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Hassall C, Lewis DI. Institutional and technological barriers to the use of open educational resources (OERs) in physiology and medical education. Adv Physiol Educ. 2017;41(1):77-81doi: 10.1152/advan.00171.2016.
Hassall, C., & Lewis, D. I. (2017). Institutional and technological barriers to the use of open educational resources (OERs) in physiology and medical education. Advances in physiology education, 41(1), 77-81. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00171.2016
Hassall, Christopher, and Lewis, David I. "Institutional and technological barriers to the use of open educational resources (OERs) in physiology and medical education." Advances in physiology education vol. 41,1 (2017): 77-81. doi: https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00171.2016
Hassall C, Lewis DI. Institutional and technological barriers to the use of open educational resources (OERs) in physiology and medical education. Adv Physiol Educ. 2017 Mar 01;41(1):77-81. doi: 10.1152/advan.00171.2016. PMID: 28143826.
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Adv Physiol Educ. 2017 Mar 01;41(1):77-81. doi: 10.1152/advan.00171.2016.

Institutional and technological barriers to the use of open educational resources (OERs) in physiology and medical education.

Advances in physiology education

Christopher Hassall, David I Lewis

Affiliations

  1. School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom; [email protected].
  2. University of Leeds Biosciences Education Research Group, Leeds, United Kingdom.
  3. School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom; and.

PMID: 28143826 DOI: 10.1152/advan.00171.2016

Abstract

Open educational resources (OERs) are becoming increasingly common as a tool in education, particularly in medical and biomedical education. However, three key barriers have been identified to their use: 1) lack of awareness of OERs, 2) lack of motivation to use OERs, and 3) lack of training in the use of OERs. Here, we explore these three barriers with teachers of medical and biomedical science to establish how best to enhance the use of OERs to improve pedagogical outcomes. An online survey was completed by 209 educators, many of whom (68.4%) reported using OERs in their teaching and almost all (99.5%) showing awareness of at least one OER. The results suggest that key problems that prevent educators from adopting OERs in their teaching include suitability for particular classes, time, and copyright. Most (81.8%) educators were somewhat, very, or extremely comfortable with OERs so there is no innate motivational barrier to adoption. A lack of training was reported by 13.9% of respondents, and 40% of respondents stated that there was little or no support from their institutions. OER users were no more comfortable with technology or better supported by departments but tended to be aware of a greater number of sources of OERs. Our study illustrates key opportunities for the expansion of OER use in physiology and medical teaching: increased breadth of awareness, increased institutional support (including time, training, and copyright support), and greater sharing of diverse OERs to suit the range of teaching challenges faced by staff in different subdisciplines.

Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Keywords: blended learning; medicine; online; open educational resource; pedagogy; physiology; technology

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