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Building Anew: Anchoring Student Success in a Divided Landscape

OER as a High-Impact Practice: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Evidence Across Institutions

Friday, January 23, 2026
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM East Coast USA Time
Location: Shaw - Level M3

    Primary Presenter(s)

  • C. Edward Watson

    Vice President for Digital Innovation
    American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U)

    • Presenter(s)

  • Jessica Chittum

    Assistant Vice President, Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation; Director, VALUE Operations
    American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U)

  • Heather Miceli

    Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U)

  • Beth Perkins

    Assistant Director for Research and Assessment
    American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U)

  • Hannah Schneider

    Director of Digital Education Programs
    American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U)

Over the past two years, with generous support from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, AAC&U has undertaken a large-scale, multi-institutional study, examining more than half a million student records, to better understand what happens when faculty replace expensive publisher textbooks with open educational resources (OER) in course settings. The overarching research question was, “How might providing free access to course materials to all students on day one of the semester impact an array of student success metrics?” Presenters will share their findings, which will include disaggregated results by institution type, student ethnicity, student Pell-eligibility, and other variables of interest. The researchers also examined the quality of the OER adoption scenario to discern if OER adoption, “when done well,” would improve student success outcomes. This analysis ultimately suggests specific strategies and approaches that faculty and institutions should adopt to maximize the impact OER will have on their students.