Open educational resources (oer) in vietnamese higher education case study of the university of social sciences and humanities, vnu

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY TRINH NGOC ANH OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN VIETNAM: CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES MASTER'S THESIS VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY TRINH NGOC ANH OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN VIETNAM: CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES MAJOR: GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CODE: 8310210.01QTD RESEARCH SUPERVISORS: Prof Dr KAZUO KURODA Prof Dr NGUYEN TUAN ANH Hanoi, 2022 STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT On my honor, I certify that the findings of this study are original and not conflict with Regulation on prevention of plagiarism in academic and scientific research activities at Vietnam Japan University (issued in conjunction with Decision No 700/QHVN dated 30 September 2021 by the Rector of Vietnam Japan University) This research has been submitted to satisfy the requirement of the Master's program of global leadership Signature Trinh Ngoc Anh ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to take this chance to commend the individuals and dear professors who supported me to complete my research First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to Prof Nguyen Tuan Anh and Prof Dr Kuroda Kazuo, who worked as my research supervisors, for their suggestions and active engagement during my entire research process I want to convey my appreciation for your advice, compassion, and inspiration in helping me get beyond the challenges I will always be grateful to Dr Jasmine Ryu for her unending kindness, perceptive remarks, and inspirational lectures during my study Throughout my period at VJU, the MGL board of directors and MGL professors, especially Prof Pham Hong Tung and Prof Katsuma Yasushi, have provided me with a lot of valuable feedbacks and helpful comments, which I would always remember and appreciate Above all, throughout my busiest two years, none of my efforts would have been possible without the love, assistance, and understanding of my family and friends Thank you for being patient and supportive towards my academic journey Hanoi, July 2022 Author Trinh Ngoc Anh ABSTRACT The concept of open educational resources (OER) has evolved over the past 20 years from being a loosely defined term for freely accessible courseware to becoming a part of tactical strategies now included in many governmental and institutional policies The significance of OER ranges from improving learning quality, expanding opportunities for lifelong learning for all to increasing access to education With such immense significance, OER is becoming a key contributor to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal number 4: quality education Nowadays, more and more nations are adopting this concept to innovate the existing challenge of education in the midst of the blooming technology 4.0 Vietnam, as a developing country, is experiencing technological advancement in all sectors, including open education By boosting its support for OER and open education in general, both domestically and internationally, Vietnam can play a significant role in advancing SDG4 Therefore, the research aims to investigate the current mechanisms that support OER and the situation of OER implementation using a specific study at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) In order to obtain the results, a mixed-method design is incorporated to analyze the research data The resolutions, directives and articles relating to the advancement OER in Vietnam will be assessed as part of the document analysis Furthermore, an online survey will be distributed to the students of USSH to explore the utilization of OER by students Taking a deep dive into the facilitation of OER at the university, an in-depth interview will be conducted to find out the lecturer’s effort in promoting this innovative concept In general, the research expects to find that OER is being increasingly supported in national documents and institutional practice Hence, students will have the opportunity to adopt the use of OER considerably in their study TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES i LIST OF FIGURES ii LIST OF ABBREVIATION iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reason of the study 1.2 Research objectives and significance of the study 1.3 Research questions: 1.4 Scope of the study CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATION AND METHODOLOGY 2.1 Literature review 2.1.1 The development of OER 2.1.2 Major OER initiatives around the world 2.1.3 Benefits of OER in higher education 12 2.1.4 Challenges of using OER 14 2.1.5 OER in Vietnam 15 2.2 Working concepts and theoretical consideration 16 2.2.1 Operationalization 16 2.2.2 Conceptual framework 17 2.2.3 Analytical framework 18 2.3 Methodology 20 2.3.1 Case selection 20 2.3.2 Survey design 22 2.3.3 Interview design 24 CHAPTER 3: FINDING AND DISCUSSION 25 3.1 Basic experience and understanding of OER by lecturers and students in USSH 25 3.1.1 Student’s experience of OER 25 3.1.2 Lecturer’s understanding of OER 26 3.3 Institutional practice in promoting OER 26 3.3.1 Student’s implementation of OER 26 3.3.2 Institutional effort in promoting OER 29 3.2 Benefits of using OER 32 3.2.1 Student’s perspective on the benefit of OER 33 3.2.2 Lecturer’s perspective on the benefits of OER 35 3.4 Challenges of using OER 37 3.4.1 Student’s perspective on the challenges of using OER 37 3.4.2 Challenges from the school management and practice 39 3.4.3 Challenges from individual 41 3.5 Implication to promote OER 42 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 45 4.1 Research summary 45 4.2 Limitations to the research 47 4.3 Further research 47 REFERENCES 49 APPENDIX 52 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Authors’ illustration, adapted from UN Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, n.d) 25 Table 2.2: Analytical framework created by author on the current implementation, benefits and challenge of OER 26 i LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Conceptual framework created by author 23 Figure 2.2: Students divided by school year 28 Figure 2.3: Survey participants’ faculty 29 Figure 3.1: Student’s understanding of OER 32 Figure 3.2: Percentage for OER materials serving different academic purpose 33 Figure 3.3: Assessment of OER use in the classroom by students 33 Figure 3.3: OER positive impact on student’s academic results 34 Figure 3.4: Student’s perspective on the benefits of OER 35 Figure 3.5: Student’s perspective on the disadvantages of OER 40 Figure 3.6: Student's perspective on the disadvantages of OER 45 ii LIST OF ABBREVIATION OER: Open Educational Resources VNU: Vietnam National University USSH: University of Social Sciences and Humanities VFOSSA: Vietnam Free & Open Source Software Association MOET: Ministry of Education and Training SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals UN: United Nations UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization iii Appendix 2: Survey form in English Survey questions Introduction: I'm Trinh Ngoc Anh, currently a student of the Master's Program in Global Leadership from the Vietnam Japan University – Vietnam National University I am conducting a research on “Open Educational Resources in Vietnam – a case study at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities” I sincerely hope that you can spare your valuable time to support me in completing this survey Your answers will be extremely important to this study I pledge that the data obtained from this survey will be kept confidential, and the survey respondents' personal information will not be disclosed Furthermore, if you are interested in my research topic, you can contact me via email below.Thank you for taking the time to answer the survey Student Trinh Ngoc Anh (email: anhngoctrinh97@gmail.com) 1.Which of the following materials that you have used from internet sources? Course outline Curriculum Monograph Scientific article Video lecture Audio/visual illustrations of the lecture Dissertation, thesis Textbook Others Were you able to find the following online resources in the courses you are studying? Found in all Found in courses certain Not found in any courses courses Course outline Curriculum 66 Monograph Scientific article Video lecture Audio/visual illustrations of the lecture Dissertation, thesis Textbook Others 3.How often you use the following online resources during coursework? Never Rarely Sometimes Always Course outline Curriculum Monograph Scientific article Video lecture Audio/visual illustrations of the lecture Dissertation, thesis Textbook Others 4.Which device have you used to search for the following online documents? TV Computer Ipad Cellphone 67 Course outline Curriculum Monograph Scientific article Video lecture Audio/visual illustrations of the lecture Dissertation, thesis Textbook Others What is your purpose when using the following online materials? (Academic purpose)? Review Doing lessons in individual class exercises Do groupwork Review for Find mid-term or knowledg final exam e in a new field Course outline Curriculum Monograph Scientific article 68 Video lecture Audio/visual illustrations of the lecture Dissertation, thesis Textbook Others In addition to serving the coursework, what is your purpose when using the following online materials? Developing soft Opening more job Adding more knowledge to skills opportunities support the job you are doing during your studies Monograph Scientific article Video lecture 69 Audio/visual illustrations of the lecture Dissertation, thesis Textbook Others What is your understanding of “Open Educational Resources” (OER) ? I have never heard of OER I have heard of OER but I not fully understand what it means I know the basics of OER I am experienced in using OER Please rate the level of willingness to use “Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials (OER)” in the classroom on a scale of to 5? How would you like the lecturers to integrate “Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials (OER)” into their classroom lectures? Extremely Agree Agree Disagree Instructors use audio or video to illustrate learning content Instructors use online quizzes to review lessons 70 Instructors use open-access monographs to support lectures The lecturer introduces scientific articles to read for reference The teacher provides information about the course in class 10 Please rate the effectiveness of using “Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials (OER) in your classroom? Extremely effective Effective Moderately effective Slightly effective Not at all effective 11 In your opinion, to what extent classes using “Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials (OER)” in the learning process differ from classrooms that not use OER? No Extremely difference different 71 12 If monographs or scientific articles are not available in your school library or bookstore, how you usually find the material? Find documents on Online Repositories At the university's digital library (ex: VNU-LIC) Online repositories of other universities 13 How often you receive instructions from your instructor in accessing and using the following “Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials (OER)”? Never Often Always Course outline Curriculum Monograph Scientific article Video lecture Audio/visual illustrations of the lecture Dissertation, thesis Textbook 72 Others 14 When working in groups, how often you use “Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials (OER)” to support your group work? Never Always 15 How often you find the following documents when working in groups?? Never Rarely Often Always Monograph Scientific article Video lecture Audio/visual illustrations of the lecture Dissertation, thesis Textbook Others 73 16 When you find an effective “Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials (OER)” resource, how often you share these OER materials with your friends? Never Rarely Often Always Monograph Scientific article Video lecture Audio/visua l illustrations of the lecture Dissertation , thesis Textbook Others Câu 17: Please indicate your subjective opinion about “Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials (OER)” through the following comments: Strongl y Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 74 Disagre e It’s beneficial to use OER for selfstudy Instructors using OER in class can help students become more involved in the lesson OER materials such as videos, audios and images can be an effective illustration of knowledge in certain areas OER can save the cost of purchasing materials 75 OER can be easily accessed and downloaded Students from different regions and geographical locations can equally access the new knowledge provided by OER 18 Please rate the level of influence in the following factors have on the effectiveness of “Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials (OER)”? Strongly affect Slightly affect No effect Availability of OER Quality of OER Frequency of using OER in class Internet connection 19 Please rate the influence of OER in helping to improve student’s learning outcomes? Strongly Agree Agree Moderately Agree 76 Slightly Agree Disagree 20 In the last semester, what was your academic results? Highly distinction Distinction Credit Strong Pass Pass 21 What’s your gender? Male Female 22 Which faculty are you studying at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities? 23 Which year are you studying at university? Freshman Sophomore 3rd year Final year 24 Where was your pre-university residence? Rural area Urban area Thank you very much for completing the survey! 77 Appendix 3: Interview Guide in Vietnamese Thầy/cô giới thiệu qua thân Thầy/cô công tác khoa ạ? Mơn học mà thầy/cơ dạy mơn học ạ? Trong giảng, thầy/cơ có thêm tài liệu từ nguồn Internet vào học trên lớp không ạ? Nếu sách chun khảo báo khoa học khơng có thư viện trường học nhà sách, thầy/cô thường tìm tài liệu đâu để thiết kế giảng? Các thầy/cơ có biết đến khái niệm “Tài ngun giáo dục mở/Học liệu mở/OER” không ạ? (Theo thầy/cô, theo mức độ từ 1-10, “Tài nguyên giáo dục mở/Học liệu mở/OER” Việt Nam nói chung trường ĐHKHXH&NV nói riêng triển khai đến mức độ ạ? Thầy/cơ có suy nghĩ “Tài ngun giáo dục mở/Học liệu mở/OER” ạ?) Thầy/cơ nhận thấy có lợi ích hay bất lợi với “Tài ngun giáo dục mở/Học liệu mở/OER” không ạ? Theo ý kiến thầy/cô, lớp học sử dụng “tài nguyên giáo dục mở/Học liệu mở/OER” khác lớp học khơng sử dụng OER ạ? Hiện tại, phía khoa nhà trường có sách chương trình phổ biến cho giảng viên sinh viên tài nguyên giáo dục mở/Học liệu mở/OER khơng ạ? Nếu có, Thầy/cơ giới thiệu giúp em sách nơi truy cập tài liệu mở khơng ạ? Nếu phía khoa nhà trường chưa có sách rõ ràng tài nguyên giáo dục mở/Họcliệu mở/OER , thầy có sẵn sàng đưa kiến thức thực hành OER vào giảng lớp mình? 78 Nếu đề xuất ý kiến để cải thiện phổ biến “tài nguyên giáo dục mở/Học liệu mở/OER” trường, thầy có đề xuất ạ? Các thầy/cơ có thêm ý kiến bổ sung cho câu hỏi không ạ? 79 Appendix 4: Interview guide in English 1Self introduction of the lecturer (name, faculty, age) 2How long have you been working in your faculty? 3What’s the main courses that you teach at USSH? 4Do you often include resources on the internet into your lecture? 5If monographs or scientific articles are not available in the school library or bookstore, where you usually find materials to design your lectures? 6Have you ever known about the term “Open Educational Resources”? 7What is your opinion on open access materials or OER in particular? 8Do you see any benefits or disadvantages with Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials/OER? 9In your opinion, to what extent is a class using Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials/OER different from a classroom that does not use OER? 1Does the faculty or your university currently have any policy/institutional practice to facilitate Resources/Open Learning Materials/OER? 1If your university or faculty does not have a clear policy/institutional practice on Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials/OER, are teachers willing to incorporate OER knowledge and practice into their classroom lectures? 1If you have any suggestions to improve the endorsement of Open Educational Resources/Open Learning Materials/OER at the university, what would you suggest? 1Is there anything that you would like to add in terms of the development of OER at USSH that we did not cover? Thank you for agreeing to speak to me today If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me 80