Hello!
(Apologies for the cross-posting)
The team at Babson Survey Research Group is out today with a report on the use of OER in higher education. The study is based on responses of over 2,700 faculty and there are a number of helpful findings. Inside Higher Ed also published a very positive piece about the findings here: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/19/more-faculty-members-are-using-oer-survey-finds. And The Chronicle of Higher Education published a story on the findings: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Use-of-Free-Textbooks-Is/242086
Key Findings Include:
- Faculty awareness of OER has increased, with 29 percent of faculty reporting that they were “Aware” or “Very Aware” of open educational resources, up from 25 percent last year and 20 percent the year before.
- Graphic #1: Increase Awareness
- Large enrollment introductory undergraduate courses have adopted openly licensed OpenStax College textbooks at a rate (16.5 percent) equivalent to that of commercial publication adoption.
- Graphic #2: OER & Traditional Textbooks
- A majority of faculty classify cost as "Very important" for their selection of required course materials.
- OER can be as successful as commercial alternatives.
- Faculty report equal levels of satisfaction with OER OpenStax materials and traditional textbooks.
Thanks!