Inequitable Impacts of Textbook Costs at a Small, Private College: Results from a Textbook Survey at Gettysburg College
Published | March 2021 |
Journal | Open Praxis Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 69-87 |
Country | United States, North America |
ABSTRACT
Recognizing that higher education settings vary considerably, librarians at Gettysburg College sought to better understand textbook spending behaviors and the effects of costs on our students. We adapted the Florida Virtual Campus 2016 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey to suit the context of our small, private, liberal arts college. Most students spent $300 in Fall 2019. Financial aid awards did not cover the cost of required books and course materials for most students receiving aid. Negative effects were more pronounced for first-generation students and Pell Grant recipients, who were more likely to not purchase required books, to not register for a course due to cost, and to struggle academically. Some reported negative effects beyond their academic lives, as well. We recommend adoption of Open Educational Resources as an equity-minded practice that addresses this academic success barrier.Keywords | textbook survey · OER · undergraduate students · private college |
Language | English |
ISSN | 2304-070X |
Refereed | Yes |
Rights | CC BY-SA |
DOI | 10.5944/openpraxis.13.1.1147 |
Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
AVAILABLE FILES
Viewed by 1466 distinct readers
CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS
The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.










Click a star to be the first to rate this document
▶ POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS
A qualitative investigation of faculty Open Educational Resource usage in the Washington Community and Technical College System: Models for support and implementation
Chae, Boyoung; Jenkins, Mark; Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
This report is based on interviews with 60 faculty in Washington’s community and technical college system which was built upon a previous state-wide survey with 770 faculty.
Faculty were queried about:
* how and ...
Match: oer; united states
Business models for online education and open educational resources
Okoli, Chitu; Wang, Ning
This project aims to determine the key stakeholders, goals and existing business models for online education and open educational resources (OER) by focusing on three major research questions:
• Who are the key ...
Match: oer; united states
#OPEN TEXTBOOK Tweet
Fitzpatrick, Sharyn
Educators and faculty members discover how to drive awareness and adoption of open textbooks at their own colleges. In an easy, accessible, readable style that has become the hallmark of THINKaha books, #OPEN TEXTBOOK ...
Match: oer; united states
Uncovering the black box effect of Open Educational Resources (OER) and practices (OEP): a meta-analysis and meta-synthesis from the perspective of activity theory
Tlili, Ahmed; Zhang, Xiangling; Lampropoulos, Georgios; Salha, Soheil; et al.
Conflicting results exist in the literature on whether Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) can improve learning performance. Additionally, limited studies, in this context, have ...
Match: oer; united states
Donor funded Open Educational Resources: Making the case
Valentino, Maura L.
– This paper aims to explain the concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) and how libraries can make a good case to donors to fund these types of projects.
– The literature reveals that donors have been willing ...
Match: oer; united states
Open educational resources - An opportunity and a challenge for students
Birzina, Rita
The use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in higher education is becoming increasingly urgent. Therefore it is essential to find out students' views on the opportunities and challenges gained by applying OERs. In the ...
Match: oer
Ubiquitous technology for lifelong learners
Tabuenca, Bernardo
Nowadays, most people change their career throughout their lives, many times independently on what they learned during their formal education period. Therefore, the necessity to continually keep our skills sharp and ...
Match: oer
Higher education faculty attitude, motivation and perception of quality and barriers towards OER in India
Mishra, Sanjaya; Singh, Alka; Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Arinto, Patricia B.
The premise of this study is that teachers’ conceptions of the quality of Open Educational Resources (OER) and their attitudes and motivations towards using OER will influence whether and how they use and/or ...
Match: oer
Report from the ICDE OER Advocacy Committee's survey 2020: Implementation of the UNESCO recommendation on Open Education Resources (OER)
Ossiannilsson, Ebba; Aydin, Cengiz Hakan; Wetzler, Jennryn
The ICDE OER Advocacy Committee (OERAC) survey gathered feedback from ICDE stakeholders, members and partners about the status of the UNESCO OER Recommendation's implementation within the first seven months of adoption, ...
Match: oer
The 2015 open and online education trend report: Perspectives on developments in Dutch higher education
Baas, Marjon; Buitendijk, Simone; van Elk, Lianne; Filius, Renée; et al.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Open Education Special Interest Group and SURFnet have prepared a trend report outlining the latest dynamic developments in the area of open content, open education and – as of ...
Match: oer