The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and course DFWI (Drop, Fail, Withdrawal, Incomplete) rates at the undergraduate level of an online university. It was hypothesized there is an impact on DFWI rates when OER exists in online education. In 2017, an online university undertook a university-wide adoption of OER; the effect of this university-wide project had not been examined. The methodology for this study was a t-test analysis to evaluate the impact of course DFWI rates from OER in undergraduate online courses in the higher education environment. Data was collected from 2nd quarter 2016 to 1st quarter 2018 from the following undergraduate programs within the School of Business of an online university: Accounting (ACCT), Business Administration (BUSN), Entrepreneurship (ENTR), Hospitality (HOSP), Human Resources Management (HRMT), Management (MGMT), Retail Management (RLMT), and Transportation and Logistics Management (TLMT). This important study contributes to the gap in both literature review and the measurement of any statistical significant difference in course DFWI rates before and after the implementation of OER materials. In addition, an analysis of the return on investment by way of net present value of the costs was examined.

Keywords

DFWI · OER · online education · Open Educational Resources · Undergraduate