Examining the impact of Open Course
Library adoption on teaching practice
and student success
Credit: Timothy Valentine & Leo Reynolds CC BY-NC-SA
Boyoung Chae
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Tom Caswell
Western Governors University

OCL Project Overview
A collection of openly licensed (CC BY) educational
materials for 82 high-enrollment college courses
Project Goals:
1. Lower textbook costs for students
2. Improve course completion rates
3. Provide new resources for faculty
Credit: Timothy Valentine & Leo Reynolds CC BY-NC-SA

Open Course Library
• Phase 1: 42 courses
– http://opencourselibrary.org
– http://saylor.org
• Phase 2 : 40 courses
– Available Spring 2013

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?
– How does the use of open course materials influence student
success?

Methodology
• 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

Preliminary findings
• Focus group with two community colleges
• Follow-up phone interview with 15 faculty
who used OCL course materials

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

Preliminary findings 2
• 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
– OCL course quality was not very impressive
• Outdated resources
• Course objectives were not aligned with course content
• Course did not utilize the proper open resources

Preliminary findings 3
• 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.

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

Questions
Questions about OCL project or OCL research?
Boyoung Chae
Interim Open Course Library Manager
bchae@sbctc.edu
360-628-3549
Tom Caswell
Director of Instructional Design
Western Governors University