8 Data on Adoptions, Adaptations, and Creations
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this chapter, learners will:
- Understand the kinds of data on adoption, adaptation, and creation that can be gathered
- Reflect on their goals for collecting data and determine appropriate metrics that achieve these goals
- Develop strategies for data collection
Introduction
Data on adoption, adaptation, and creation can take several forms:
- Gathering data on which instructors at your institution have adopted or adapted already-existing OER
- Gathering data on OERs created at your institution (and potentially subsequently adopted or adapted by others)
Both types of data can be valuable to collect because they each show a different kind of impact. The first can illustrate the impact that OER is having on students at your institution, while the second can help to highlight both the impact of OER at your institution and the potential impact of a given OER beyond a single course.
Before you collect any data, it is important to consider the following:
- What metrics am I hoping to measure?
- How will I collect the data? What are my methods?
Metrics
There are several metrics that can show the impact of adoption, adaptation, and creation.
If you are gathering data on courses at your institution using OER, you might consider:
- The number of courses using a new, adopted or adapted OER (which can be broken down by subject area or level of study)
- The number of undergraduate students impacted by OER across campus
- The estimated savings generated
These metrics require the following data points:
- Course information, including course code and course title
- Approximate enrollment in a course each year
- The cost of any course materials that the OER have replaced
- The number of years the OER in question has been used
If you are gathering data on adoptions or adaptations of OER created at your institution, you might consider:
- Geographic reach
- Peer review
- Number of adoptions and adaptations
- Number of students impacted by OER
- Savings generated
A full list of different impact data points can be found in the Illinois Library’s Measuring Impact guide.
These metrics require the following data points:
- Institutional affiliation (where applicable)
- Approximate enrollment in the course each year
- The cost of any course materials that the adopted or adapted OER have replaced
- The number of years the OER in question has been used
Some individuals who are adopting an OER may not have an institutional affiliation. This could be because the OER in question is not being used in an academic setting. It can be valuable to track this kind of impact as well, and this can be achieved by asking for institutional affiliation or the name of the organization using the OER.
Gathering Data
Data can be challenging to acquire. Conducting a thorough search can be time intensive and may not yield all results. For example, consulting the course outlines at an institution to see what course mat