Track Session Type
Evaluation: Research in OER, Evaluation student engagement, OER Impact and Programmatic Assessment
Presentation Type
Panel Presentation
OER Level of Expertise
Intermediate
Audience
Librarian, Administrator, Staff
Statewide Student Course Materials Surveys: Lessons from a Unique Partnership
Session Abstract
Previous statewide student course materials surveys in Florida and Virginia proved to be impactful as advocacy and outreach resources. Affordable Learning PA, Pennsylvania’s statewide OER association, sought to conduct a similar survey but lacked staff resources to accomplish this task. It did have financial resources that would allow it to seek a partner with survey research and administration expertise. That left one challenge – finding a suitable partner. This session tells the story of ALPA’s partnership with Bay View Analytics in support of a statewide student course materials survey – a new experience for both partners. Panelists will share details of the project partnership and how the results were prepared and used with advocacy in mind at both the institutional and state levels. Attendees considering similar statewide and/or student surveys will benefit from hearing the panelists' experience, sharing what worked well along with what didn’t.
Keywords
course materials, surveys, statewide oer initiative
Objectives of the Session
(1) Leverage what ALPA learned from other statewide course materials surveys in designing and administering a student course materials survey of their own.
(2) Gain knowledge of how partnering with Bay View Analytics resulted in a successful statewide student course materials survey, and what statewide OER associations can do to improve their future student surveys.
Full Description of the Session
As the end of grant funding neared, Affordable Learning PA (ALPA) sought to allocate resources to a statewide course materials survey. ALPA lacked the personnel and expertise to replicate surveys conducted in Florida and Virginia. They are labor intensive, especially data analysis and reporting. ALPA instead chose a partner with the necessary survey expertise. Given its prior OER survey experience, ALPA identified Bay View Analytics to assist with development and administration. Despite not having conducted a state-wide student survey such as this, Bay View saw this work as valuable and agreed to partner with ALPA.
Panelists will discuss the evolution of their partnership in exploring their mutual interest in conducting a statewide student course materials survey. Special attention will be paid to barriers that arose and how the two partners worked collaboratively to overcome them. Attendees will learn how the survey was based on existing statewide surveys and modified for the current application. Panelists will share information and findings from the survey results in discussing the efficacy of the survey efforts, with comparisons to what other statewide surveys have found. They will discuss how similar/different the findings are and whether there is an expectation that future statewide course materials surveys would deviate little or a great deal from those findings of prior statewide surveys. Panelists will conclude with a set of recommendations for other state OER associations that will be considering conducting their own statewide survey. Audience engagement will be achieved through interactive polling and live chat activity.
Presenter Bios
Presenter One:
Steven Bell: Associate University Librarian at Temple University Libraries. He is an early advocate for textbook affordability, having launched one of the first faculty grant projects in 2010. In 2017 he initiated the formation of Pennsylvania’s statewide OER association, Affordable Learning PA, and currently serves on the ALPA Steering Committee. Bell currently teaches the OER Librarianship course for the San Jose State University iSchool MLS degree program.
Presenter Two:
Dr. Jeff Seaman serves as Director of Bay View Analytics. He has worked in education information technology for over 20 years, and taught social science, information technology and statistics at several colleges and universities.Dr. Seaman has been conducting research on the impact of technology on higher education and K-12 for over a decade, beginning with comprehensive national studies of technology use in U.S. Higher Education. Dr. Seaman has served on academic technology advisory boards for a number of information technology companies.
Presenter Three:
Dr. Julia Seaman is the Research Director at Bay View Analytics. She earned her doctorate in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacogenomics from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). After completing her PhD, she moved into healthcare consulting for four years before transitioning to Director of Research at Bay View Analytics. She currently concentrates on statistical and survey analysis projects in scientific and educational research with a focus on digital and OER adoption trends.
Publishing Permission
1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Start Date
4-4-2024 2:30 PM
End Date
4-4-2024 3:20 PM
Statewide Student Course Materials Surveys: Lessons from a Unique Partnership
As the end of grant funding neared, Affordable Learning PA (ALPA) sought to allocate resources to a statewide course materials survey. ALPA lacked the personnel and expertise to replicate surveys conducted in Florida and Virginia. They are labor intensive, especially data analysis and reporting. ALPA instead chose a partner with the necessary survey expertise. Given its prior OER survey experience, ALPA identified Bay View Analytics to assist with development and administration. Despite not having conducted a state-wide student survey such as this, Bay View saw this work as valuable and agreed to partner with ALPA.
Panelists will discuss the evolution of their partnership in exploring their mutual interest in conducting a statewide student course materials survey. Special attention will be paid to barriers that arose and how the two partners worked collaboratively to overcome them. Attendees will learn how the survey was based on existing statewide surveys and modified for the current application. Panelists will share information and findings from the survey results in discussing the efficacy of the survey efforts, with comparisons to what other statewide surveys have found. They will discuss how similar/different the findings are and whether there is an expectation that future statewide course materials surveys would deviate little or a great deal from those findings of prior statewide surveys. Panelists will conclude with a set of recommendations for other state OER associations that will be considering conducting their own statewide survey. Audience engagement will be achieved through interactive polling and live chat activity.