The document provides an overview of the Open Course Library (OCL) project in Washington State. It discusses preliminary findings from research on the impact of OCL courses on faculty teaching practices. Key findings include that faculty who adopted OCL courses liked the complete course packages and institutional support, while barriers to adoption included courses residing in the ANGEL platform and lack of support. Student perspectives shared that open resources improved learning but could be better organized. The presentation showcases an anthropology course to illustrate student and faculty views on OCL courses.

1. Open Course Library: The impact
on Faculty's Teaching Practice
Boyoung Chae, Ph.D.
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Teri L. Tucker
Spokane Falls Community College
May 2, 2013

2. Purpose of the session
1. Overview of OCL project
2. Research Report: The Impact of OCL on
Faculty’s Teaching Practice
3. Showcase of one of OCL courses:
Anthropology

3. OCL Project Overview
An initiative to develop affordable digital course materials for
Washington State’s community & technical colleges
WHY:
• The high cost of textbooks has reduced Washington students’
access to higher education.
WHO:
• SBCTC eLearning and Open Education
• Supported by a multi-year $750,000 grant from Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation
• Supported by $750,000 from the Washington State
Legislature 2

4. OCL project overview
WHAT:
• Built as 81 high-enrollment, gatekeeper college courses
designed and reviewed by CTC faculty members and
instructional support teams
• Total materials cost to student must be under $30 per course
• Free global public use through Creative Commons Licensing
WHEN:
• First 42 courses released in October 2011
• Second 39 courses released in April 2013
2

5. ACCT 201
Principles of
Accounting
BIOL 100
Survey of
Biology
MATH 141
Precalculus
MUSC 105
Music
Appreciation
There are 81 of these. Pick and choose!
PHIL 120 Symbolic Logic
Syllabus, Readings,
Activities, Assessments,
Assignments, Notes,
Course guides, Videos,
PowerPoint slides,
Images, etc.

6. Research Questions
• The purpose of the study is to investigate the adoption of Open
Course Library (OCL) courses within the WA college system.
– How and to what extent are open course materials being
shared and used?
– What are the barriers or keys to the successful adoption of
open course materials?
– What institutional policies are needed to support the adoption
and use of open course materials?

7. Methodology
• Mixed Method Study
• Qualitative Study
– 1 hour focus group with a group of faculty who
have experience with OCL course materials
– 30 minute follow-up phone interviews with focus
group participants
• Quantitative Study
– Online survey on the use of OCL materials

8. Preliminary findings 1
from Qualitative Study
• Faculty who decided to adopt the OCL
materials liked:
– OCL materials being offered as a whole package
– OCL courses offer a low cost textbook
– Proper institutional support
– OCL course quality was impressive

9. • Those who decided not to adopt the OCL
materials encountered the barriers including:
– OCL courses resides in ANGEL
– OCL courses did not offer low cost textbook
– Did not receive proper institutional support
– Did not like the OCL course content
• Outdated resources
• Course objectives were not aligned with course content
• Course did not utilize the proper open resources
Preliminary findings 2
from Qualitative Study

10. • What faculty consider keys to successful
adoption
– A community of OCL users
– A system where they can continuously improve
these courses.
– More connection with the authors to ask
questions or suggest ideas.
Preliminary findings 3
from Qualitative Study

11. Preliminary findings 1
from Quantitative Study
• Among nearly 500 participants who
responded to the survey, 53% reported that
they had a chance to review Open Course
Library phase 1 contents.

12. Preliminary findings 2
from Quantitative Study
• Among the participants who indicated that they had a chance to review
the contents, 23% reported that they used or adopted the contents in
their courses.
28%
8%
6%
6%
46%
6%
Extent of OCL Course Materials Use
I used the entire course.
I used about 75% of the course materials
I used about half(or 50%) of the course
materials
I used about 25% of the course materials
I used only a few course materials
I did not use the materials, but I gained
new ideas

13. Preliminary findings 4
from Quantitative Study
• Among the participants who indicated that they have not used OCL materials
for their own courses after initial review, 45% rated the quality of the overall
course contents either very good or excellent. Only 14% rated poor
Excellent
8%
Very Good
32%
Fair
45%
Poor
15%
Quality of OCL course materials

14. Preliminary findings 5
from Quantitative Study
• The participants who indicated that they have not used OCL materials for their
own courses after initial review reported that they faced several challenges.
“I heard about OCL course and wanted to give it a shot, but my teaching subjects were not
part of the OCL phase 1 course collection.”
“We have specific learning outcomes at my colleges, so it's easier to use what I already have
created here.”
“The Physics course I previewed is at a higher level than what my students need.”
“Takes too much time to sort through information.”
“It was not significantly different or better than ones I use.”
“Much of the material is geared toward how that specific instructor would teach the course.”
“It was interesting, but I have not had a chance to teach the course yet.
I am waiting until next quarter.”

15. Implementation Plan for OCL Adoption
1. Build Online State-wide OER HUB
2. Organize OER Advisory Group
3. Provide OER Hands-On Workshop
4. Work with Colleges to set the atmosphere
that is welcoming to use of OER
5. Build a larger OER community

16. OCL Course Showcase
• ANTH 100, Survey of Anthropology
– Opencourselibrary.org
• Teri L. Tucker
– Anthropology
– Department of Social Sciences
– Spokane Falls Community College
– Spokane, WA 99224
– (509) 533-3458

17. OCL Course Showcase
• Faculty perspective on why I use open
resources
– Anthropological perspective
– Impact on teaching
– Impact on student learning
• http://opencourselibrary.org

18. OCL Course Showcase
Student perspective
– (informal quantitative and qualitative study) n =
18
• quantitative
– 88% did not use optional textbook
– 98% found open resources helpful in completing weekly
assignments
– 100% found resources helpful for quizzes
– 96% would recommend class to others

19. OCL Course Showcase
Student perspective (n = 18)
• Was the class interesting and time well spent? Did your
perspective change regarding anthropology?
– “It was enjoyable and I was interested in the information. I want
to take another anthropology class because of it.”
– "Yes it did. Greatly"
– "It was the most interesting class I have taken thus far and the
only class I did not accumulate a single absence in. I enjoyed
every minute of it. My perspective on life and science has been
changed through the information I learned in the class."
– "Yeah. For sure."
– "Yes, it was very interesting. I didn't know much of what
Anthropology was, after this class I am well aware and
understand what Anthropology is."

20. OCL Course Showcase
Student perspective (n = 18)
• If all courses used open resources, would you be able to take more
classes and finish your degree faster?
– “If they were given more financial aid to pay for the credits, yes. But the
class still costs a lot of money. Not paying for a textbook helped though.
– "I cannot say. I like having a text to use as a foundation, but open
resources make it easier to pay for materials."
– "The text book form in most classes is a more organized way and less
time consuming way to learn information. The open resources on the
other hand taught me information that I will retain. Although they were
far more time consuming."
– "Yeah. Probably."
– "No. It was a lot of information. If that was toned down… yeah
definitely."

21. OCL Course Showcase
Student perspective (n = 18)
• What is one thing you liked about the course?
» "The information. I gained a lot of insight on culture and evolution.
The whole topic I gained a lot of new info and feel better for it."
» "I enjoyed all the different ways we learned info. Through
lecture, tedtalks, movies, articles, fun exercises on the resources.
That way of teaching helped me retain info that I never would have
out of a textbook."
» "I really liked the focus on multiculturalism and thinking critically
about historical & current issues like slavery, women's
rights, religion, health care, and class conflict. It was really great to
learn about anthropology in a less ethnocentric and dogmatic way."
» "I liked learning about primates. I liked that it was online and I didn't
have to go into a class."
» "I loved that Teri was so helpful and understanding. She was very
good at giving in depth directions so there was no room for
misunderstandings. "

22. OCL Course Showcase
Student perspective (n = 18)
• What is one thing you would change about the course?
» "There was no study guide at the beginning but she already fixed that.
And that helped a lot. The online resources were overwhelming there
was too much."
» "A more organized/condensed form of displaying all of the resources
and links. Half the time I procrastinated simply because I was
overwhelmed by the layout."
» " I honestly would not change one thing."
» "Make it more straightforward. I would have all the open resources
specifically apply to the questions. The amount of information that was
provided made it a 300 level course and if you are not majoring in
Anthropology it makes it difficult."
» "Give more extra credit assignments to help ease the stress of missing
points, and raise the number of total points so that single points don't
affect our final grades so much (e.g. 100 pts per assignment instead of
10, totaling 3,000 pts - just one method). This would lower the stress of
this class SO much - worrying about grades was my #1 stressor for this
class & often distracted from the learning."

23. OCL Course Showcase
Student perspective (n = 18)
• In your opinion, did the open resources improve
or hinder the quality of the class?
» “Improved. The multimedia sections were engaging. Because
of them I wanted to read the articles. It was much better
then going home and reading out of a textbook.”
» "Improved. It was well done."
» "Improved. Definitely. I would just try to organize it a little
better."
» "I think it improved it."
» "Hinder. Just the amount. Some of it was great like the
Palomar College was a good resource. I loved the way it
flowed and everything. Yeah that one was just great."

24. Questions about OCL project or OCL research?
Boyoung Chae
Program Admin of Open Education and eLearning
bchae@sbctc.edu
360-628-3549
Teri L. Tucker
Anthropology, Department of Social Sciences
Spokane Falls Community College
(509) 533-3458