Sam Abramovich, Ph.D.Director of UB Open Ed Research LabAssistant Professor – LAI, LIS

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OER promise a lot, but what do we
need to know about them?
Sam Abramovich, Ph.D.
Director of UB Open Ed Research Lab
Assistant Professor – LAI, LIS
WHEN ARE WE
GOING TO GET
THERE?

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1. Students spend a significant
amount of money on course
materials.
2. OER are the same or better
quality than traditional course
materials.
3. There are no, unknown financial
costs.
4. There are no, unknown
educational challenges.
5. Students can use OER
effectively.
6. Students are motivated to use
OER.
We Actually Don’t Know if OER
Work!
These are all
unverified
assumptions!

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1. Students spend a significant
amount of money on course
materials.
2. OER are the same or better
quality than traditional course
materials.
3. There are no, unknown financial
costs.
4. There are no, unknown
educational challenges.
5. Students can use OER
effectively.
6. Students are motivated to use
OER.
We Actually Don’t Know if OER
Work!
Some research
to verify these!

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Behavioral Economics (Irrational Economics)
• Price can be a Measure of Quality (Zeithaml, 1988)
• Low cost or free is Inferior (Shampanier, Mazar, & Ariely, 2007)
• Preference of Format (Rockinson-Szapkiw, Wendt, & Lunde, 2013)
Are Students motivated to use OER?
Do students want to save money?

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Surveyed Students (n=662) who used OER at 7 colleges
in a Public University System (11 Courses)
• Helped them meet the Course Objectives frequently
(40%) or almost every time (30%)
• Liked the low cost of OER (70%)
• Only willing to pay a little less (31%) or Nothing (12%)
• Weak correlation between Course Objective and
Financial Value, r =.174, p<.01
Are Students motivated to use OER?
Do students want to save money?

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Behavioral Economics (Irrational Economics)
• Price can be a Measure of Quality (Zeithaml, 1988)
• Low cost or free is Inferior (Shampanier, Mazar, & Ariely, 2007)
• Preference of Format (Rockinson-Szapkiw, Wendt, & Lunde, 2013)
Are Students motivated to use OER?
Do students want to save money?
Maybe Not!

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1. Students spend a significant
amount of money on course
materials.
2. OER are the same or better
quality than traditional course
materials.
3. There are no, unknown financial
costs.
4. There are no, unknown
educational challenges.
5. Students can use OER
effectively.
6. Students are motivated to use
OER.
We Actually Don’t Know if OER
Work!
Some research
to verify these!

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• Not an evaluation of an OER
• Control for Instructor Influence
• Control for Course Design
• Control for Comparison
• RCT doesn’t control for these factors!
• Surveys can’t measure Learning Gains.
Are OER the same or better quality than
traditional course materials?
What kind of study can answer this?

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• Single Instructor with Expertise in Teaching the Subject
• High Quality Traditional Course Material
• Same Instructional Techniques/Pedagogy Previously Used
OR
• Optimized Instructional Techniques/Pedagogy for Materials
• Multiple Sections
• Section A – Module 1 is Traditional, Module 2 is OER
• Section B – Module 1 is OER, Module 2 is Traditional
• Prior Student Performance
Are OER the same or better quality than
traditional course materials?
What kind of study can answer this?

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• I’ll let you know later this summer!
• Is there anything magical about OER?
• What other questions do we need to ask about OER
quality?
Are OER the same or better quality than
traditional course materials?
What kind of study can answer this?

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OER Issues for SUNY and CUNY
So why bother with OER research?
• Directly Inform our Practice and Implementations
• Help craft SUNY and CUNY OER (and Open Ed) Policy
• Become the Leaders of OER Research!!!!

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• Open Database of SUNY/CUNY OER
implementations
• Collection of reliable and validated Survey
Instruments, available to all SUNY/CUNY faculty
• Research!
• And helping you…
UB Open Education Research Lab
Goals

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• Samuel Abramovich
samuelab@buffalo.edu
• Mark McBride
Mark.McBride@suny.edu
Contact us (no, seriously email us):