At the core of the discussion of OER adoption, one of the main questions raised is the efficacy of OER. There is currently very limited research done to address this question. In our study, we conduct a quantitative analysis on the efficacy of OER for a calculus course with a large enrollment at Purdue University to contribute to the literature in this area.
We compare students' performances on the final exam in Fall 14 and Fall 15, where commercial versus OER materials are used respectively. The comparison is conducted at the course wide level, as well as at the subgroup levels based on students' demographic, socioeconomic and academic backgrounds.
