Tonight we watched the Open Ed 2021 session entitled “Providing Sustainable Open Educational Resource Material for Organic Chemistry Students” presented by Jeffrey M Mortimore, Nikki Cannon-Rech, Christine Whitlock, and Shainaz Landge. They are all from Georgia Southern University, and this is the second presentation I watch from this group. Landge mentioned they wanted to reduce the cost of course materials from $200 to $30 by using OER and increase access for students and “impact the learning culture.” Cannon-Rech spoke about changing the culture of the chemistry department and facilitating the creation of resources by instructors. Cannon-Rech talked about libguides and their easy-of-use and web accessibility. Landge explained that their assessment included quantitative and qualitative studies. Their results suggested students were used to the digital plaform and found it easy to use. Interestingly, they did not detect noticeable changes in D/F/W rates. Also, some students seemed used to having hard copies. The results were positive with 79% of students rating the resource very valuable. Even after the campus shut down they found it useful and thought it was a useful study aid. The faculty commented that students had access to the text without having to wait for financial aid. They converted all sections of organic chemistry I and II to this format. They have not seen a difference in performance yet, but Whitlock mentioned this is often common when implementing OER. This was the second time I watched this group present on this topic at Open Ed 2021 and found the presentation slides so creative and clear. I wonder which system they are using? I would also like to know more about the libguides they use, as it seems to be a campus-wide system. I wonder after a couple of semesters if the trends and impact will change?
