College student engagement in OER design projects: Impacts on attitudes, motivation, and learning

Open educational resources (OER), which are teaching, learning, and research materials that are openly licensed, are growing in popularity in higher education. Previous studies have focused on faculty and student perceptions and use of OER. In this study, we examined how actively engaging students as curators and designers of OERs through project-based learning as part of an open educational practice shaped students’ attitudes, motivation, and learning. This paper presents post-course survey data collected from 69 undergraduate and graduate students from six different courses that featured OER design projects, including: (1) A digital media online course; (2) Online tools for teaching and learning website; (3) History/social studies wiki pages; (4) Campus resources film project; (5) Professional learning networks for educators online course; and (6) Teaching with technology eBook. Findings indicate that shifting students’ roles from consumers to curators and creators of OERs increased motivation, improved attitudes about learning, aided the achievement of course learning objectives, and supported the development of valuable skills for 21st century success.