Track Session Type

Evaluation: Research in OER, Evaluation student engagement, OER Impact and Programmatic Assessment

Presentation Type

Presentation

OER Level of Expertise

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Audience

Faculty, Librarian, instructional designer, Administrator, Staff

Session Abstract

The New England Board of Higher Education is excited to share preliminary data from a regional study that examined student experiences with renewable assignments compared to traditional assignments using theoretical frameworks such as social justice (Lambert, 2018), Pekrun’s achievement emotions questionnaire (2011), and Black & Deci’s perceived autonomy support (2000).

Objectives of the Session

  1. Explain how renewable assignments can be incorporated into a variety of courses

  2. Connect the experiences of renewable assignments to existing theoretical frameworks of motivation and social justice

Full Description of the Session

In the spring of 2021, 8 faculty members from the Northeast region of the United States participated in professional development in open pedagogy through a community of practice setting facilitated by the New England Board of Higher Education’s Fellow for Open Education, through Lindsey Gumb, also a Roger Williams University faculty member and librarian. Specifically, these faculty learned how to support and engage students in the design and completion of “renewable assignments.” Assignments are renewable in that they have value outside of the classroom and can be openly shared through the application of Creative Commons licenses. We surveyed students who were enrolled in the classes taught by these faculty members on their motivation for assignments and social justice issues. Students reported substantially higher interest, choice, pride, and relatedness with peers for renewable compared to traditional assignments. Importantly, students reported higher levels of representational justice, in which voice and agency are equitable, with renewable assignments. Students who publicly shared reported lower levels of pressure and higher levels of competence than students who chose not to share. Across students, there were high levels of reported understanding of Creative Commons licensing, privacy issues, and the value of sharing, indicating that students were well informed about the unique nature of their renewable assignments. Students also reported that the materials in their courses with renewable overall had higher levels of recognitive justice, in which diversity is acknowledged and respected, then materials in their other courses. All levels of background knowledge are welcome and the audience will be engaged with small group discussions and polls.

Presenter Bios

Lindsey Gumb is an Associate Professor and Scholarly Communications Librarian at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, and she also serves as the Open Education Fellow at the New England Board of Higher Education in Boston, Massachusetts. With an active interest in the intersections of information literacy, open education, and critical librarianship, Lindsey works with faculty on her campus and region-wide to push the awareness of open education from a cost-savings tool to be more inclusive of pedagogies that allow for opportunities to create systemic changes in more representative and equitable information creation, evaluation, and access. She resides in Rhode Island with her family and together they enjoy the beach, hiking, gardening, and their animals.

Virginia Clinton-Lisell, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Educational Foundations and Research at the University of North Dakota and serves as a Primary Researcher for the Open Education Group. Dr. Clinton-Lisell’s research centers on reading comprehension and open education. She is currently developing online reading comprehension assessments for students at various grade levels. In addition, she examines differences in reading paper and screens with the goal of improving digital reading through interactivity and personalization. Her work in open education focuses on how to empower teachers and students through accessible and flexible open educational resources.

Publishing Permission

1

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Start Date

26-5-2022 10:00 AM

End Date

26-5-2022 10:30 AM

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May 26th, 10:00 AM May 26th, 10:30 AM

Understanding Student Experiences of Renewable and Traditional Assignments

In the spring of 2021, 8 faculty members from the Northeast region of the United States participated in professional development in open pedagogy through a community of practice setting facilitated by the New England Board of Higher Education’s Fellow for Open Education, through Lindsey Gumb, also a Roger Williams University faculty member and librarian. Specifically, these faculty learned how to support and engage students in the design and completion of “renewable assignments.” Assignments are renewable in that they have value outside of the classroom and can be openly shared through the application of Creative Commons licenses. We surveyed students who were enrolled in the classes taught by these faculty members on their motivation for assignments and social justice issues. Students reported substantially higher interest, choice, pride, and relatedness with peers for renewable compared to traditional assignments. Importantly, students reported higher levels of representational justice, in which voice and agency are equitable, with renewable assignments. Students who publicly shared reported lower levels of pressure and higher levels of competence than students who chose not to share. Across students, there were high levels of reported understanding of Creative Commons licensing, privacy issues, and the value of sharing, indicating that students were well informed about the unique nature of their renewable assignments. Students also reported that the materials in their courses with renewable overall had higher levels of recognitive justice, in which diversity is acknowledged and respected, then materials in their other courses. All levels of background knowledge are welcome and the audience will be engaged with small group discussions and polls.