Contributed by Yang Wu, 2021 Contributing Editor

OER began as textbooks, and is an effort by faculty, librarians and other members of the academic community to increase student access to required readings at a time of fast rising textbook prices. While much of the attention by the OER community has been focused in recent years on reducing student textbook costs through the development of openly licensed works, an issue that has often been ignored is whether students are actually using them. Along with the dramatic increase in textbook costs in the last two decades there has been a phenomenon that is well studied but often overlooked by OER advocates, a decline in student completion of assigned textbook readings. Studies since 2000 (Sikorski et al., 2002; Clump, Bauer & Bradley, 2004; Podolefsky & Finkelstein, 2006; Berry et al., 2011; Hoeft, 2012; Starcher & Profitt, 2013; Vazquez, 2016) have shown that as many as 80% of undergraduate students, from across a variety of disciplines do not read their textbooks regularly. 

Does this larger behavior by students transfer to OER textbooks? Studies on OER effectiveness have not conclusively shown that OER results in more use of textbooks by students, or more students using textbooks. In fact, some studies (Kersey, 2019, 257) have shown that students generally do not like textbook reading, even if their textbook is free. In 2019 and 2020, I conducted a survey of over 1,200 students from a dozen undergraduate courses taught using OER at my institution of Clemson University, a public research university in South Carolina,  and found a similar sentiment. The courses were on STEM and non-STEM subjects and are both upper and lower levels. Only a third to 40% of the students surveyed regularly use the textbook and complete most readings, despite these materials being free. While studies on student textbook reading in the 2000s and 2010s have noted that most students still viewed reading textbooks as important to receiving a good grade in courses (Elias, 2005, 197; Berry et al., 2010, 34), even if they do not regularly read, this is not necessarily the case now. Through my survey and interactions with students in my role as an OER librarian I have encountered many who say they simply purchase textbooks because their instructors tell them to and doubt the value of using these resources. While they appreciated cost saving from OER textbooks, many shared the opinion that textbooks were not worth using and that they could do well in courses simply by following the instructor’s lectures and slides. 

How could the larger OER community encourage students to use textbooks, and what can they do to ensure that students benefit from OER textbook reading? Several questions need more extensive exploration. While engaging students to read textbooks has been an issue that has preoccupied instructors for a long time, to what extent has student textbook use been affected by the high costs of textbooks? Has the inability to afford textbooks led students to choose alternative methods of studying that are less reliant on textbooks? If this is the case are students who use textbooks the least those that are least able to afford them? A number of studies in the 2010s have argued that student textbook reading is something that needs to be cultivated by instructors, through strong emphasis on completing required readings by instructors in their course syllabus, having instructors integrating content from textbooks into lectures, assignments and exams and through activities, both in class and out of class that encourage and incentivize students to read (Starcher & Profitt, 402-403). This can include giving students in-class quizzes that refresh their knowledge of readings, using flipped classroom and in cooperative learning activities in class that require students to have a good understanding of reading content in order to take part, and using surveys and reading logs to monitor student reading habits and their understanding of the readings (Heiner, Banet & Wieman, 2014, 992-995; Kerr & Frese, 2017, 29-30). However, through my nearly three years of work on supporting Clemson faculty in integrating OER resources into their teaching I have noticed several trends. These include many faculty members making textbooks and using them optional for students, giving students the option of using textbooks or alternative resources, such as videos to learn outside of class and describing textbook knowledge as supplementary, designed to broaden student perspectives on a course subject rather than required for assignments and exams in their syllabus. 

These practices began with traditional textbooks and were transferred by faculty to teaching using OER. How widespread these sentiments are among faculty needs further study. Did faculty use the practices described above in response to high textbook prices, accommodating students who could not afford textbooks? Are the practices reflective of a perception by faculty that textbooks do not fit the learning styles of students? Or have instructors done so out of a realization that making an effort to get students to use textbooks is too difficult given their teaching load and the low reading comprehension skills of some students? All these issues need further study by advocates of OER to ensure that textbooks can be better used by students and instructors. 

If many students lack skills to read and effectively use textbooks, could open pedagogy, or Open Educational Practices, which engage students to collectively write and edit textbooks, as well as other writings for the public be used as a way to improve their reading skills? Could the practice of open textbook writing, in which students write a textbook on their class subject be used in lower level undergraduate courses to give students a better understanding of the structure of textbooks and strategies for reading them? The OER community should also consider integrating exercises on textbook reading into OER textbooks and ancillary materials for them. If student use of OER textbooks is low, advocates on OER should perhaps also consider if they should still be a focus in OER development, and if alternative materials that are better suited to student learning styles should be developed instead. In addition, is reading textbooks, a time consuming process for students, necessarily the best solution for improving student academic performance in the current circumstance? I am currently engaged in research on this larger topic and will present more findings on it through future publications and research. 

Works Cited

Berry, T., Cook, L., Hill, N., & Stevens, K. (2011). An exploratory analysis of textbook usage and study habits: Misperceptions and barriers to success. College Teaching, 59(1), 31-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2010.509376

Clump, M. A., Bauer, H., & Bradley, C. (2004). The extent to which psychology students read textbooks: A multiple class analysis of reading across the psychology curriculum. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 31(3), 227-232.

Elias, R. Z. (2005). Students’ approaches to study in introductory accounting courses. Journal of Education for Business, 80(4), 194-199. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.80.4.194-199

Heiner, C. E., Banet, A. I., & Wieman, C. (2014). Preparing students for class: How to get 80% of students reading the textbook before class. American Journal of Physics, 82(10), 989-996. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4895008

Hoeft, M. E. (2012). Why university students don’t read: What professors can do to increase compliance. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(2), 1-17 https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2012.060212

Kerr, M. M., & Frese, K. M. (2017). Reading to learn or learning to read? engaging college students in course readings. College Teaching, 65(1), 28-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2016.1222577

Kersey, S. (2019). Student perceptions on teaching and learning using open educational resources in college calculus. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 38(3), 249-265.

Podolefsky, N., & Finkelstein, N. (2006). The perceived value of college physics textbooks: Students and instructors may not see eye to eye. The Physics Teacher, 44(6), 338-342. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.2336132

 Sikorski, J. F., Rich, K., Saville, B. K., Buskist, W., Drogan, O., & Davis, S. F. (2002). Student use of introductory texts: Comparative survey findings from two universities. Teaching of Psychology, 29(4), 312–313. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328023TOP2904_13

Starcher, K., & Proffitt, D. (2011). Encouraging students to read: What professors are (and aren’t) doing about it. International Journal on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 23(3), 396-407.
Vazquez. (2016, November 16). The Problem is Not THIS Textbook: The Problem is THE Textbook Itself [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5HgixVwQq0

Dr. Yang Wu is the Contributing Blog Editor of OER & Beyond and the Principal Investigator of the CO-DREAM OER project.

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