OER-Based General Education Project at NOVA

OER Courses Offered (Phase 1):

English – ENG 111, 112,125 College Math – MTH 151 Science – PHY 201, 202 History – HIS 121, 122 Humanities/Fine Arts – ART 101, 102 Social/Behavioral Sciences – HIS 262 Student Development – SDV 100

We selected high-impact courses for a broad populationThese courses can be taken by any NOVA student individually, or as a General Education Certificate program.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43602175@N06/4070018828 Wm. Preston Davis, Ed.D.

Northern Virginia Community College

What are OER?“OER are teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use or re-purposing by others.” – The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

Wm. Preston Davis, Ed.D. Northern Virginia Community College

Why use OER? Access – Open Educational Resources allows for all

students to have equal access to all course materials

Affordability – Open Educational Resources are free or very low cost, significantly reducing educational expenses

Student Success – Open Educational Resources are high quality educational materials available in a variety of engaging formats for all learners

Wm. Preston Davis, Ed.D. Northern Virginia Community College

Why Should Instructors Use Free Resources?

• Allows the instructor more academic freedom.

• Provides a richer experience for the student.

• Engages students with the variety of resources.

• Gives students immediate access to the course materials.

OER Project ResourcesFaculty are provided VCCS grant funded

stipends to redesign a course using OER instead of traditional textbooks.

ELI resources (Librarians, Instructional Designers) are provided to assist in course design and development, and OER curation.

All course material developed for this project will be shared throughout the VCCS and licensed through Creative Commons after the pilot.

Wm. Preston Davis, Ed.D. Northern Virginia Community College

Resources used in SDV100Online text: Saylor.org - College Resources

by Bruce Beiderwell, Linda F. Tse, Tom Lochhaas and Nicholas B. deKanter

Websites: StudentLingo.com, YouTube.com, Ted.com, Films on Demand, NOVA website for college resources and career exploration, studygs.net

Assessment websites: SmarterMeasure, Virginia Education Wizard, VARK-learn.com, Humametrics.com, wikidot.com, mindtools.com, Everfi.com

In-house webinars: Exploring Career Options and Getting Ready for Your Next Semester

Example of Multiple Resources Utilized for Learning Styles Topic:

Redesigning SDV100 - College Success Skills

• Summer 2013 - SDV100 College Success Skills was redesigned to utilize online resources that are free to students.

• Fall 2013 - The new course was piloted in seven sections by five instructors.• The remaining instructors were trained for the spring

2014 transition.

• Spring 2014 - All online SDV100 courses are taught in the new format (12 instructors/22 sections).• The campus-based hybrid course is currently piloting

two OER sections.

*All SDV100, both online and campus-based hybrid will be OER by fall 2015.

Cost Savings for SDV100 StudentsTextbook: $37.50 Used/$50.00 NewFall 2013:

7 pilot sections = 245 students

Saved $9,187 - $12,250• Spring 2014:

22 sections = 770 studentsSaved $28,875 - $38,500

Feedback from Students38% of the students in the fall 2013 pilot sections responded to the OER student survey:

• 90% liked not having to purchase a textbook.

• 93% felt the College Success e-book was informative and addressed the topics in this course well.

• 100% felt the videos were informative and addressed the topics in this course well.

• 97% thought the assignments and activities in this course related to the assigned readings and videos.

Quotes from Students “I think I learned the most when we read about note taking

styles and that it will help me for years to come. I found the chapters covering dealing with stress, anxiety and learning styles to be the most interesting though. Those have always appealed to me and it was neat to see other opinions and ideas from the students in the blog posts.”

“I liked the typology and learning style assignment because I was able to find out more about myself. I now understand what kind of learner I am and how I learn best as well as what characterizes my personality. It also helped me in finding a career that best fits me.”

“The final project was the most interesting assignment. This assignment let us review everything we have learned and also gave us the chance to see it all come together.”

Thank You!Kim Burkle Counselor/Instructorkburkle@nvcc.edu

Extended Learning InstituteNorthern Virginia Community College