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Assessing the OER & Textbook Experience at UTSA
Goal: Assess Awareness and Use of OER
Area |
Finding |
Significance |
Task Force Aligned Recommendation(s) |
Future Work |
| Student familiarity with the term OER or open educational resources | 85% were unfamiliar with the term OER. | Limited significance: current filters are labeled "Free Textbook" and "Low-Cost Textbook " | Recommendation #10: Increase Visibility for Students | Determine if filter labels are clear. |
| Student ease of finding Free Textbook and Low-Cost Textbook Courses |
78% find it somewhat or very easy to find free or low-cost textbook courses; 9% report difficulty. |
Filters that are easy to find will be used more. While students report finding free texbook courses as easy, these steps were displayed just prior to asking this question. 94% of students were not aware of the filters prior to the survey. Many students shared feedback for improvement. | Recommendation #10: Increase Visibility for Students | Streamline finding; improve visibility and promotion. |
| Student awareness of UTSA Textbook Filters | 94% did not know how to find courses with free textbooks and low-cost textbooks | If students are not able to find these courses, UTSA is not doing all that it can to support college affordability, student success, and retention. | Recommendation #10: Increase Visibility for Students | Streamline finding; improve visibility and promotion. |
Area |
Finding |
Significance |
Task Force Aligned Recommendation(s) |
Future Work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faculty Familiarity with the term OER or open educational resources |
83% were familiar with the term "Open Educational Resources." 17% were not. |
Provides a baseline for training and communication. | Recommendation #8: OER Training Series and Faculty Champions Program | Share information about Creative Commons licensing in trainings. Faculty must understand licensing and reuse rights as well as how platforms like Pressbooks support their work. At the minimum, faculty need to understand how the library can support them with copyright, OER authoring, and sharing their work. |
| Faculty Awareness of OER and OER Use Cases |
84% have a solid understanding of OER. 16% have limited or no awareness. |
Provides a baseline for training and communication. | Recommendation #8: OER Training Series and Faculty Champions Program | Share information about Creative Commons licensing in trainings. Faculty must understand licensing and reuse rights as well as how platforms like Pressbooks support their work. At the minimum, faculty need to understand how the library can support them with copyright, OER authoring, and sharing their work. |
| Faculty OER Use | 41% are using OER. 59% have not used OER. | Provides a baseline for training and communication. | Recommendation #8: OER Training Series and Faculty Champions Program | Communicate how faculty can find and adopt OER. |
| Faculty Depth of OER Integration | Faculty who use OER are integrating it into multiple courses | UTSA faculty are exhibiting a growing commitment to OER. | Recommendation #6: Address the Cost and Time Requirements of OER Development Recommendation #8: OER Training Series and Faculty Champions Program |
Expect repeat visits from faculty that adopt OER; create a structure to support these champions. |
| Faculty OER Adoption Type | 43% that use OER integrate it as both required and supplemental course material. 39% use only as required material.17% use it only as a supplement. | Faculty are adopting OER as required materials rather than supplementary readings. | Recommendation #1: Establish College Accountability | Anticipate greater commitment to OER as required materials once faculty. Plan robust support to meet demand. |
| Faculty Awareness of OER Legislation | 75% were unaware of OER legislation. | Faculty that are not aware of UTSA's reporting process will not report OER adoptions, creating student transparency and OER tracking issues. | Recommendation #9: Centralize and Simplify OER/Low-Cost Reporting | Improve communication and outreach to faculty about course markings. |
| Faculty Awareness of UTSA Textbook Filters |
68% are unaware of UTSA’s textbook filters. |
Faculty that are not aware of UTSA's reporting process will not report OER adoptions, creating student transparency and OER tracking issues. | Recommendation #9: Centralize and Simplify OER/Low-Cost Reporting | Improve communication and outreach to faculty about course markings. |
| Faculty Awareness of UTSA OER Reporting Process | 80% are not aware of UTSA's OER reporting process. | Faculty that are not aware of UTSA's reporting process will not report OER adoptions, creating student transparency and OER tracking issues. | Recommendation #9: Centralize and Simplify OER/Low-Cost Reporting | Improve communication and outreach to faculty about course markings. |
Area |
Finding |
Significance |
Task Force Aligned Recommendation(s) |
Future Work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faculty Awareness of OER Legislation, UTSA Textbook Filters, and UTSA OER Reporting Process | Most of the faculty that participated in the Focus Groups were not aware of the legislation, the filters, or the reporting process. | Faculty that are not aware of UTSA's reporting process will not report OER adoptions, creating student transparency and OER tracking issues. | Recommendation #9: Centralize and Simply OER/Low-Cost Reporting | Improve communication and outreach to faculty about course markings. |
| OER Perceptions/Challenges |
Faculty value OER for free access and flexibility but face challenges with limited availability, quality concerns, and lack of ancillaries. |
Understanding what faculty value about OER helps us understand areas where we can provide more robust support. |
Recommendation #2: Tailor Incentives for Different Faculty Roles Recommendation #4: Faculty Senate Endorsement Recommendation #6: Address the Cost and Time Requirements of OER Development Recommendation #7: Pilot Processes Using AI to Create OER Recommendation #8: OER Training Series and Faculty Champions Program |
Find OER that are accurate, clear, and appropriate for course level when finding and sharing OER with faculty. Share OER faculty testimonials; share OER written by experts.Share OER with paired ancillaries. |
| Textbook Criteria |
Priorities: accessibility, relevance, scholarly depth, clear structure, affordability, and supplemental materials |
Understanding the criteria that faculty use to select textbooks can be used as the basis for sharing OER. |
Recommendation #6: Address the Cost and Time Requirements of OER Development Recommendation #7: Pilot Processes Using AI to Create OER |
Share OER that are relevant and reputable with paired ancillaries; share OER accessibility resources widely. |
| Barriers to Adoption |
Main obstacles: time, quality gaps, lack of ancillaries, unfamiliarity, stigma, and limited incentives. |
Provides clear direction on strategies for improving faculty OER support. |
Recommendation #2: Tailor Incentives for Different Faculty Roles Recommendation #7: Pilot Processes Using AI to Create OER Recommendation #8: OER Training Series and Faculty Champions Program |
Help faculty use AI to create ancillaries; provide deep dives into OER repositories for higher quality matches; create a recognition and aware structure; provide robust OER finding and adapting support; provide training on OER and AI. |
| Support Needs | Compensation is low, more training is needed, librarian support needs to be more robust, peer networks are needed, help finding/developing test banks. Conference support, and course release are needed. | Provides clear direction on strategies for improving faculty OER support. |
Recommendation #6: Address the Cost and Time Requirements of OER Development Recommendation #3: Establish Annual OER Award and Recognition Events |
Provide more robust compensation/incentives. Develop peer networks. Provide more robust finding support to include test banks, including using AI. |
| Recognition |
Formal recognition, awards, tenure inclusion, and badges are needed. |
Strengthening recognition for OER work will support OER expansion. |
Recommendation #3: Establish Annual OER Award and Recognition Events Recommendation #6: Address the Cost and Time Requirements of OER Development |
Devise formal and informal strategies for recognizing OER work. |
| Challenges by Discipline |
Architecture: poor visuals; Earth Sciences: high costs, frequent editions; Management Science: lack of practice problems; Sociology: technical/logistical issues. |
Understanding challenges helps develop tailored disciplinary services/support. |
Recommendation #6: Address the Cost and Time Requirements of OER Development Recommendation #7: Pilot Processes Using AI to Create OER |
Tailor services for disciplinary needs/challenges. |
| OER Adaptation/Creation | Interest in creating tailored resources is strong. | Understanding the need for adaptation support serves as a guide point for service development. |
Recommendation #6: Address the Cost and Time Requirements of OER Development Recommendation #7: Pilot Processes Using AI to Create OER |
Provide more training on Pressbooks, Creative Commons licensing, and open pedagogy. |
Subcommittee(s) |
Implementation Committee(s)/Plan(s) |
All |
|
Familiarity with the term "OER" or "Open Educational Resources"
A large majority of student respondents (85%) were unfamiliar with the term Open Educational Resources prior to the survey, indicating a significant awareness gap. Note: We asked this question based on the screen shots found at: UTSA Textbook Transparency: Find Courses with Affordable Textbooks.
Question: Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that are free for students and that are in the public domain or available under an open license that permits free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others. OER exist in many formats: textbooks, videos, software, tests, or any other course materials that support student learning and access to knowledge. Before taking this survey, had you heard the term open educational resources as described above?
Ease of Finding OER Courses
A combined 78% of student respondents find it somewhat or very easy to locate free or low-cost textbook courses at UTSA, while only 9% report difficulty.
Question: Based on the steps explained above, how easy is it to find free or low-cost textbook courses at UTSA?
Awareness of OER Courses
An overwhelming majority of students (94%) were unaware of how to find UTSA courses with free or low-cost textbooks prior to the survey, highlighting a major opportunity for awareness and outreach.
Question: Before taking this survey, did you know how to find UTSA courses with free and low-cost textbooks?
OER: Familiarity, Awareness, Use, Adoption, and Adoption Type
Familiarity with the term "OER" or "Open Educational Resources"
A majority (83%) of faculty respondents have heard the term "Open Educational Resources" a smaller portion (17%) have not, indicating room for targeted outreach and education.
Question: Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or that have been released under an intellectual property license that allows for free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others, including full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge. Prior to today, were you familiar with the above definition for open educational resources?
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.
Question: Select the option below that most closely aligns with your current awareness and use of OER as defined above.
OER Use Overall
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.
Question: Have you used OER in your courses?
OER Adoption
Among faculty who use OER, most are integrating it into multiple courses, suggesting a growing commitment to OER once adoption begins.
Question: Complete this statement: I use OER in...
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.
Question: Select the option below that most closely aligns with your use of OER in your courses.
OER Perceptions
Faculty value OER for free access and flexibility but face challenges with limited availability, quality concerns, and lack of ancillaries. Interest in creating tailored resources is strong.
Textbook Criteria
Priorities: accessibility, relevance, scholarly depth, clear structure, affordability, and supplemental materials.
Barriers
Main obstacles: time, quality gaps, lack of ancillaries, unfamiliarity, stigma, and limited incentives.
Support Needs
Solutions: compensation, training, librarian support, peer networks, test banks, and formal recognition.
Recognition
Ideas: awards, tenure inclusion, conference support, course release, and badges.
Challenges by Discipline
Architecture: poor visuals; Earth Sciences: high costs, frequent editions; Management Science: lack of practice problems; Sociology: technical/logistical issues.
Student Awareness & Affordability
Improve communication, expand library reserves, allow older editions, and develop collaborative OER.
Faculty Awareness
Most unaware of OER legislation and UTSA processes.