This article reports on a study (15 page PDF) reporting that students who receive open educational resources (OER) earlier in the course obtain better course grades. "Switching to OER increased the number of A and A-minus grades students received by 5.50 percent and 7.73 percent, respectively. The number of students who withdrew or were awarded D or F grades (known as the DFW rate) fell by 2.68 percent." This is definitely the sort of study that should be critically assessed and replicated before its conclusions are taken as a statement of fact, as the authors acknowledge (they write, "it is probable that the adoption of the OER-based textbook served as a catalyst to further the instructors' engagement with their own teaching").
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