Inequitable Impacts of Textbook Costs at a Small, Private College: Results from a Textbook Survey at Gettysburg College
Appedu, Sarah · Elmquist, Mary · Wertzberger, Janelle · Birch, Sharon

PublishedMarch 2021
JournalOpen Praxis
Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 69-87
CountryUnited 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

LanguageEnglish
ISSN2304-070X
RefereedYes
RightsCC BY-SA
DOI10.5944/openpraxis.13.1.1147
Export optionsBibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar



AVAILABLE FILES
1147-5047-2-PB.pdf · 222KB3 downloads



Viewed by 1468 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

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

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

#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

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

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

The impact of OER on teaching and learning practice
McAndrew, Patrick; Weller, Martin; de los Arcos, Bea; Farrow, Rob; Pitt, Beck
The OER Research Hub has been investigating the impact of OER, using eleven hypotheses, and a mixed methods approach to establish an evidence base. This paper explores the findings relating to teaching and learning. The ...
Match: oer

The four big reasons for contribution to open educational resources
Metzer, Jacques; Hanna, Amal
Volunteers contribute their efforts and time into organizations for different reasons and goals. These goals include strengthening their experience, developing networks, and enhancing their feelings. Similarly, ...
Match: oer

Smart OER: Bridges for sustainable education
Kanwar, Asha; Abeywardena, Ishan S; Mishra, Sanjaya
Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, Commonwealth of Learning, at Innovation Arabia 11, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 11 March 2018. Co-written with Dr Ishan Abeywardena, Adviser: Open Educational ...
Match: oer

How OpenLearn supports a business model for OER
Law, Patrina; Perryman, Leigh-Anne
In 2013, the Open University (OU) in the UK launched a large-scale survey of users of its OpenLearn platform for open educational resources. The survey results revealed that OpenLearn is functioning as a showcase and a ...
Match: oer

The ultimate guide to open educational resources: Everything you ever wanted to know about how to use, create and enhance learning with the next generation of educational content
Top Hat Staff
Open Educational Resources (OER) are the future of educational content—professors want educational materials that are more engaging, more easily updated and adaptable to individual instructor’s needs and more ...
Match: oer