BC Open Textbook Project

Clint Lalonde, BCcampusTRU-OLFM

May 9, 2015

Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed

under a Creative Commons Attribution

License.

Feel free to use, modify or distribute any or all

of this presentation with attribution.

Okay, textbook cost & why it is important

Average student debt difficult to pay off, CBC, March 11, 2014

Student Debt in Canada, Canadian Federation of Students, Fall 2013

After three years of post-secondary schooling

in Nova Scotia, Verge graduated in 2008 with

about $25,000 of debt — just about the

national average. More than five years later,

she has only managed to pay back about

$2,000.

For people like Verge, high debt loads are not

only a financial stress but can delay the time it

takes individuals or couples to reach certain

milestones, such as having children, getting

married or owning property…

Why Textbooks Cost So Much, The Economist, August 16, 2014

Course Textbook Bookstore Amazon

CHEM 1105 Chemistry: The Central Science (lab manual) $215.00 $214.20

MATH 1501 Basic Technical Mathematics with Calculus $186.50 $140

MINE 1101 Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology $118.95 $155

COMM 1135 Writing for Success $45.95 $36.20

COMP 1620 New Perspectives on Computer Concepts $183.95 $165.25

New Perspectives on Microsoft Excel $137.95 $151.40

MINE 1100 Mineral Exploration and Mining Essentials $73.95 $89.95

MINE 1107 None - -

PHYS 1147 Custom book & Lab Manual $37 n/a

SURV 1145 None - -

Total $999.25 $952

2 Year Mining Exploration Program

Term 1 (of 4)

Principal/Agent Problem

“The cardinal lesson is that

prices rise unchecked if the

people who order the goods

aren’t paying the prices.”

The $250 Econ 101 Textbook, Craig Richardson, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 13, 2015

Drugs and Prescriptions Seth Anderson CC-BY-NC-SA

Start talking about cost

But it is about more than just debt

There are pedagogical implications

to high textbook costs

How students battled textbook publishers to a draw, Planet Money, NPR, Oct 9, 2014

How students battled textbook publishers to a draw, Planet Money, NPR, Oct 9, 2014

What is going on here?

65% students have

not purchased a

textbook for a course

during their academic

career because of

price

Source: Fixing the Broken Textbook Market U.S. PIRG

Cover image: Center for Public Interest Research used under CC-BY 4.0 license

Textbook Costs vs Student Success

Source: 2012 student survey by Florida Virtual CampusSlide: CC-BY Cable Green, Creative Commons via http://www.project-kaleidoscope.org/

60%+ do not purchase books at some point due to book cost

35% take fewer courses due to book cost

31% choose not to register for a course due to book cost

23% regularly go without textbooks due to book cost

14% have dropped a course due to book cost

10% have withdrawn from a course due to book cost

Students Get Savvier about Textbook Buying,

The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 2013

Emma Anderson, 21Political science, U. of California at Berkeley

“Usually when I don’t buy it, it’s because I’ve found that you actually don’t need it for the class.”

Jennifer Bi, 20Economics, U. of California at Berkeley

“My most expensive class was clinical psych, because she writes the textbook herself, and it has a new edition every semester or something ridiculous. So it was like almost $200. And the thing is that you can’t use the previous edition, because she changes it herself because she knows the textbooks sell well. It’s like so manipulative.”

Marie Efira, 63Anthropology, Foothill College

“I had to take very few classes, because each time the price of the book more than doubles the tuition fee. It took me much longer to get my degree.”

“Learning is a very human activity.

The more people feel they are being

treated as human beings – that their

human needs are being taken into

account – the more they are likely to

learn, and learn to learn”

Malcom Knowles

iPod DRM by *n3wjack's world in pixels used under CC-BY-SA license

“My textbook is…

…back-ordered

…in the mail

…out of stock

…the wrong edition

…on hold until my student loan arrives

…not needed until I decide I want this course”

How often do students start the term

without the resources they need?

Problems

1. Textbooks are expensive

2. Students are not using them

3. Students can’t keep them

4. Students can fall weeks behind

5. Students are taking more time to finish

6. Learning is negatively affected

Open textbooks can help

What are Open Textbooks?

A textbook licensed under an open

copyright license, and made available

online to be freely used by students,

teachers and members of the public.

They are available for free as online and

electronic versions, or as low-cost printed

versions, should students opt for these.

What are Open Textbooks?

A textbook licensed under an open

copyright license, and made available

online to be freely used by students,

teachers and members of the public. They

are available for free as online versions,

and as low-cost printed versions, should

students opt for these.

Faculty have full legal rights to

customize & contextualize open

textbooks to fit their pedagogical

needs

The 5 R’s of Open

• Make and own copiesRetain

• Use in a wide range of waysReuse

• Adapt, modify, and improveRevise

• Combine two or moreRemix

• Share with othersRedistribute

Adapted (color change) from Open Education: A “Simple” Introduction by David Wiley released under CC-BY license

Creative Commons logo by Creative Commons used under a CC-BY 3.0 License

CC license image from Copyright in Education & Internet in South African Law used under CC-BY 2.5 South Africa license

“Many students attending HCC have difficulty with the cost of college. Some students do not purchase books at all; other students use outdated editions or non-assigned books.

In addition, the cost of textbooks may prevent students from taking an optimal course load. A reduced course load means more years in college and reduces the likelihood of completion.

For these reasons, faculty were concerned that the cost of textbooks was interfering with student success.

A faculty committee, with the support of administration, decided to make cost a primary consideration in the textbook adoption process.”

Source: One college’s use of an open psychology textbook, John Hilton III, Carol Laman, Open Learning:

The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Volume 27, Issue 3, 2012

Source: One college’s use of an open psychology textbook, John Hilton III, Carol Laman, Open Learning:

The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Volume 27, Issue 3, 2012

“A group of six full-time and six adjunct HCC psychology faculty members participated in the adaptation of FWK’s Introduction to Psychology textbook.

The adaptation was necessary in order to lower the reading level to one that the faculty felt was appropriate for HCC students (12th grade) and to incorporate additional learning objectives and key terms that they had identified as being essential to the course.

Additional video links, relevant examples, and cross-cultural information were also added to the text.”

Source: One college’s use of an open psychology textbook, John Hilton III, Carol Laman, Open Learning:

The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Volume 27, Issue 3, 2012

Spring 2011, Traditional

Textbook (n = ~370

students)

Fall 2012, open Textbook

(n = ~370 students)

GPA 1.6 2.0

Withdrawl Rate 14% 7.1%

Department Final

Exam

67.6% 71.1%

Table 1. Aggregated data, spring 2011 (traditional text) versus fall 2011 free text:

multiple campuses and instructors.

The Project

open.bccampus.ca

The Project

Don’t reinvent it by Andrea Hernandez released under CC-BY-NC-SA and based on Wheel by Pauline Mak released

under CC-BY license

Faculty Reviews ($250)

291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

Reviews > Adaptations

My Adventures Adapting a Chemistry Textbook291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

New Creations

OTsummit.bccampus.ca

Sprints

Sprints

2 Days17 Psych Faculty6 Institutions850 Questions

Sprints

Results

Year Faculty Sections Students Savings

2013 12 18 553 $55,300 - $84,560

2014 42 78 2630 $263,000 - $367,896

2015 (Jan-April)

33 73 2224 $222,400 - $252,285

Total 87 169 5407 $540,700 - $713,921

open.bccampus.ca