This short lightening talk from the PACE Teaching & Learning Conference at Sam Houston State University reviews the first-year outcomes of the OER Course Redesign Grant from RFY.

2. THE PLOT
• Mini-grant initiative led by the Newton Gresham Library
• Supported by the Reimagining the First Year (RFY) Committee and funded by Dr. Brian Loft
• Participants redesign a course using only open and free course materials
• Small $$ incentive, + partnership with subject-specialist librarian & instructional designer
• 11 faculty applicants selected, representing 9 unique courses in 6+ colleges

3. THE BOX OFFICE SUCCESS
• 939 students benefitted
• $90,478 total cost savings to students
(Fall 2019 through Summer 2020]

4. THE BOX OFFICE SUCCESS
• 2.5% average decline in rate of drop / fail /
withdraw (DFW rate)
• One class saw a 9% decline in DFW

5. THE BOX OFFICE SUCCESS
• Impact at all undergraduate levels, though
primarily freshmen
• 38.8% reported being first-generation
students

6. THE BOX OFFICE SUCCESS
• 81.9% reported being “Extremely
likely” to choose a zero-cost course
section in the future

7. RAVE REVIEWS: FACULTY
“When I announced to my classes this week that I had worked with the library to get a textbook at
zero cost, they spontaneously broke into applause. No kidding.”
“This was a very positive experience for me. My librarian, Stacy Johnson, did an outstanding job
supporting me and aiding me in the library resources section of this course.”
“Having a librarian partner was really key to implementation of OER. It would have taken me much
more time to identify and adopt materials without her help.”

8. RAVE REVIEWS: FACULTY
“I had a fantastic experience developing my section of UNIV 1301 to use OER as the supplementary
resource. It forced me to review how I teach all the concepts and gave me the opportunity to re-
design assignments with more intentional purpose. My assigned librarian [Heather Adair] was
essential in making this trial a success. She helped me curate a wide range of sources for each
topic that I taught. Further, she was knowledgeable and helpful when I needed to flesh out ideas on
ways to evaluate students’ knowledge and learning.”

9. RAVE REVIEWS: STUDENTS
• “I have several other courses that require textbooks, online activation fees, etc. which becomes
costly and ineffective. The majority of the books students are asked to purchase, in my opinion,
are unnecessary when you have the relevant materials provided to you and have an excellent
professor.”
• “Incredibly helpful financially and it relieved stress of returning textbooks at the end of
semester. I wish all courses were zero-cost!!! Some courses I've taken in the past left me unable
to buy food or pay rent and this is extremely unfair. Most of the time these textbooks were not
even used by the professor save two or three smaller assignments.”

10. RAVE REVIEWS: STUDENTS
• “I agree with zero cost courses. Professors are not allotted the time needed in order to teach an
entire text-book in a single semester. Furthermore, in two-part courses, one professor could
teach from one book, while another professor teaches from another, thus increasing the end
cost of a student to attend the course. Professors who choose this method [zero-cost]
understand the rising cost for students to attend university and help reduce the end cost for the
students, thus allowing us to spend the saved money in other necessary areas that are required
for university education.”

11. RAVE REVIEWS: STUDENTS
• “Zero-cost has helped me with my living expenses. Some textbooks cost $300 and honestly,
that's about 2 months' worth of food or even more. I am very grateful for this program and if
another class offered it. I would gladly take it again. Thank you”
• “It is a tremendous help not to have to worry about spending extra money on a textbook, even
just one class makes the difference.”
• “The zero-cost really helped me this semester, as one of the required books that I needed was
over $200. I couldn't afford this book, so I had to work side jobs to get it, so it was really nice that
I did not have to do that for this course.”

12. THE MORAL OF THE STORY
• The switch to open/free CAN be made, in many disciplines & at many course levels.
• The switch CAN have a positive impact on students’ academic success.
• The switch CAN make a real economic difference for students.
• Studies show that this can contribute positively to retention & completion.

13. SELECTED CREDITS
• SHSU Library's Online Guide: "Teaching with OER: Open & Free Materials" https://shsulibraryguides.org/oer
• Clinton, V., & Khan, S. (2019). Efficacy of Open Textbook Adoption on Learning Performance and Course Withdrawal Rates: A
Meta-Analysis. AERA Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419872212
• Colvard, N. B., Watson, C. E., & Park, H. (2018). The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Success Metrics.
International Journal Of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 262-276.
• Delgado, H., Delgado, M., & Hilton III, J. (2019). On the Efficacy of Open Educational Resources: Parametric and Nonparametric
Analyses of a University Calculus Class. International Review of Research in Open And Distributed Learning, 20(1).
• Fischer, L., Hilton, J., Robinson, T. J., & Wiley, D. A. (2015). A Multi-institutional Study of the Impact of Open Textbook Adoption on
The Learning Outcomes of Post-Secondary Students. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 27(3), 159-172.
• Ross, H., Hendricks, C., & Mowat, V. (2018). Open Textbooks in an Introductory Sociology Course in Canada: Student Views and
Completion Rates. Open Praxis, 10(4), 393-403. http://dx.doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.10.4.892

14. WANT TO GO BEHIND THE SCENES?
• If you want to do it, you can do it.
• You don’t have to do it alone: The library can help.
• Faculty grant participants reported an average of just 22 hours needed for the redesign.
• Contact your subject librarian, or the scholarly communications librarian:
• Erin Owens
• 936-294-4567
• eowens@shsu.edu
These slides will be available at https://shsulibraryguides.org/oer/slides