ERIC Number: EJ1176381
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Apr
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1918-2902
EISSN: N/A
As Good or Better than Commercial Textbooks: Students' Perceptions and Outcomes from Using Open Digital and Open Print Textbooks
Jhangiani, Rajiv S.; Dastur, Farhad N.; Le Grand, Richard; Penner, Kurt
Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, v9 n1 Article 5 Apr 2018
The increase in the cost of college textbooks together with the proliferation of digital content and devices has inspired the development of open textbooks, open educational resources that are free, openly licensed, and often peer-reviewed. Although several published studies have investigated the impact of open textbook adoption on educational outcomes, none have separated the effects of textbook openness and format and only two have taken place in Canada (Hendricks, Reinsberg, & Rieger, 2017; Jhangiani & Jhangiani, 2017). This study investigates the perceptions, use, and course performance of Canadian post-secondary students assigned a commercial or open textbook in either print or digital format. Results show that students using the print format of the open textbook perceive its quality to be superior to the commercial textbook. Moreover, students assigned an open textbook in either format perform either no differently from or better than those assigned a commercial textbook. These results are consistent with the existing literature and support the conclusion that the cost savings to students associated with the adoption of open textbooks do not come at the expense of resource quality or student performance.
Descriptors: Textbooks, Electronic Publishing, Student Attitudes, College Students, Printed Materials, Performance, Foreign Countries, Educational Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Grades (Scholastic), Quasiexperimental Design, Psychology, Knowledge Level, Tests, Questionnaires, Statistical Analysis, Multivariate Analysis, Readability, Readability Formulas
University of Western Ontario and Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Mills Memorial Library Room 504, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L6, Canada. Tel: 905-525-9140; e-mail: info@cjsotl-rcacea.ca; Web site: http://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Flesch Kincaid Grade Level Formula; Dale Chall Readability Formula
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A