LibGuides: OER & Equity: Student Success

Higher Grades

"The study, which compared the final grades of 21,822 students enrolled in eight undergraduate courses between 2010 and 2016, found that students who were given OER early in the semester got significantly better grades, as a group, than those who were not. As part of the study, 11,681 used the commercial textbooks while 10,141 students used free textbooks from OpenStax, a major OER provider that operates out of Rice University in Texas." ~ OER shown to improve grades, not just cut costs

"The free materials also lowered what the report’s authors dub the “DFW rate” — students who are given D or F grades, or those who withdraw from the class altogether. A and A-minus grades increased by 5.5 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, and the number of students who withdrew or were given D or F grades decreased by nearly 3 percent." ~ OER shown to improve grades, not just cut costs
"Overall, we found that students who took OER courses accumulated significantly more course credits than otherwise similar students in 6 of 11 colleges that participated in impact studies (“research partners”)." ~ OER at Scale: The Academic and Economic Outcomes of Achieving the Dream’s OER Degree Initiative (PDF)
"the number of credits earned by Pell students taking OER courses relative to their Pell-eligible peers was significantly higher than the number of credits earned by non-Pell students taking OER courses relative to their non-Pell-eligible peers." ~ OER at Scale: The Academic and Economic Outcomes of Achieving the Dream’s OER Degree Initiative (PDF)