Let's start with an uncomfortable question- how much did your degree cost you?
If you are like most behavior analysts, the answer to that question is far different from the tuition listed on your degree-granting institution's website. In addition to tuition, students in behavior analysis often pay thousands of dollars for:
- books, books, books, books $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
- exam prep materials $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
- study aids, SAFMEDs, graphic organizers $$$$$$$$$$$
- assessment tools and applications $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
- pre-made curricula $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
- etc.
At the same time, we expect students to get thousands of hours of supervised experience. While some students are able to be paid for their experiences, often students that want to truly be excellent behavior analysts are forced to find additional supervision or work for free in order to gain experience in different areas. Many students have long commutes to and from multiple work sites which also increases the total cost of the degree.
This is not unusual in higher education.
In a recent NPR piece (found here), it was noted that since the 1970's, the cost of education has increased in some places to the tune of 2000 percent!
What IS unusual though, is the lack of response from the behavior analytic community. We seem to even be encouraging or supporting the rising costs of behavior analytic education. One popular exam prep program is more than 500 dollars! You can find flashcards for students (yes, they are technically SAFMEDs but let's be real about it) that cost $75!! Mock exams are equally priced and there are new ways to spend money on ABA materials popping up every day.
At the same time, there is a movement in higher education that recognizes this and responds actively, radically, and importantly! If you haven't heard of Open Educational Resources, here's the basics:
Sounds great right? And many top universities and organizations agree! Rice University, MIT, University of Michigan, UC Berkeley, and more have created large databases full of searchable, free, verified course content and similar resources. Without paying a dime, curious folks can learn anything from computer science to architecture to biology to dentistry or law. These resources are high quality, editable, and available in multiple formats to support learners of all kinds.
But...
THERE ARE NO APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS OERs!
In a search of the 10 most popular OER databases, not a single resource related to behavior analysis surfaced. Googling "applied behavior analysis OER" also has similar results.
Why?
Isn't our goal to change the world? To educate others and spread our effective science? To help as many people as possible? It's hard to think that OERs wouldn't be a key piece of the dissemination effort. ABA OERs could help folks who can't afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars still learn to make a difference and solve socially significant problems. ABA OERs could reach people without the time or resources to attend graduate school.
So this is a call to action for the behavior analytic community. Let's do it. Let's put ABA on the OER map! This is something I will be spending significant time on in the upcoming year and I would love to hear from others who are interested in collaborating. If you know of OERs out there already, please share them! There are some great YouTube channels and FB Pages but we need more comprehensive resources out there as well.
For more information on OERs, check out:
Basic Guide to OER
Guidelines for OER in Higher Education
Need more convincing? More reasons to consider making and using OER from the University of Texas Austin
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