need to catch up to the intermediate level.  Faculty collaborated in workshops when designing this program and some of the supplementary materials are used in other courses too.

That’s great, I didn’t realize that on the faculty team level there was such a focus on choosing open and affordable materials.  Do you think that orientation is common or maybe specific to this program.

I think there are bright spots where it is really encouraged and other places where it might be mentioned. In my experience I see it more often at the graduate level.  My undergraduate courses use commercial textbooks, and I don’t think it is realistic to use all open materials, but I do like to use open source materials as optional  resources whenever possible.  That way students that need extra support don’t have to pay an extra fee for materials.

You received a small award for using open educational resources. Do you think this is a good way to encourage adoption of OER?  Can you think of other services that the university could provide?

I’m very grateful to have received this award. This award highlights that open educational resources are  of value to Villanova. The award brings awareness.

To spread the word and have more involvement, I believe taking a team approach would be beneficial.  It would be helpful to know where to find open resources and library resources, knowing that at the end of the day everything we do is to make our students stronger and more capable and successful.  If we can make that path a little easier by relieving the burden of some textbook costs, that’s a good thing to do.  Having conversations at faculty and program meetings will get more people to think about it.

Do you think using OER had any impact on the classroom dynamic?

In all my classes I like to believe students get the most from being in the (virtual) classroom and participating in active classes.  The materials help aid our discussion. Assuming my belief its true, I don’t think there is much difference between a commercial or open textbook, assuming they are both of high quality.

I have had conversations with colleagues about what students do when they need help in the moment, since faculty cannot always be immediately available.  In these moments, many students turn to the internet, where they may or may not find relevant materials or high quality information.  I like to think that when I recommend websites and open source materials on Blackboard, my students will turn to those first.  I know that part of my job is to enable students to recognize quality material too.

Do you have any advice for colleagues that may be considering using OER?

You don’t have to change your primary textbook.  I would start small.  For me what worked well was adding OER as additional resources, then telling students which chapters in the open access resources supplement the primary textbook is helpful.  You don’t have to do this for every topic.  I started by paying attention to patterns in the emails student sent looking for clarification on specific topics.   The questions weren’t evenly distributed, so I focused on the challenging topics.  This approach actually lessened the volume of emails students sent asking for help.  Both sides win;  students get what they need and it eases the workload for faculty.  I like to remind students about these resources, letting them know that I will always respond to their questions but they may be able to get help in the moment by using the recommended OER.

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

The Affordable Materials Project in conjunction with Subject Librarians went on a Listening Tour to learn about faculty course materials practices, challenges, and concerns.  During the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022, AMP members and librarians spoke with faculty teaching high enrollment, introductory courses that typically use commercial textbooks.

We had conversations about how textbooks and homework systems are chosen and used and what services might promote the use of high-quality, low-cost textbooks and open educational resources (OER).   The Listening Tour’s findings and recommendations are now available here.

The OER (Open Educational Resources) Faculty Adoption Award Forum, held virtually on March 9, highlighted the diverse and flexible nature of openly licensed course materials and shined a light on student’s preference for free digital materials.

Professor Jeanne Liedtka, JD, received the award to transition the Law of Contracts and Sales elective to using OER. Not a newcomer to OER, she had previously used OER in the popular Intellectual Property (IP) Law for Business course. Liedtka compared and contrasted both successful experiences. IP is a dynamic branch of law heavily dependent on case law.  A law school text, Boyle & Jenkins’ Intellectual Property:  Law and the Information Society: Cases and Materials, served as the backbone of the course.  Her undergraduate student’s weren’t phased by materials designed for law school students, but Liedtka did go the extra mile to supplement the text with articles centering business perspectives on IP issues and recent cases in the public domain.  Liedtka noted that contract law is less dynamic field, and she had well developed lectures notes that served as the core of the course, so Introduction to Contracts, Sales & Product Liability, written for undergraduates, was a serviceable reference.  She encouraged faculty interested in exploring OER adoptions to contact their subject librarians who can map available OER to course outlines and syllabi.

Valentina DeNardis, PhD, shared her personal and professional reasons for adopting Dickinson College Commentaries, to the Classics course, Readings in Authors. As a first generation student herself, Dr. DeNardis recalled feeling overwhelmed by the cost of texts and being stressed when the edition of a text she needed to use far exceeded the price for alternatives. In a grad school class, where she met her husband, she had to purchase a very costly scholarly monograph that was never even used, so now they have two pristine copies in their home. From a teaching perspective, Dr. DeNardis noted that affordability isn’t the only reason to choose openly licensed materials. Digital is convenient, flexible, and accessible. Because classics studies require a wide range of very expensive materials including texts, dictionaries, grammar books, translations, and essays, the Commentaries supplemented with Library-subscribed content was ideal.  Dr. DeNardis built a Microsoft OneNote notebook to deliver the content and as a forum for student collaboration.

A panel of students spoke to the social and academic benefits that flowed from using OER. Olivia noted that the online platform was better for visual learners because it facilitated looking up maps, videos, and images. Lauren felt that digital materials made it easier to do translations, because she could easily toggle between dictionaries. Anna liked digital sticky notes, which are environmentally friendly! From a pocket book point of view, Valeria noted that in fields with rapidly evolving developments having a current text is important, but it is distressing that the resale value of commercial textbooks diminish fast due to constant updates. Tuition increases and expensive textbooks can make it hard for some students to stay in college. She felt that using OER allowed everyone to be in the conversation and made class debates fun.

When asked about their overall experience with college textbooks, Olivia recommended frequent and early alerts about required books because discounted books sell out fast and delays in shipping can cause students to fall behind in their work. It was a relief to Lauren to find out on the first day of class that she didn’t have to pay for any books. Valeria said “eliminating the economic barrier of buying books gets everyone involved..[which] helps professors and students.” She observed that students can be discouraged from taking a class or  minoring in a subject because of expensive materials, whereas free or low cost books promote exploration. One student asked if professors are required to assign textbooks, even when they don’t intend to rely on them heavily, and wished that they would let students know up front when that is the case.

Dr. DeNardis explained that she hopes the effort she made finding and using affordable materials will serve as a model for her peers. Liedtka explained that at VSB faculty teaching core courses are encouraged to use the same text to ensure a consistent student experience, and that faculty have the freedom to design the course around the textbook, sometimes using relying on it heavily or sometimes only as a reference.

The forum concluded with a discussion about how to advance the use of OER at Villanova. On the demand side, both Dr. DeNardis and Liedtka recommended awards and grants, faculty surveys, forums and programs, and library services. On the demand side, both suggested encouragement and support for Villanova faculty authoring OER. They observed that authoring OER ensures the availability of great content and noted that it would enhance University branding and raise the profile of programs.

The 2022-23 Faculty Adoption Grant is accepting applications.  Visit this site to apply.

A recording of the OER Faculty Adoption Award Forum is available.

Linda Hauck is the Business Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library and Affordable Materials Project member.

Villanova faculty, staff, students, and friends are cordially invited to join the Affordable Materials Project (AMP) in celebrating faculty members, Jeanne Liedtka, JD, and Valentina DeNardis, PhD, who were awarded Open Educational Resource (OER) Faculty Adoption Grants for 2021-22 in a virtual forum on Wednesday, March 9, from 3-4 p.m.

At this event, faculty will share their insights into the benefits and challenges posed by redesigning their courses using FREE, OPENLY LICENSED TEXTBOOKS. Students will also share feedback on using OER.

This event is perfect for faculty considering or curious about OER and everyone interested in educational affordability, accessibility, and inclusivity. This ACS-approved event is co-sponsored by the AMP and Falvey Memorial Library.

REGISTER HERE

Please be sure to join us at this event to celebrate faculty who support textbook affordability at Villanova!

Regina Duffy is a Communication and Marketing Program Manager at Falvey Memorial Library.

The Affordable Materials Project celebrated the work of five faculty members who adopted open educational resources (OER) in the 2020–21 academic year.  OER are free, accessible, and openly licensed textbooks.

Alexander Diaz Lopez, PhD, Assistant Professor, Mathematics & Statistics; Stephanie Katz Linkmeyer, PhD, Assistant Teaching Professor, Chemistry; Sarvesh Kulkarni, PhD, Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering; Sue McFarland Metzger, Professor of the Practice, Information Systems; and Motjaba Vaezi, PhD, Assistant Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, were motivated to adopt OER for a variety of reasons not limited to the significant cost savings for students. Faculty noted that the award inspired them to try OER.

Dr. Katz Linkmeyer appreciated the seamless integration of OER with Lab Archives, and Professor McFarland Metzger’s integrated with Blackboard. They liked that digital OER incorporated interactive features, but were also available as PDFs for offline use or in print. Professor McFarland Metzger noticed that by giving students the OER they all were on the same page with course content. One faculty member attributed improved Course and Teacher Surveys scores, in part, to the adoption of OER.

Several faculty remarked they supplemented OER with extra notes, problems, exercises, and figures to better align with their course objectives and that this was time intensive but worthwhile. Additional support for these projects would be welcome.

Students remarked that they liked having continued access to the book in contrast to e-book rentals. They admitted that the use of OER relieved students from weighing the risks involved in waiting to see if the assigned textbook is really used as a key resource for learning and assessments. They felt that the use of OER relieved financial pressures and hoped to see more widespread adoption of OER across the curriculum.

The 2021–22 OER Faculty Adoption Grant is accepting applications.  Visit this site to apply.

A recording of the full faculty forum, including student’s remarks is available to the Villanova community and a version with only the faculty presentations, is available for open viewing.

Linda Hauck is the Business Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library and Affordable Materials Project member.