supporting open textbook adoptions: university of north texas
TRANSCRIPT
Supporting Open Textbook
AdoptionsSarah Faye Cohen
University of North Texas
February 9, 2017
Thank you.
Today, we will:• Explore issues of affordability and their
impact on student academic success;
• Identify barriers to adoption of open textbooks and practice how you might help overcome those barriers;
• Discuss why and how you might support open textbook initiatives.
Why are we really here?
#textbookbroke
#textbookbroke
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
$7,000
$8,000
$9,000
$10,000
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
US Higher Education Funding - $/FTE
State Funding Tuition Revenue
http://www.sheeo.org
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
$7,000
$8,000
$9,000
$10,000
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
Texas Higher Education Funding - $/FTE
State Funding Tuition Revenue
http://www.sheeo.org
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Hou
rs @
Min
imu
m W
age
Affording Annual Tuition at the University of Minnesota
The average borrower owes more than
$26,250
in student loans (class of 2014).
Institute for College Access and Success
http://projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/Student_Debt_and_the_Class_of_2012_NR.pdf
http://ticas.org/posd/map-state-data-2015
Texas =
$27,324
$400
$500
$600
$700
$800
$900
$1,000
$1,100
$1,200
$1,300
$1,400
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
$ B
illio
ns
US Debt
Consumer Revolving Credit Student Loan Debt
Federal Reserve http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/Current/
Cost of Attendance• Tuition and Fees
• Room and Board
• Books and Supplies
• Personal Expenses
• Transportation
Cost of Attendance
• Tuition and Fees
• Room and Board
• Books and Supplies
• Personal Expenses
• Transportation
0%
100%
200%
300%
400%
500%
600%
700%
1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
% I
ncre
ase
Increase in Textbook Prices
Textbooks CPI
Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/cpi/
The average student budgets
$1,230 - $1,390
on textbooks and course materials in 2016-
17.
http://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/average-estimated-undergraduate-budgets-2015-16
University of North Texas = $1,000
Coping
with the
Cost
• Purchase an older edition of
the textbook
• Delay purchasing the
textbook
• Never purchase the textbook
• Share a textbook
• Pirate a textbook
“I figured French
hadn’t changed
that much.”
- UMN student
2012 2016
63.6% 66.5%Not purchase the required
textbook
49.2% 47.6% Take fewer courses
45.1% 45.5% Not register for a specific course
33.9% 37.6% Earn a poor grade
26.7% 26.1% Drop a course
17.0% 19.8% Fail a course
In your academic career, has the cost of
required textbooks caused you to:
Our focus:
Open Textbooks
Why Open?
• Facilitates the free exchange of
information.
• Allows higher education to take ownership
of its content.
• Empowers faculty
• Sharing is scalable.
What do we mean by “open”?
Open = permissions free
• Copy
• Mix
• Share
• Keep
• Edit
• Use
The 5Rs: 1. Retain
2. Reuse
3. Revise
4. Remix
5. Redistribute
Also known
as…
Why Textbooks?• Hits a major pain point – textbook costs
• Faculty understand textbooks
• Faculty know how to adopt textbooks
• Faculty effort (vs. alternatives) is kept at a minimum
• Textbooks can provide content for a complete (or nearly complete) course
What “barriers” do you hear
(or anticipate hearing)
from faculty?
Barriers to Faculty Adoption
• Faculty don’t know where to find open textbooks
• Faculty don’t understand the urgency of student
financial stress, and how it can impact students
academically
• Faculty aren’t aware that open textbooks are an option
• Faculty don’t know what open textbooks are
• Faculty confuse open textbooks with electronic
textbooks
• Faculty are skeptical of the quality of open textbooks
• Faculty have limited time to engage in reviewing open
textbooks
Ed
uca
teE
nga
ge
They don’t know much about them.
They’re busy:• Prepping for their
courses
• Responding to students
• Grading
• Mentoring
• Research
• Grant writing
• Committee Work
• The list goes on…
http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/openingthecurriculum2014.pdf
+
+
• 351 textbooks
• 52% of textbooks have been reviewed by faculty at OTN institutions (854 reviews)
• 1M+ (!) visits from every country in the world
• Books produced at Rice University, SUNY, University of Texas at Austin, NOBA, University of Minnesota, Portland State, Grand Valley State…
351 Total Books* (Live)
9 Accounting & Finance47 Business, Management & Marketing34 Computer Science & Information Systems17 Economics
6 Engineering31 Education69 Humanities & Languages43 Law62 Mathematics & Statistics
6 Medicine 38 Natural & Physical Sciences29 Social Sciences
8 Student Success
*February 1, 2017
What about library
resources?
Library resources are not “open”, only
“available” within your institution.
What would supporting open
textbook adoptions look like at
the University of North Texas?
You have a lot already happening in your
Scholarly Communications Program!
-Open Textbook Library: email/meetings/+
-Outreach to today’s participants.
-Partnership with student government.
-Online guides (instructors, students).
-OT listserv/learning community.
-Webinars/workshops (e.g. using and adapting).
-Adopter profiles (articles, videos).
-Mini-grants to encourage adoption
-What else?
What are your next steps?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dabinsi/3374255830
We need YOU.
• You are leaders on your campus.
• You work with and support faculty on your campus.
• You share resources, options, ideas, and tools with faculty.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomicpasko/14139726176
Do what you already do.
• Listen.
• Have conversations.
• Introduce new
options.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandoncripps/3156373103/
Strategies for having
conversations about open
textbooks
Let’s try that again!
• Listen to the responses to the questions:
– What outcomes would you expect from this
interaction?
– How could we change this interaction for
different results?
I hear these books aren’t any
good. Is the quality the same as
other textbooks?
How am I supposed to find time
to adopt an open textbook?
I rely on ancillary content in my
courses. Do these books have
any ancillaries?
Just a few
reminders
Beware of
demonizing!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/post406/242630595
Try
not to
overwhelm
Don’t come to me with the
entire truth.
Don’t bring me the ocean if I
feel thirsty, nor heaven if I ask
for light.-from Olav Hauge’s
“Don’t come to me with the entire truth,”
translated by Robert Bly
Respect Academic Freedom
https://www.flickr.com/photos/basykes/7131116
Leave Quality Judgment to Faculty
+
+
Let the word spread.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcoveringa/3203134555/in/photostream/
Continue to celebrate their
achievements.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottdwelch/4845488575
Open textbooks can transform higher
education.• More open access
publishing
• A change in how we allocate spending
• Increased engagement
• Improved retention
• Improved completion rates
• Improved pedagogy
• Ownership of course content
• New partnerships and collaborative opportunitieshttps://www.flickr.com/photos/86530412@N02/7932571974
“Open education is about increasing student
achievement, inspiring passion among
faculty, and building better connections
between students and the materials that they
use to meet their educational goals.”
– Quill West
