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, Other

Access and agency: Evidence and values-based approaches to OER value and impact

Session Abstract

A culture of evidence-based practice provides opportunities to demonstrate the transformative value and impact of OER and support continuous service improvement. By looking at evidence in partnership with values-based practice, a person-centred and relational approach to evidence based practice in open educational practice is realised. This presentation will explore how the University of Southern Queensland's (UniSQ) approach to developing a local evidence base met both the strategic needs of program managers in the Library, and empowered open textbook authors to have agency around their own data and evidence-based narratives of practice. The results have included OEP as part of academic promotion documentation, annual performance reviews, conference papers, and journal articles; whilst also generating excitement that drives longer-term engagement with OEP. As UniSQ Library's OEP Team and Evidence Based Practice Team continue collaboration, we explore opportunities to reflect on the values and voices of open practitioners, communities, and stakeholders.

Objectives of the Session

• Understand evidence based approaches to evaluating and sharing the value and impact of open textbooks through a values-based lens, including the centrality of staff agency in open narratives.
• Attendees will be able to formulate questions to guide the process of developing a local and values-driven evidence-base for open educational resources that supports ongoing evaluation.

Full Description of the Session

This session will provide an overview of taking an evidence and values-based approach to open educational practice. Using the University of Southern Queensland Library as a case study, it explores the planning process and outcomes of using evidence to demonstrate value and impact and engage with continuous improvement. This highlights a collaboration between two library teams working across evidence based practice and open educational practice. Participants will take away practical approaches to formulating focused questions around evidence-needs for open textbooks. The session will be of interest to any practitioner engaged or wanting to become engaged with evidence-based open educational practice, whether attendees seek to consider a broader approach to data gathering or are in the initial phases of developing a data plan.

Discussion will further attendees’ understandings of how targeted and reflective questions can highlight the underlying values that surround our practice and build trust with the communities we work with. Throughout the session, practical approaches, such as data dashboards, will be shared. These practical examples will prompt reflection on how dashboards used for reporting and evaluation can offer authors’ access and agency to open textbook usage data. Attendees will take away practical examples and understandings of how a relational and values-based approach to both open educational practice and evidence based practice can be realised.

Presenter Bios

Emilia Bell is the Coordinator (Evidence Based Practice) at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) Library and a PhD student at Curtin University. They have experience in academic and school libraries and contribute to both Library theory and practice as a practitioner-researcher. In their UniSQ role Emilia helps to develop an evidence-based library culture, including through practice-based research, working collaboratively to support decision-making, service improvement, and professional practice. This has included Emilia’s research interests include evidence-based library and information practice, academic libraries, and open scholarship.

Nikki Andersen is the Open Education Content Librarian at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ). In this role she supports open educational practices, including the development of open textbooks using the open publishing platform, Pressbooks. She has previous experience as a Copyright Officer, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, and is the editor the Australasian Open Educational Practice Digest. Nikki is also a part of the Council of Australian University Librarian’s (CAUL) Open Educational Resources Professional Development Program Project Team, and the ASCILITE Open Educational Practice Special Interest Group.

Adrian Stagg is the Manager (Open Educational Practices) for the University of Southern Queensland. His career has included both public and academic libraries, and positions as a Learning Technologist, and eLearning Designer. Adrian holds a Master of Applied Science (Library and Information Management) and is a confirmed PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania. His research areas include the ecology of open educational practice and higher education policy as it relates to, and supports, open educational initiatives. He is an active member of the open education community through the Australasian OEP Special Interest Group (ASCILITE), OERu, Creative Commons, and facilitates the USQ Open Education Staff Scholarships Scheme.

Publishing Permission

1

Creative Commons License

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

Presenters

Emilia C. Bell, University of Southern QueenslandFollow
Nikki Andersen, University of Southern QueenslandFollow
Adrian Stagg, University of Southern QueenslandFollow

Start Date

4-4-2023 9:00 AM

End Date

4-4-2023 10:00 AM