Providing Academic Support
to Students through Open
Educational Resources (OER)
Jacqueline M. DiSanto, Ed.D. & Denise Cummings-Clay, Ph.D.
Education Department
Hostos Community College/CUNY
Bronx, New York
June 16, 2017
Pace University
Inaugural Retention Conference
OER Defined
 Open
educational resources (OER)

teaching, learning, and research resources that are in
the public domain or have been released with an open
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/)

Anyone can use, copy, adapt, and reshare OER.
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OER Defined

OER encompasses textbooks, full courses, syllabi,
test questions, lecture notes, assignments, software,
videos, lab notes, games, and more.

To be considered open, educational resources must
be free and give users the freedom to do the Rs that
follow:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Retain
Reuse
Revise
Remix
Redistribute
6.
.
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Why Consider OER?

An enrollment mission for the community college is
to provide access to college via courses that serve
as the basis for a career or new life experience.

A concern of college students is the high cost of
textbooks.

OER provides academic support to help students
succeed in their learning achievement.
4
Why Consider OER?
Using
“open” textbooks can provide
great cost savings to students
without compromising educational
efficacy (Hilton and Wiley, 2011).
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Textbook cost impacts student success
Source: 2012 student survey by Florida Virtual Campus
60%+ do not purchase textbooks
at some point due to cost
35% take fewer courses due to
textbook cost
31% choose not to register for a
course due to textbook cost
23% regularly go without
textbooks due to cost
14% have dropped a course
due to textbook cost
10% have withdrawn from a
course due to textbook cost



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11 Peer Reviewed Studies
http://openedgroup.org/
48,623 Students
http://openedgroup.org/
Would our students like 21%
off per semester?
Traditional vs. OER Degree at Hostos CC
$3,500
$3,000
$700
$2,500
$231
$241
$2,000
$1,500
$1,000
$2,400
$2,400
Textbooks
OER
$500
21%
Reduction in
Student Cost
PER
SEMESTER
$0
Tuition
Fees
Textbooks
10
93% Same or Better Outcomes
http://openedgroup.org/
OER and Academic Success

Students gain immediate access to course materials
from the first day of class and are able to view
academic content digitally through the campus
Blackboard system.

The likelihood that students will be prepared and
confident in their ability to learn is increased
because the academic content is in a medium that
they use often.
12
OER and Student Retention

OER reduces the cost of students’ education.

Students can access the materials from any
mobile device allowing them flexibility of time
and place.

Students can print materials or access the
materials from any mobile device.

OER replaces for-cost textbooks with OER
content, which levels the economic playing field.
13
Curriculum Design Process

Academic freedom and the critical topics in each
program are maintained. Each OER section designer
will:
 determine
 list
student-learning objectives;
 develop
assessments;
 construct
 include

content;
organizational platform map; and,
the appropriate licensure.
The platform map will be submitted to the publisher
for certification as OER and for final formatting.
14
OER in Practice

OER was piloted at Hostos in EDU 101, ENG 102,
ENG 110, and MAT 100 this past spring.

In EDU 101, OER content was used in Face-to-Face
and Online sections.

OER means one location supporting differentiation
of instruction.
15
OER in Practice
Useful in supporting the Progressivism educational
philosophy and use of Team-based Learning (TBL)
methodology.
 Roles of students using the TBL Methodology:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Leader – navigates the work of the group;
Recorder – notates as group discovers;
Reporter – presents to the class on behalf of the
group;
Researcher – researches the topic from educational
materials; and,
Skit Designer – designs a visual presentation of the
major emphasis of the group’s reporting presentation.
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OER in Action at Hostos

OER Curricula – All 20 required courses for the
A.A.S. degree in Early Childhood Education will be
developed as OER-reliant courses.

Upcoming Research Study – A comparison of the
academic achievement of students in courses that
use OER versus those that use traditional textbooks
will be conducted.
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OER in Action at Hostos

In face-to-face class meetings, students seem to be
enthusiastic about learning and are engaging with
the OER content/materials.

Students are increasing their capacity to use the
Internet and the campus’ online digital Blackboard
system.

Students appear to be more responsible in completing
their reading assignments.
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OER in Action at Hostos

Student attendance in face-to-face class sessions
seems to be the same as in other courses utilizing
textbooks.

Use of OER videos enables students to see the
examples of topics they are studying, addressing the
needs of students who have a visual learning style
and providing differentiation of instruction.
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Achieving the Dream Grant

The Hostos Early-Childhood Education Unit’s OER
Initiative is supported by a 2016 AtM grant shared
with Bronx Community College and the Borough of
Manhattan Community College.

We are most grateful to Madeline Ford, Hostos
Executive Librarian, and Ann Fiddler, CUNY OER
Librarian.

Slides 6-11 are shared with permission from
www.lumen.com.
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Thank You

Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful
weapon you can use to change the world.”

Helen Keller said, “A well-educated mind will always
have more questions than answers.”

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The function of
education is to teach one to think intensively and to
think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the
goal of true education.”

David Wiley said, “The good we can do is constrained
only by our creativity and commitment.”
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