Leadership Awareness of Open Educational Resources (OER) for Educational Access and Affordability at a University in the West Indies
Abstract
Even though the cost of education varies widely throughout the Caribbean, when compared to the United States, the overall cost is much lower. Many regional governments offer free tertiary education to its citizens up to the undergraduate level at accredited public and select private institutions (Trinidad and Tobago Connect, 2018). However, the cost of books and other resources are still at the expense of the student, and since financial aid, as we know it, is not available, families of these students are subjected to private loans and second mortgages to cover the remaining education costs. This research study examined the leadership awareness of OER for educational access and affordability at an international higher education institution in the Caribbean. The framework used for this study was the COUP Framework, which represents the impact of OER within the areas of Cost, Outcomes, Usage, and Perceptions. This COUP framework was created by the Open Education Group for the study, evaluation and analysis of OER. This study also adopted the change management theory roadmap of the ADKAR framework which examines the following five stages: Awareness of the need to change, Desire to support the change, Knowledge of how to change, Ability to demonstrate skills and behavior and Reinforcement to make the change relevant. The data analysis was conducted from surveys completed by four categories of participants: Deans, Deputy Deans, Curriculum Specialists, and other top-level Administrators at a university in the Caribbean. The top-level Administrators include instructional designers, course quality administrators, directors and assistant directors, chairs and co-chairs, and lab instructors. This population was strategically selected due to their direct influence and exposure to the need of Open Educational Resources at the selected university.
Subject Area
Educational leadership|Higher Education Administration
Recommended Citation
Arlene Nicholas-Phillips,
"Leadership Awareness of Open Educational Resources (OER) for Educational Access and Affordability at a University in the West Indies"
(2020).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI28151843.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI28151843