1. INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT
EXPERIENCES WITH OPEN TEXTBOOKS,
FROM THE CALIFORNIA OPEN ONLINE
LIBRARY FOR EDUCATION (COOL4ED)
Christina Hendricks – University of British
Columbia-Vancouver
Ozgur Ozdemir – Indiana University
Open Education Conference, Nov. 2016
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2. California Community Colleges
California State University
University of California
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http://coolfored.org/

3. Research Questions
• Faculty motivations for adopting OT or other OER
• Cost savings for students
• Student perceptions/attitudes (as reported by
faculty)
• Impact on student learning and retention
• Other benefits and drawbacks
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4. Methods
Data
collection
51 Faculty ePortfolios
• About the (1) book, (2) course,
(3) open textbook adoption,
and (4) faculty bio
• 30 Postsecondary Institutions
• 7 Disciplinary Areas
Data analysis
Content Analysis
• Open Coding
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5. Findings: RQ1
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Note: N=51
80%
44%
24%
20%
COST SAVING CONTENT REPURPOSING ACCESSIBILITY
MOTIVATING FACTORS

6. Findings: RQ2
• Typical costs for new textbooks
reported by faculty: $50 to over
$275 per book, average $140
• 32 faculty members reported
how many students teach/year
• Estimated total cost savings:
$706,740 per year, for 5733
students ($123/student)
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#textbookbrokebc image, by
UBC undergraduate student
society

7. Findings: RQ3
Note: N=40
97%
43%
40%
0%
15%
0%
COST SAVING CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY
STUDENTS ATTITUDE
Positive Attitude Negative Attitude
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8. Findings: RQ4
Note: N=51
39%
16%
0
45%
16%
12%
0
72%
YES, IMPROVED STAYED THE SAME DECLINED NOT
ASSESSED/UNSURE
LEARNING & RETENTION
Student Learning Improved? Student Retention Improved?
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9. Findings: RQ5
Note: N=51
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61%
86%
14%
39%
14%
86%
COLLABORATED MORE
WITH OTHER FACULTY?
USED WIDER RANGE OF
MATERIALS?
DRAWBACKS OF USING
OER?
OTHER BENEFITS OR FRAWBACKS
Yes No

10. Some conclusions
• Cost savings: most prominent concern for faculty (80%)
& students (93% of those that reported student views)
• Content: only 4% of portfolios showed negative views by
faculty, 12% by students
• Adaptability: noted as important on 40% of portfolios
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