Comparing a Faculty-Created OER and Commercial Textbook: Student Outcomes and Perceptions

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Comparing a Faculty-Created OER and Commercial Textbook: Student Outcomes and Perceptions
Language: English
Authors: Jennifer Lantrip (ORCID 0000-0002-1600-1572), Meagan Button (ORCID 0009-0004-7623-9277)
Source: Open Praxis. 2025 17(3):561-578.
Availability: International Council for Open and Distance Education. Lilleakerveien 23, 0283 Oslo, Norway. Tel: +47-22-06-26-30; Fax: +47-22-06-26-31; e-mail: icde@icde.org; Web site: https://openpraxis.org/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 18
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Two Year Colleges
Descriptors: Textbooks, Open Educational Resources, Community College Students, College Faculty, Teacher Developed Materials, Student Attitudes, Grades (Scholastic), Withdrawal (Education), Enrollment, Business Education, Outcomes of Education, Comparative Analysis
ISSN: 1369-9997
2304-070X
Abstract: This research study compares student outcomes and perceptions in two in-person sections of the same community college business law course: one with the previously used commercial textbook and the other with an open textbook created by the faculty specifically for the course outcomes. The faculty was motivated to create the open textbook to make the course more accessible to students by reducing the course materials cost, by creating the textbook with understandable content for the students, updated examples, and case studies that could be easily updated in the future, and by providing the textbook in multiple formats, including both digital and print, to meet their students' diverse learning and access needs. Students from both sections were surveyed at the end of the term to learn of their perceptions of the textbooks. Withdrawal rates, course grades, and enrollment intensity the following term were compared for the two sections while accounting for student-level variables including prior GPA, prior college experience, and enrollment intensity that term. There was no significant difference between the two sections in terms of final grades, withdrawals, or enrollment intensity the following term. Neither was there a significant difference in how students rated the usefulness of their textbook, but students in the open textbook section rated their textbook significantly higher in quality than students in the commercial textbook section.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1481273
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:This research study compares student outcomes and perceptions in two in-person sections of the same community college business law course: one with the previously used commercial textbook and the other with an open textbook created by the faculty specifically for the course outcomes. The faculty was motivated to create the open textbook to make the course more accessible to students by reducing the course materials cost, by creating the textbook with understandable content for the students, updated examples, and case studies that could be easily updated in the future, and by providing the textbook in multiple formats, including both digital and print, to meet their students' diverse learning and access needs. Students from both sections were surveyed at the end of the term to learn of their perceptions of the textbooks. Withdrawal rates, course grades, and enrollment intensity the following term were compared for the two sections while accounting for student-level variables including prior GPA, prior college experience, and enrollment intensity that term. There was no significant difference between the two sections in terms of final grades, withdrawals, or enrollment intensity the following term. Neither was there a significant difference in how students rated the usefulness of their textbook, but students in the open textbook section rated their textbook significantly higher in quality than students in the commercial textbook section.
ISSN:1369-9997
2304-070X