Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment Courses
As public funding for higher education decreases and the cost to students to attend college increases, universities are searching for strategies that save students money while also increasing their chances for success. Using free online textbooks is one such strategy, and the OpenStax College initia...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Athabasca University Press
2017-08-01
|
| Series: | International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/2462 |
| _version_ | 1818405707931713536 |
|---|---|
| author | C. Edward Watson Denise P. Domizi Sherry A. Clouser |
| author_facet | C. Edward Watson Denise P. Domizi Sherry A. Clouser |
| author_sort | C. Edward Watson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As public funding for higher education decreases and the cost to students to attend college increases, universities are searching for strategies that save students money while also increasing their chances for success. Using free online textbooks is one such strategy, and the OpenStax College initiative at Rice University is one of the most widely recognized producers of such materials. Through a mixed method approach, this article examines the student and faculty experiences of adopting and using an OpenStax textbook. With 1,299 student participants, it was found that students greatly value the quality, attributes, and the cost of the OpenStax Biology textbook, though minor concerns were raised about its online format. Faculty adoption of a free textbook provides unique opportunities for course redesign and improvement, and the approach employed in this course transformation context resulted in clearly articulated learning outcomes, a fully realized structure in the course’s learning management system, and improvements to instructional practice. The student, faculty, and course benefits of this study offer a compelling argument for the adoption of high quality open education resources (OER) in public higher education contexts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T09:00:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d9336ae3a45d4ebb849a9b5bc8773798 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1492-3831 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T09:00:20Z |
| publishDate | 2017-08-01 |
| publisher | Athabasca University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning |
| spelling | doaj.art-d9336ae3a45d4ebb849a9b5bc87737982022-12-21T23:08:49ZengAthabasca University PressInternational Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning1492-38312017-08-0118510.19173/irrodl.v18i5.2462Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment CoursesC. Edward Watson0Denise P. Domizi1Sherry A. Clouser2University of GeorgiaDirector of Faculty Development, University System of GeorgiaAssistant Director of Learning Technologies, Center for Teaching and Learning, University of GeorgiaAs public funding for higher education decreases and the cost to students to attend college increases, universities are searching for strategies that save students money while also increasing their chances for success. Using free online textbooks is one such strategy, and the OpenStax College initiative at Rice University is one of the most widely recognized producers of such materials. Through a mixed method approach, this article examines the student and faculty experiences of adopting and using an OpenStax textbook. With 1,299 student participants, it was found that students greatly value the quality, attributes, and the cost of the OpenStax Biology textbook, though minor concerns were raised about its online format. Faculty adoption of a free textbook provides unique opportunities for course redesign and improvement, and the approach employed in this course transformation context resulted in clearly articulated learning outcomes, a fully realized structure in the course’s learning management system, and improvements to instructional practice. The student, faculty, and course benefits of this study offer a compelling argument for the adoption of high quality open education resources (OER) in public higher education contexts.http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/2462open educational resourcesOpenStaxbiologyfaculty developmentcourse design |
| spellingShingle | C. Edward Watson Denise P. Domizi Sherry A. Clouser Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment Courses International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning open educational resources OpenStax biology faculty development course design |
| title | Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment Courses |
| title_full | Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment Courses |
| title_fullStr | Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment Courses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment Courses |
| title_short | Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment Courses |
| title_sort | student and faculty perceptions of openstax in high enrollment courses |
| topic | open educational resources OpenStax biology faculty development course design |
| url | http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/2462 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cedwardwatson studentandfacultyperceptionsofopenstaxinhighenrollmentcourses AT denisepdomizi studentandfacultyperceptionsofopenstaxinhighenrollmentcourses AT sherryaclouser studentandfacultyperceptionsofopenstaxinhighenrollmentcourses |