This document outlines a proposed mixed methods action research study examining faculty adoption of open educational resources (OER) at Arizona State University. The purpose is to study how awareness, support, and peer networks influence OER adoption. Research questions focus on faculty awareness and perceptions of OER, how awareness and support may lead to adoption, and how peer experiences can increase use. The proposed method involves interviews and surveys across iterative cycles to develop and deliver an OER awareness intervention based on diffusion of innovation and planned behavior theories.

1. Peer-2-Peer Networks and use of
OER at a 4-year Public Research
University
Jenni Hayman
Doctor of Education student
Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College
Arizona State University
jlhayman@asu.edu

3. Purpose and Research Questions
Purpose:
The purpose of this mixed methods action research is
to examine the influence of awareness, support, and
peer networks on faculty member adoption of OER at
Arizona State University
Research Questions:
1. What is the level of faculty member awareness of OER?
2. What are faculty member perceptions of barriers to
using OER?
3. How might awareness and support lead to faculty
member adoption of OER?
4. How might shared peer-to-peer experiences increase
faculty member use of OER?

4. Literature of OER
Allen & Seaman, 2014

5. Florida Virtual Campus, 2012

6. Lumen Learning, n.d.

7. Method
The proposed method for this study is mixed method action
research (MMAR) with iterative cycles as follows:
Cycle 0: Semi-structured interviews with faculty members,
librarians, and instructional designers.
Cycle 1: Interviews, a formative survey, and small-scale
intervention in the form of a webinar for online faculty members.
Cycle 2: Development and delivery of an intervention. Based on
Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations model (Rogers, 2003), deliver a
contextualized awareness and support campaign for use of OER
at ASU. Based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen,
1991), design a pre- and post-intervention instrument to measure
faculty member intention to use OER.

8. Rogers’ (2003)
Diffusion of Innovations

9. There are five main factors that influence adoption of an innovation,
and each of these factors is at play to a different extent in the five
adopter categories.
Relative Advantage - The degree to which an innovation is seen as
better than the idea, program, or product it replaces.
Compatibility - How consistent the innovation is with the values,
experiences, and needs of the potential adopters.
Complexity - How difficult the innovation is to understand and/or use.
Triability - The extent to which the innovation can be tested or
experimented with before a commitment to adopt is made.
Observability - The extent to which the innovation provides tangible
results.

10. Leadership and Followers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO8MwBZl-Vc

11. Ajzen’s (1991)
Theory of Planned Behavior

12. Icek Ajzen’s Website
DIY Theory of Planned Behavior
Instrument
http://people.umass.edu/aizen/

13. Cycle 0 and Cycle 1 Interviews
Cycle 1 Findings
Concern for Students
“…it’s incredible and ridiculous how much textbooks are, so yes, from
that standpoint, not so much the librarian standpoint, there need to be
some new models out there for helping people access the knowledge
that they need to develop in their programs” (personal communication,
December 17, 2015).
“…for decades I used an expensive text that I’m sure lots of students
didn’t buy. I always waited a semester after the new edition came out
so they could get used books” (personal communication, March 24,
2016).

14. Cycle 0 and Cycle 1 Interviews
Cycle 1 Findings
Faculty Member Concerns
“I think being aware of the scope of information available in any
discipline or range of disciplines is critical. So that’s the main thing for
me as a librarian, I think it’s a core university information skill” (personal
communication, December 17, 2015).
“The challenge for OER is, I don’t know where to find them. I don’t even
really know what they are, and so I was actually going to make an
appointment with my subject librarian…” (personal communication,
March 24, 2016).
“Well, so who’s going to get into trouble? Am I? Personally? Is
someone going to sue me because of my textbook?” (personal
communication, March 24, 2016).

15. References
Allen, I. E. & Seaman, J. (2014). Opening the curriculum: Open educational resources
in U.S. higher education. Retrieved from
http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/openingthecurriculum2014.pdf
Ajzen, I. (1991). Theory of planned behavior. Organization Behavior and Human
Decision Processes, 50, 179-211.
Florida Virtual Campus. (2012). 2012 Florida Student Textbook Survey. Tallahassee,
FL. Retrieved from
http://www.openaccesstextbooks.org/pdf 2012_Florida_Student_Textbook_Survey.pdf
Lumen Learning. (n.d.). Success story: Tidewater Community College. Retrieved from
http://lumenlearning.com/success-story-tidewater/
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press.
UNESCO. (n.d.). What are open educational resources (OERs)? Retrieved from
http://www.unesco.org/new/en