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Open Education Resources (OER): Research

Behnke, Y. (2018). Textbook effects and efficacy. In E. Fuchs & A. Bock (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of textbook studies (pp. 383–392). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53142-1_28

"Textbooks largely determine not only what topics and ideas are taught in the classroom but also the way they are presented to students. Thus textbooks affect learning and teaching in many different ways. This chapter aims to provide a brief overview of current research approaches on the effects and efficacy of textbooks, aligned to the major areas of research in this field. In doing so, it summarises empirical evidence produced in different fields dedicated to textbooks and educational media."

Clinton, V. (2019). Reading from paper compared to screens: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Journal of Research in Reading, 42(2), 288–325. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12269

"The purpose of this systematic review and meta‐analysis is to consolidate the findings on reading performance, reading times and calibration of performance (metacognition) between reading text from paper compared to screens."

Clinton, V., & Khan, S. (2019). Efficacy of open textbook adoption on learning performance and course withdrawal rates: A meta-analysis. AERA Open, 5(3), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419872212

"The purpose of this study is to meta-analyze the findings of studies of postsecondary students comparing learning performance and course withdrawal rates between open and commercial textbooks. Based on a systematic search of research findings, there were no differences in learning efficacy between open textbooks and commercial textbooks. However, the withdrawal rate for postsecondary courses with open textbooks was significantly lower than that for commercial textbooks."

Grimaldi, P. J., Basu Mallick, D., Waters, A. E., & Baraniuk, R. G. (2019). Do open educational resources improve student learning? Implications of the access hypothesis. PLoS ONE, 14(3), Article e0212508, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212508

"Open Educational Resources (OER) have been lauded for their ability to reduce student costs and improve equity in higher education. Research examining whether OER provides learning benefits have produced mixed results, with most studies showing null effects. We argue that the common methods used to examine OER efficacy are unlikely to detect positive effects based on predictions of the access hypothesis. The access hypothesis states that OER benefits learning by providing access to critical course materials, and therefore predicts that OER should only benefit students who would not otherwise have access to the materials. Through the use of simulation analysis, we demonstrate that even if there is a learning benefit of OER, standard research methods are unlikely to detect it."