Overview
This post provides you with general information about Open Educational Resources and what WCU is doing to promote the use of them. Additionally, you will find links to University Libraries resources, completed TLC programs, and an OER repositories subject guide.
What Are OER?
Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational materials for teaching, learning, and research that are either in the public domain or openly licensed, allowing for their free use and adaptation by others.
There is a wide range of OER material types available; some include textbooks, lecture notes, full courses, instructional videos, images/graphics, software/applications, and learning activities.
Why Are OER Important to WCU
At West Chester University, Open Educational Resources (OER) play a pivotal role in promoting equity and access by eliminating financial barriers to education. By providing free, customizable learning materials, OER empower educators to tailor content to diverse student needs, fostering an inclusive learning environment where all learners can thrive. OER is just one-way WCU is addressing text affordability for its students.
Faculty across campus have been adopting OER in their course for years to combat rising textbook cost. Additionally, the University Libraries has provided faculty with OER resources on how to find, adopt, and adapt them. The Teaching and Learning Center has focused on providing faculty trainings and support in order to create free eTextbooks for students through the WCU eTextbook Initiative from 2017 to 2024, and to create OER with three other PASSHE institutions through The Pennsylvania Alliance for Design of Open Textbooks (PA-ADOPT) from Fall 2021 to Summer 2026.
Fall 2024 Faculty OER Awareness Survey Results
To better understand faculty engagement with Open Educational Resources, WCU conducted an OER survey in Fall 2024. The survey gathered valuable insights on OER awareness, adoption, and future aspirations. The results and key highlights are available online, offering faculty a detailed overview of OER usage across campus.
View the survey highlights: 2024 WCU Faculty OER Awareness Survey Highlights
The Impact
As of the Fall 2024 semester, the eTextbook Initiative books have been used by 4,573 WCU students in 211 course sections, eliminating $225,727 in student costs.
PA-ADOPT is taking its efforts a step further by evaluating the impact of its eTextbooks on student outcomes. Beyond simply reducing costs, the adoption of PA-ADOPT eTextbooks is driving measurable improvements in academic performance across the four participating institutions. We tracked key performance indicators from our 22 published books from Fall 2023 through Fall 2025 to gain an understanding of how these resources contribute to student success with a total cost savings of $95,560.40 supporting over 1,230 students.
- Average course grade increased 1.87%
- Average failure rate deceased 0.38%
- Average withdrawal rate decreased 1.88%
Faculty Spotlights
32 WCU faculty have either authored or co-authored at least one book as part of our two initiatives. Here are just a few examples of what they have accomplished:
Afrand Agah, Ph.D. – Professor, Computer Science
As a member of the 2023-2024 cohort of the eTextbook Initiative, Afrand wrote Python Programming Made Simple for CSC 141, eliminating a textbook that previously cost students $95. As of Fall 2024, her book saved her students $8,645, and has published a second part of the book for PA-ADOPT for CSC 495 that focuses on data science: Introduction to Data Science Using Python saving her students $21,700 since its publication in June 2024.
Jaeyong Choi, Ph.D.–Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice
Jaeyong first joined the eTextbook Initiative as a member of the 2021-2022 cohort and wrote Theories of Crime and Delinquency for CRJ 210, replacing a textbook that previously cost students $75. He then rejoined the initiative the following year and wrote Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Terrorism for CRJ 316, replacing another textbook that previously cost students $125. As of the Fall 2024 semester, his books have been used by over 430 WCU students, collectively saving them over $38,600. He has now published his third book Basic Statistics Using R for Crime Analysis, for PA-ADOPT, replacing course materials previously costing students $106.
Jordan Schugar, Ph.D. – Professor, English
Jordan was part of the eTextbook Initiative’s 2018-2019 cohort and wrote Somewhat Practical Applications for Digital Storytelling, which has since been used by over 700 WCU students in a variety of Digital Humanities & New Media, Literature, and Writing courses. As part of PA-ADOPT, he has teamed up with Chris Penny (Professor, Educational Foundations & Policy Studies) to expand his digital storytelling book: The Digital Storytelling Handbook (used by nearly 300 students so far) served as a member of the grant’s internal advisory group, and has been a part of the grant’s training team discussing his own research in eBooks and demonstrating page layout and design techniques.
Why Use OER?
There are many benefits in choosing to adopt, adapt, or create no-cost OER rather than using higher-cost textbooks or learning materials:
- Accessibility: OER can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection, ensuring more equitable access to learning materials.
- Adaptability/Customization: OER can be modified and tailored to meet the specific needs of diverse learners, enhancing flexibility and relevance.
- Collaboration: OER promotes collaboration among educations and institutions by freely sharing and adapting resources through various organizations, such as The Creative Commons Global Network.
- Cost Savings: OER are typically free or significantly cheaper than traditional textbooks, reducing financial burdens on students.
- Innovation: OER encourages educators to experiment with new teaching methods and technologies, fostering innovation in teaching and learning.
Find and Adopt OER
The University Libraries OER Resources
WCU University Libraries has an OER guide breaking down the process of sourcing an OER that fits your needs and access to additional resources on how to adopt it into your course.
Explore some OER Subject Guides to identify available resources you could use in your courses. 23 subjects are listed in this document, along with an “Other” category. The subject guides are taken from MERLOT: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching from California State University Long Beach, the OER Commons from Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), and The Open Textbook Library based in the Center for Open Education in the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development.
References
Creative Commons. (n.d.). Open Education. Creative Commons. Retrieved March 11, 2024, from https://creativecommons.org/about/education-oer/.
Creative Commons Network. (n.d.). About. CC Global Network. Retrieved March 11, 2024, from https://network.creativecommons.org/about/.
Hilton, J. (2016). Open educational resources and college textbook choices: A review of research on efficacy and perceptions. Educational Technology Research and Development, 64(4), 573–590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9434-9.
Penn State. (n.d.). Benefits of Using OER. PennState OER and Low-Cost Materials at Penn State. Retrieved March 11, 2024, from https://oer.psu.edu/benefits-of-using-oer/.
