Student Perceptions on Teaching and Learning Using Open Educational Resources in College Calculus

Student perceptions on teaching and learning are investigated in a side-to-side comparison between traditional (closed, CER) non-free course materials and free open educational resources (OER). The primary resources being compared are textbook and automatically-graded web-based homework systems. The results are based on a 32 item survey given to 103 Calculus students using either the closed (52 students) or open (51 students) materials. The survey is designed to assess student attitudes and perceptions in five areas: mathematics, learning style, effort, cost and OER. We conclude from our study that students believe they learn best from active or tactile activities (hands-on work in class, homework and tutoring) and least from passive or conceptual resources (textbook, lectures and notes). Secondly, the results show students perceive OER just as effective as CER, and would take free OER classes if given the opportunity, and the OER group more strongly held this belief. However, while students appreciate the cost-saving aspect of OER, cost of course materials is not a hardship and would not affect class choice or progress. A third aspect detected from the survey is that students who used the proprietary homework system (CER group) had a better experience and expended less time than those using the open homework system (OER group), in part due to the interactive help and support with the proprietary system. This is consistent with homework scores, which were higher in the CER group than OER group. We conclude from this study that students would prefer an OER course, and more strongly if they have previously taken an OER course, while care should be taken using OER to ensure an equally effective experience as CER. We hypothesize that a teaching style which focuses on active (tactile) learning is more effective than a focus on passive (conceptual) learning, and recommend OER be developed with this in mind.