Banner Image
This guide provides an overview of open educational resources (OER) and the impact OER adoption has on student success. It provides examples that focus on college affordability, perceptions of OER, and OER efficacy.

Introduction to Open Educational Resources

How OER Impact Student Success: Defining Open Educational Resources - OER are free teaching and learning materials that are licensed to allow for revision and reuse. OER can be fully self-contained textbooks, videos, quizzes, learning modules, lesson plans, syllabi, worksheets, data, and more. 1. COGNITIVE COSTS - Research tells us that a person's cognitive abilities are negatively impacted by financial stress. People preoccupied by concerns over money exhibit a drop in cognitive function similar to the loss of an entire night's sleep (or 13 IQ points), resulting in poorer decision making. 2. RISING COSTS - Consumer prices for college textbooks increased 88% from January 2006 to July 2016(compared to 21% for all items). A longer look back shows that textbook costs have risen over three times the rate of inflation since January 1977. 3. RISKY DECISIONS - Numerous studies show that students engage in risky decisions that have a direct impact on their academic success. Seven out of ten students have chosen to forgo purchasing a required textbook due to cost. Of these students, 94% said they made the decision despite knowing that doing so would negatively impact their course grades. Over half of the students felt significantly concerned by the impact of this decision on their grades. 4. IMPLICATIONS - Only about four in ten students who enroll at four-year institutions graduate within six years. The majority of students who drop out of college cite financial barriers as the primary reason. 5. ENTER OER - A meta-analysis of 9 peer-reviewed research studies that measured student learning outcomes showed that 95% of over 46,000 student participants performed as well or better when OER were used. Measurements varied but included exam scores, pass/fail rates, withdrawal rates, course grades, and national test scores. 6. SOURCES - Bureau of Labor Statistics.