Providing students with Open Education Resources (OER) is one of the most impactful pedagogical decisions an instructor can make. Research shows that 65%-85% of students report not having access to course materials at the start of the semester because of cost1, and course text costs rose 82% between 2003-20132, and a staggering 1,041% between 1977-20153. First-generation and lower-income students particularly benefit from using OER, with higher graduation and lower withdrawal rates than peers assigned traditional textbooks4,5. Choosing OER demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity and meeting students where they are, and allows instructors to tailor materials to course learning outcomes and their student population.
Beyond the impact on the community college system population, English language learners at this level are taught in a variety of community-based programs, which often charge little to no tuition and operate on slim budgets. Instructors there often volunteer, and if paid to teach they are frequently not paid at all for preparation time. Access to an entire 14 to 16-week composition course designed for adult English language learners would greatly benefit this population of instructors and students, as many community-based programs rely on free materials typically designed for a K-12 audience.
Pre-College Composition for English Language Learners
The course targeted in this project is a gateway course for English language learners who wish to pursue their associate’s degree or transfer to a four-year institution. This course aims to prepare them to be strong academic writers, ready for success in writing tasks across various disciplines in future careers. Because the course is a skills-based course, the textbooks are not simply there to provide reading assignments but provide a variety of practice exercises for students to demonstrate increasing mastery of the writing skills. This is particularly important for students enrolled in one of our hybrid or online sections.
Anticipated launch date: Spring 2023. View the text here.
Supporting English Language Learners in First-Year College Composition
This project addresses a pressing need: support for multilingual English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in first-semester college composition. This OER development project created materials for a corequisite support course for ELLs.
Anticipated launch date: Spring 2023. View the text here.
1 Fixing the Broken Textbook Market. http://www.studentpirgs.org/reports/sp/xing-broken-textbook-market
2 Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014). Consumer Price Index Databases. http://www.bls.gov/cpi/data.htm
3 NACS. (2017). State of the Industry Report 2017. NACS State of the Industry Report.
4 Feldstein, A., Martin, M., Husdson, A., Warren, K., Hilton III, J., & WIley, D. (2012). Open Textbooks and Increased Student Access and Outcomes. European Journal of Open, Distance and ELearning.
5 Hilton, J., III, & Laman, C. (2012). One college’s use of an open psychology textbook. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 27(3), 265–272.