University students and faculty have positive perceptions of open/ alternative resources and their utilization in a textbook replacement initiative
Lindshield, Brian L. · Delimont, Nicole · Turtle, Elizabeth C. · Bennett, Andrew · Adhikari, Koushik
Published | June 2016 |
Journal | Research in Learning Technology Volume 24, Issue 24, Pages 1-13 |
Publisher | CoAction Publishing |
Country | United States, North America |
ABSTRACT
The Kansas State University Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative provides grants to faculty members to replace textbooks with open/alternative educational resources (OAERs) that are available at no cost to students. Open educational resources are available for anyone to access, while alternative educational resources are not open. The objective of this study was to determine the perceptions towards OAERs and the initiative, of students enrolled in, and faculty members teaching, courses using OAERs. A survey was sent out to 2,074 students in 13 courses using the OAERs. A total of 524 (25.3%) students completed the survey and a faculty member from each of the 13 courses using OAERs was interviewed. Students rated the OAERs as good quality, preferred using them instead of buying textbooks for their courses, and agreed that they would like OAERs used in other courses. Faculty felt that student learning was somewhat better and it was somewhat easier to teach using OAERs than when they used the traditional textbooks. Nearly all faculty members preferred teaching with OAERs and planned to continue to do so after the funding period. These results, combined with the tremendous savings to students, support the continued funding of the initiative and similar approaches at other institutions.Keywords | college · e-textbook · Kansas State · Open Educational Resources · Open textbook |
ISSN | Print ISSN 2156-7069; Online ISSN: 2156-7077 |
Refereed | Yes |
Rights | by/4.0 |
DOI | 10.3402/rlt.v24.29920 |
URL | http://www.researchinlearningtechnology.net/index.php/rlt/article/view/29920 |
Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
AVAILABLE FILES
Viewed by 219 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
Cultivating textbook alternatives from the ground up: One public university’s sustainable model for open and alternative educational resource proliferation
Lashley, Jonathan; Cummings-Sauls, Rebel; Bennett, Andrew; Lindshield, Brian
This note from the field reviews the sustainability of an institution-wide program for adopting and adapting open and alternative educational resources (OAER) at Kansas State University (K-State). Developed in consult ...
Match: bennett, andrew; open educational resources; united states; north america
Needs for and utilization of OER in distance education: A Chinese survey
Chen, Qing; Panda, Santosh
The recent developments within open educational resources (OERs) and open licensing have generated considerable interest among distance educators since open and distance learning is supposed to be the largest ...
Match: utilization; open educational resources
An Introduction to Open Education
Arts, Yvette; Call, Hannah; Cavan, Melissa; Holmes, Theresa P.; et al.
This open-access edited volume features chapters by leading and emerging authors and researchers in the field of open education and open educational resources. Sections include the foundations of OE and OER, current ...
Match: open educational resources; open textbook; united states; north america
Effectiveness of OER use in first-year higher education students' mathematical course performance: A case study
Westermann Juárez, Werner; Venegas Muggli, Juan Ignacio; Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Arinto, Patricia B.
This chapter aims to understand the impact of Open Educational Resources (OER) on first-year mathematics students at the Instituto Profesional Providencia (IPP) in Santiago, Chile, where more than half (52%) of ...
Match: open educational resources; open textbook
Open textbook proof-of-concept via Connexions
Baker, Judy; Thierstein, Joel; Fletcher, Kathi; Kaur, Manpreet; Emmons, Jonathan
To address the high cost of textbooks, Rice University's Connexions and the Community College Open Textbook Project (CCOTP) collaborated to develop a proof-of-concept free and open textbook. The proof-of-concept served ...
Match: open educational resources; open textbook; north america
Key questions to drive smarter higher education content strategies
Pigman, Kerry
Commentary: The convergence of open education resources, digital and licensed content requires institutions to rethink their content and IT strategies.
Match: open educational resources; united states; north america
Use of Open Educational Resources: Challenges and strategies
Chen, Qing; Tsang, P.; Cheung, SKS; Lee, VSK; Huang, RH
Since MIT announced its OpenCourseWare Program in 2001, Open educational resources has gradually developed into a practical hotspot and got rapidly development in the higher education field of the world. In a sense, the ...
Match: open educational resources
Exclusive: Education officials to announce access to openly licensed content for educators
Lestch, Corinne
The Department of Education, along with major technology companies, are slated to announce that federally funded educational materials will be openly licensed to the public.
Match: open educational resources; united states; north america
Impact of Open Educational Resources on course DFWI rates in undergraduate online education
Shaw, Cassandra S.; Irwin, Kathleen C.; Blanton, Doris
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and course DFWI (Drop, Fail, Withdrawal, Incomplete) rates at the undergraduate level of an online ...
Match: open educational resources; united states; north america
School districts to use openly licensed online content over textbooks — officials
Lestch, Corinne
The agency announced Thursday that 10 school districts will replace at least one textbook with openly licensed educational content. Copyrighted materials created with federal money will also be open.
Match: open educational resources; united states; north america