Unlocking the Potential of OERs in Gateway Courses: A Case Study – Bronx EdTech Showcase

"The amount of money students spend on textbooks has led to a contentious debate on better methods of the use of textbooks in courses. Clearly, many students are simply not purchasing required materials and/or they fail to factor in the textbook costs when deciding whether or not to take a class.  For CUNY faculty, this is both a challenge and an opportunity.  Many CUNY students are from the most economically challenged county in America (Bronx) and studying in the most expensive city in America (New York). For many students, even an older edition of a book is a stretch. Open Educational Resources (OERs) aim to make it easier on students’ wallets by making textbook-free courses.Hostos students will lead the workshop by describing their experiences using Lumen’s Waymaker for Introduction to Sociology in the Fall of 2017.  Then, data will be presented to compare OER sections with non-OER sections.  Since the OER was utilized in a section with all ESL students and a hybrid section, the OER sections will be compared to similar sections from other semesters in which a traditional textbook was part of required course materials.  Data comparing retention, course and exam in addition to student feedback will be included in the presentation and other variables (i.e. demographics, teaching interventions, Supplemental Instruction Peer Leaders, and modality) will also be considered. A brief show-and-tell will guide the audience through several elements of specifics of the data that was gathered during the semester."