Eight Colleges Selected to Participate in Achieving the Dream Teaching and Learning with OER Study

Eight colleges will have the opportunity to participate in the next phase of Achieving the Dream’s research on open educational resources (OER). ATD’s Teaching and Learning with OER study is designed to understand whether and how faculty’s use of OER leads to the adoption of new pedagogical strategies in the classroom. ATD has partnered with SRI Education once again to conduct the research, which will include interviews and focus groups with students, faculty, and administrators, as well as observations of OER classrooms during the 2021 spring and summer academic terms.

Final report scheduled for release in early 2022

Researchers will be looking for evidence of innovative teaching practices, such as open pedagogy and culturally responsive teaching practices (CRT), in classes using openly licensed course materials. ATD and SRI will release a final report in early 2022. ATD will develop a set of tools and resources based on the study outcomes to help faculty effectively integrate new teaching practices with their openly licensed materials.

“The idea for the Teaching and Learning with OER study emerged from data collected during ATD’s OER Degree Initiative, a nationwide effort that examined the impact of OER-degree pathways at 38 community colleges.” – ATD President and CEO Dr. Karen A. Stout

“The idea for the Teaching and Learning with OER study emerged from data collected during ATD’s OER Degree Initiative, a nationwide effort that examined the impact of OER-degree pathways at 38 community colleges,” said Dr. Karen A. Stout, president and CEO of Achieving the Dream. “Anecdotal interview data revealed that many faculty participating in the initiative began teaching in innovative ways after adopting OER. We are grateful to The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, one of five foundations that supported the OER Degree Initiative, for funding this important follow-up study.”

Selected colleges

Five of the eight selected colleges are members of the Achieving the Dream Network(*); four of the colleges—Bay College, Montgomery College, Pima Community College, and West Hills College Lemoore—were part of the earlier OER Degree Initiative:

1. *Bay College (MI)

2. Foothills DeAnza College (CA)

3. *Houston Community College (TX)

4. *Kingsborough Community College (NY)

5. *Montgomery College (MD)

6. Pima Community College (AZ)

7. San Diego Mesa College (CA)

8. *West Hills College Lemoore (CA)

Read about ATD’s OER Degree Initiative and see the final project report here.