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- UTSA DOERS Findings Mapped to OER Task Force Goals
UTSA DOERS Findings Mapped to OER Task Force Goals
Goal: Develop Opportunities for Faculty Training on OER/Open Pedaogy
Area |
Finding |
Significance |
Future Work |
| Faculty Teaching Load |
Most respondents taught one or no Summer courses. |
Identifies the best time to provide OER training. | Provide OER training primarily in the summer. |
| Faculty Departmental Textbook Decisions |
Textbook decisions are largely decentralized, with individual instructors holding the most influence, especially in upper-level and graduate courses. However, there is a significant level of uncertainty regarding textbook decision-making processes. Individual Instructors are the primary decision-makers across all curriculum types: Course Coordinators play a role mainly in: Lower Division Non-Core (15) UTSA Core Curriculum (8) |
Baseline understanding of individual faculty autonomy in textbook decision-making. | While most faculty respondents have the autonomy to make textbook decisions, some work will need to happen with Course Coordinators and Textbook Committees. |
| Faculty Most Valued Textbook Attributes |
Faculty prioritize accuracy, clarity, and appropriateness for course level when evaluating educational resources. |
Baseline understanding of qualities that faculty value when selecting textbooks | Prioritize accuracy, clarity, and appropriateness for course level when finding and sharing OER with faculty |
| Faculty Familiarity with the term OER or open educational resources |
83% of faculty respondents have heard the term "Open Educational Resources." 17% have not. |
Baseline for developing training and communication plans to build awareness. | Focus awareness-building for faculty on how OER benefit students and faculty. |
| Faculty Awareness of OER and OER Use Cases |
84% of respondents have a solid understanding of OER. 16% have limited or no awareness.
|
Baseline for developing training and communication plans to build awareness. | Focus awareness-building for faculty on how OER benefit students and faculty. |
| Faculty OER Use | While a significant portion of faculty are using OER (41%), the majority still have not (59%), indicating potential for further outreach, training, or support to increase adoption. | Baseline for developing training and communication plans to build awareness. | Focus faculty awareness-building on how OER benefit both students and faculty. |
| Faculty OER Adoption | 41% of faculty respondents have used OER; 59% have not. | Baseline for developing training and communication. | Focus communication and training on how faculty can find and adopt OER. |
| Faculty Depth of OER Integration | Faculty respondents who use OER integrate it in multiple courses | UTSA faculty have a growing commitment to OER once adoption begins. | Expect repeat visits from faculty that have adopted OER in one course; create a structure to support these champions. |
| Faculty OER Adoption Type | 43% of faculty respondents adopt OER as both required and supplemental course material. 39% use only as required material. 17% use only as a supplement. | Faculty are committing to OER as required materials rather than recommending only as supplementary readings. | Anticipate greater commitment to OER as required materials once faculty move to OER and plan robust support to meet demand. |
| Faculty Departmental OER Perceptions |
Most faculty believe other faculty in their academic department perceive OER either neutrally or favorably (55%), with no respondents reporting very unfavorable perceptions. However, a notable portion is uncertain or unaware of departmental sentiment.
|
Provides a baseline understanding of UTSA faculty perceptions of OER and OER quality | An understanding when designing training that faculty generally have positive perceptions of OER so there can be less of a focus on how reputable OER are and more of a focus on showing practical skills associated with OER adoption |
| Faculty OER Quality Perceptions | While many respondents are unsure about OER quality, those who have evaluated it mostly rate it as acceptable to good, with relatively few reporting poor or very poor quality. | Provides a baseline understanding of UTSA faculty perceptions of OER and OER quality | An understanding when designing training that faculty generally have positive perceptions of OER so there can be less of a focus on how reputable OER are and more of a focus on showing practical skills associated with OER adoption |
| Faculty Barriers to OER Adoption |
Faculty are interested in OER but face barriers related to time, technical integration, quality, and scalability. While affordability is appealing, logistical and pedagogical challenges slow adoption. Faculty are open to OER but hesitate due to time demands, quality concerns, accessibility compliance, and lack of institutional support. Peer advocacy and structured support programs could significantly improve adoption. Faculty want flexible funding, structured training, peer collaboration, strong library support, and formal recognition to make OER adoption practical and rewarding. |
Use challenges/barriers that faculty shared with the grant team in order to showcase qualities of OER that help faculty overcome textbook challenges |
Provide OER training opportunities that are concise and to the point to deliver knowledge efficiently Create peer advocacy groups/networks as part of training Provide structured, consistent, and concise training
|
| Faculty Improve OER Support |
Finding Support is also highly valued, with 18 responses for 1st and 19 responses for 2nd priority. Support Adapting/Tailoring garners significant attention in the 2nd priority (17 responses). Create and share training videos on OER usage and development. Help faculty identify available OER resources more easily. Develop repositories of sorted and tagged OER materials. Emphasize OER’s role in reducing students’ financial burden |
By reviewing faculty suggestions for improving OER support, we can incorporate their ideas into future training and professional development opportunities |
Create videos and tutorials so that faculty have the option and flexibility to learn at their own pace Create peer training/knowledge sharing communities on OER Provide training on how to find, evaluate and implement OER Create OER hubs to help faculty more easily locate OER on their own Provide hands-on demonstrations and clear points of contact Provide specific training on OER and accessibility Emphasize the student affordability aspect of OER in trainings Provide trainings on how to seamlessly integrate OER into Canvas Training on how library reading list can be used with OER and to leverage no cost library resources Improve librarian support for locating and accessing OER |
Subcommittee(s) |
Implementation Committee(s)/Plan(s) |
|---|---|
| Faculty Incentives |
OER training series and Faculty Champions program |
Teaching Load
Most faculty teach one or no courses in the summer, making this an ideal time for professional development and training around OER.
Textbook Decisions
Textbook decisions at UTSA are largely decentralized, with individual instructors holding the most influence, especially in upper-level and graduate courses. However, there is also a significant level of uncertainty regarding textbook decision-making processes.
Desired Textbook Attributes
Faculty prioritize accuracy, clarity, and appropriateness for course level when evaluating educational resources.
OER Awareness and Use
Familiarity with the Term "OER"
OER Awareness and Use
A majority (84%) of respondents have a solid understanding of OER, while a smaller portion (16%) have limited or no awareness, indicating room for targeted outreach and education.
OER Use
While a significant portion of faculty are using OER (41%), the majority still have not (59%), indicating potential for further outreach, training, or support to increase adoption.
OER Depth of Integration
Among faculty who use OER, most are integrating it into multiple courses, suggesting a growing commitment to OER once adoption begins.
- 39% (9) have used OER in three or more courses
- 35% (8) have used OER in 1 of their courses
- 26% (6) have used OER in 2 of their courses
OER Adoption Type
Most faculty who use OER are integrating it as both required and supplemental course material, while 39% use only as required material. A smaller group (17%) uses it only as a supplement.
OER Perceptions and Priorities
Departmental
Most faculty believe other faculty in their academic department perceive OER either neutrally or favorably (55%), with no respondents reporting very unfavorable perceptions. However, a notable portion is uncertain or unaware of departmental sentiment.
Quality Perceptions
While many respondents are unsure about OER quality, those who have evaluated it mostly rate it as acceptable to good, with relatively few reporting poor or very poor quality.
- Create videos and tutorials so that faculty have the option and flexibility to learn at their own pace
- Create peer training/knowledge sharing communities on OER
- Provide training on how to find, evaluate and implement OER
- Create OER hubs to help faculty more easily locate OER on their own
- Provide hands-on demonstrations and clear points of contact
- Provide specific training on OER and accessibility
- Emphasize the student affordability aspect of OER in trainings
- Provide trainings on how to seamlessly integrate OER into Canvas
- Training on how library reading list can be used with OER and to leverage no cost library resources
- Improve librarian support for locating and accessing OER
- Offer support in finding high-quality, specialized OER for upper-division courses.
- Create and share training videos on OER usage and development.
- Help faculty identify available OER resources more easily.
- Improve librarian knowledge and support regarding OER.
- Develop repositories of sorted and tagged OER materials.
- Emphasize OER’s role in reducing students’ financial burden.