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OER Success!

A graphic showing drop, fail, withdraw (DFW) rates in non-OER courses compared to OER course. Non-OER courses having a DFW rate of 10.9%, while OER course had a DFW rate of 8.2%.
Watson, C. E., & Rush-Marlowe, R. (2023). Making the case for open educational resources. American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).

Rates of students who earn Ds, Fs, or withdrawal from their course is significantly lower in classes that utilize OERs, dropping from 10.9% to 8.2%, which is approximately a 24.8% decrease from the original rate.

A graphic showing the predicted impact of OER on students passing the course, showing that pass rates for non-OER course is 76% and pass rates for OER courses is 82%
Watson, C. E., & Rush-Marlowe, R. (2023). Making the case for open educational resources. American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).

 

Additionally, this chart shows that classes using OERs have a predicted pass rate of 82%, compared to just 76% for Non-OER courses. Knowing this, it is safe to say that the use of OERs contribute to higher success rates for students.

 

As students who had never heard about OERs before joining the library, these charts are astounding! They feel like a trove of treasure secreted away from thieves and finally discovered! Why don’t more people talk about this? Why do OERs not pave the university roads and grow from the trees?

Not only are OERs free, but they result in tangible scholastic benefits! Just being free is enough of a benefit to consider their implementation, but they increase pass rates, directly relating to student success!

 

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Open Minds, Open Resources: The Student Perspective Copyright © by elise LeMonnier and Emma Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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