Dr. Donna Gaudet Scottsdale Community College (Arizona, USA) John Hilton III Brigham Young University (Utah, USA)

1. Open Educational Resources in Action:
Beyond the Textbook
Description, results, and analysis of a study on
the use of an open learning system in a
community college mathematics department
Dr. Donna Gaudet - Scottsdale Community College – Arizona, USA
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
John Hilton III – Brigham Young University – Utah, USA

2. Image Source: Wolfram Alpha
Scottsdale, Arizona

3. All images in the public domain

4. Scottsdale Community College
Image Source: Donna Gaudet

5. One of 10 Colleges – Maricopa
Community College District

6. SCC Statistics
• 11,000 student enrollments each semester
• Full time = 12 credits, Average = 7
• Full-time students: 30%
• Age range: 17 to 92, average = 29
• Female (55%), Male (45%)
• Tuition - $76 per credit hour (in county
resident)
Source: http://www.scottsdalecc.edu/admissions/fast-facts

7. SCC Statistics (cont).
• Ethnicity
– 4% American Indian, 10% Hispanic
– 3% Black, non Hispanic, 3% Asian/Pacific Islander
– 71% White, non-Hispanic, 9% Not specified
• International Students
– Almost 1000 students from nearly 100 countries
– SCC students study abroad in Australia, New
Zealand, Mexico, France, Italy, and other parts of
Europe
Source: http://www.scottsdalecc.edu/admissions/fast-facts

8. Background and Need for OER

9. Frustration with the Rising cost of education
• According to the Consumer Price Index, from 2007
to 2011
– The cost for Educational Books and Supplies has risen 26%
– The cost for Tuition has risen 21%
• According to the National Center for Education
Statistics
– Average earnings for college students have dropped by 3%

10. Image Source: http://thethinkerblog.com Image attribution: TJ Bliss

11. Attempts to contain costs of Textbooks
• Containing textbooks costs is difficult.
– New Editions are released with no significant added value.
– Used books are often unavailable due to
• Discontinuation by the bookstore
• Design of the book itself
• Need for an Online Software Package
• Attempts to teach a course without a textbook
– Limit the resources available to the student
– Place a much greater workload on faculty
– Increase printing costs for the college

12. SCC’s Transition to OER

13. SCC’s transition to Open Educational resources
• The math faculty had increasingly been using components of OER
to facilitate our classroom instruction.
• We had also been developing our own OER’s for use in our hybrid
and online courses
• New technologies such as LiveScribe Pens, SoftChalk, Screencast,
MathAS and many more had been utilized.
• In 2011-2012, these efforts were brought together to create a
complete learning environment for our Introductory,
Intermediate and College Algebra courses.
– Textbook
– Online HW Software
– Video Lessons
– Video HW Assistance

14. Text Book and Interactive Learning
Environment Package provided by
Wiley and Pearson Education
Intermediate
Algebra
1352 Students
Publisher Learning Resources
Introductory
Algebra
1250 Students
$110.26 per Student
$182,086.76 per Semester
College
Algebra
701 Students

15. Text Book and Interactive Learning
Environment provided through OER
Introductory
Algebra
1250 Students
College
Algebra
700 Students
Traditional
Copyrighted
Material
Transition
Open
Educational
Resources
Maximum of
$15 per Student
Text Book and Interactive Learning
Environment provided through OER
86% decrease in costs

16. SCC’s Open Learning System

17. Learning Resources
Open Educational
Resources
Video
Tutorials
Online
Homework
Software
TextbookWorkbook

18. Locally created OER workbooks are the main
support for content delivery for each course.
Workbooks contain video examples, You Try
problems, practice problems, lesson assessments.
Created
InHouse
Workbook

19. Videos Accompany Each Example

22. Online Availability of Workbooks – Free Download

23. Video Tutorials – primarily created in house by SCC
faculty – support the delivery of content through
the MiniLessons in each workbook.
Created
InHouse
Video
Tutorials

24. Video Sources
• Created In-House by our Faculty
– Livescribe pencasts
– Screencasts to You Tube
– http://sccmath.wordpress.com
• Created by Faculty at other sister institutions
– James Sousa – Phoenix College
– mathispower4u.com
– Math Instructor Releases 2600 videos under Creative
Commons Attribution

26. SCC IMathAS is an open source web based
mathematics assessment and course management
platform. This system provides delivery of
homework, tests, and diagnostics with rich
mathematical content.
SCC
IMathAS
Online HW
Software

28. Video Help Inside Problems

29. CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization
with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook
materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S.
and worldwide.
CK-12
Textbook

30. One Learning System – Many Options

31. Before Class Between Classes
D
A
Y
1
D
A
Y
2
Video
Tutorials
Online
Homework
Software
Textbook
Workbook
Workbook
MiniLesson
You Try
Practice Problems
Online
Homework
Software
After Classes
Regular Class Format –
class twice a week

32. Before Class
C
L
A
S
S
Online
Homework
Software
Textbook
Workbook
Workbook
MiniLesson
You Try
Practice Problems
Video
Tutorials
Hybrid Format – class once a week
Before Class

33. Online
Homework
Software
Textbook
Workbook
Workbook
MiniLesson
You Try
Practice Problems
Video
Tutorials
Online Format – No Class Meetings
I
N
S
T
R
U
C
T
O
R
F
E
E
D
B
A
C
K

34. Fall 2012 – Implementation Results
• Completely open source for Introductory
Algebra through PreCalculus (5 classes)
• 42 instructors (full time and adjunct)
• 65 sections (around 1820 students)
• Roughly $182,000 student textbook
dollars saved

35. Success Results
Percentage of
Students Earning a C
Grade or Better
Fall 2010 Fall 2011 Fall 2012
MAT 09x 62%
(n=790)
67%
(n=704)
51%
(n=643)
MAT 12x 60%
(n=748)
63%
(n=721)
62%
(n=764)
MAT 15x 65%
(n=448)
64%
(n=388)
65%
(n=461)
MAT 182 56%
(n=106)
61%
(n=109)
58% (n=95)
MAT 187 53% (n=72) 48% (n=82) 55% (n=80)

36. Completion Results
Completion
Rates
Fall 2010 Fall 2011 Fall 2012
MAT 09x 75% (n=790) 79% (n=704) 64% (n=643)
MAT 12x 79% (n=748) 76% (n=721) 75% (n=764)
MAT 15x 73% (n=448) 72% (n=388) 76% (n=461)
MAT 182 58% (n=106) 72% (n=109) 72% (n=95)
MAT 187 68% (n=72) 62% (n=82) 64% (n=80)

37. So what do SCC students and faculty
think about the OER materials?
Fall 2012 paper-based surveys
966 students
20 faculty

38. 12
491
263
105
28 11
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
No Response Strongly agree Slightly agree Neutral Slightly disagree Strongly disagree
Overall, the materials adequately
supported the work I did in class

39. 9
426
285
139
34
17
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
No Response Strongly agree Slightly agree Neutral Slightly disagree Strongly disagree
Overall, the materials adequately
supported the work I did outside of class

40. 26
483
210
133
33
25
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
No Response Strongly agree Slightly agree Neutral Slightly disagree Strongly disagree
I would recommend the use of these
materials to my classmates.

41. “What additional comments do you have
regarding the quality of the open materials used
in your class?” (210/255 (82%) positive)
• “They were good. Definitely worth not
having a massed produced book for.”
• “I never had an open materials class before.
It made work less stressful and learning more
enjoyable – didn’t constantly feel frustrated
and was able to look through notes when I
got stuck.”
• “The quality was excellent. It really helped
my understanding.”

42. “What additional comments do you have
regarding the quality of the open materials used
in your class?” (210/255 (82%) positive)
• “Buying textbooks is out of date and I think
materials should be inexpensive.”
• “I love saving money, I am poor.”
• “I like the open materials, textbooks are so
expensive that it makes me not want to buy
them.”
Image Credit:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dollar_sign_%28reflective_metallic%29.gif

43. Faculty Responses
“Do you feel that the OER materials adequately
supported the work that was completed INSIDE
the classroom? Why or why not?”
• 15 responses – 13 yes
• “Yes, although I will rearrange some of the material next time
around. For example, I like to cover properties of exponents
BEFORE exponential and logarithmic functions as we use these
properties at that time in my class”
• “Yes, it is a complete resource.”
• The “No” response comments
• “Need more specific examples”
• “Most of the time it was supported.”

44. Faculty Responses
“Do you feel that the OER materials adequately
supported the work that was completed OUTSIDE
the classroom? Why or why not?”
• 15 responses – 13 yes
• “Yes, these materials provided the students useful resources”
• “Yes. It focused in the lesson well.”
• The “No” response comments
• “Mostly - often students had online questions, which were
discussed through MathAS or in class”
• “In Math 12x, the online HW contained questions that were not
written in the style of the workbook questions. Some students
had difficulty in transferring their skills to the online questions.”

45. Thorns and Roses – A massive
department OER effort
Roses
 Cost savings for students
 Department community
building and support
 Energy of the new users
 Support of department
and administration
 Introduction of creative
teaching approaches
Thorns
 Huge amount of
development time
 Maintenance and updates
 Distribution (bookstore!)
 Adjunct faculty buy-in
Image Credits: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Rose-
thorns.JPG, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rose_red_on_white_back
ground.jpg

46. Where do We Go from Here?
• Continue improving OER materials
• Expand offerings (Arithmetic – Sp 2013)
• Work with other campuses in our district (4
other campuses are connected to this project)
• Continue offering the OER survey and use the
results to make improvements

47. Questions/Contact
• Donna Gaudet
– donna.gaudet@scottsdalecc.edu
• John Hilton III
– johnhiltoniii@byu.edu
• Website: http://sccmath.wordpress.com