A STUDY OF FOUR TEXTBOOK DISTRIBUTION MODELSformamente.guideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012_3_4... · State College completed a two-year comparative study of four textbook

A STUDY OF FOUR TEXTBOOK DISTRIBUTION MODELS 229Highlight

A STUDY OF FOUR TEXTBOOK DISTRIBUTION MODELS

Benjamin Graydon, Blake Urbach-Buholz, Cheryl Kohen, Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA

Key Takeaways

• Inpreparation forcampus-widee-textadoption,DaytonaStateCollegecompletedatwo-yearcomparativestudyoffour textbook distribution models: print purchase, printrental,e-textrental,ande-textrentalwithe-readerdevice.

• Though faculty and administrators may embrace e-texts,studentsoftenprefertorentprintedtextbooks.

• Institutions seeking to implement campus-wide e-textadoptionshouldbepreparedtoaddressspecificconcerns,including faculty choice, infrastructure needs, studenttechnologicalskills,costsavings,andinstructionaladaptation.

Textbooks too often hinder rather than help students becauseof theirprohibitivelyexpensiveprices.Collegesanduniversitiesfacing intense pressure to lower education expenses whileincreasingaccess,retention,andachievementnowfindaddressingthe textbook problemmore andmore urgent. Used textbooksales have grown dramatically over the past 15 years, due inpart totheriseofonlineretailerssuchasHalf.comandChegg.Brick-and-mortar college bookstore operators like Follett andBarnes &Noble have introduced textbook rental programs. In

©BenjaminGraydon,BlakeUrbach-Buholz,Cheryl

Kohen(2011).Articlefirstpublishedin“EDUCAUSEreviewonline”,December

2011,asopenaccessarticle,publishedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommons

AttributionLicense.http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/study-four-textbook-

distribution-models

AllURLscheckedDecember2012

Which manual distribution model would you choose among,thepurchaseofprintedbooks,therentingofprintedbooks,therentingoftextsinelectronicformatandtherentingoftextsinelectronicformatwiththeirrespectivereadingdevices?The question is crucial for every university that today mustdecidewhethertomovetoe-books,keeppaperbooksorpreferintermediaryandgradualsolutions.DaytonaStateCollege’spilotproject which investigated it for two years (2009-2011) triedto answer it through the different experiences, reactions andopinionsofstudentsanduniversitystaff inrelationtothe fourproposedmodels.

230 FORMAMENTE - Anno VII Numero 3-4/2012

2010 a key provision of the Higher EducationOpportunity Actof 2008 addressing textbook adoptions took effect, giving used-bookretailersandrentalprogramsaboost.AsBarbaraRomzek,interim vice provost for academic affairs at the University ofKansas,explained,studentsmustnowbeinformedatthetimeofenrollmentwhattextbooksandothermaterialswillbeusedintheirupcomingcourses1.Many colleges and universities have piloted digital solutions tomaketextbooksmoreaffordableandaccessible,includingcourse-andprogram-specificadoptionofe-textsande-readersthatofferstudentssubstantialfinancialsavingsandweb-enhanced,up-to-datecoursematerials.Butrarelyhavethesepilotsbeentriedatopen-access, community needs–focused institutions. In 2009, DaytonaStateCollege (DSC)setout tobecomethe first such institutiontopilotdigitaltextbooksolutions2andthenscalebestpracticestocreatecampus-widee-textadoption3.Suchachangecouldleadtotheendofthetextbookasweknowit4.

This article describesDSC’s two-year pilot project, a study thatcompared the experiences of students and faculty using fourdifferenttextbookdistributionmodels:printpurchase,printrental,e-textrental,ande-textrentalwithe-readerdevice.Thestudyhashelpedguide thecollege’splans to“goe-text” and suggests thatdoingsosuccessfullydependsonthefollowing:

•Offeringfacultytheoptiontoteachwithe-textsratherthanrequiringthemtodoso;

• Ensuring that infrastructure is adequate to meet greatlyincreaseddemands;

• Remedying the technological skill deficits inherent in anopen-accessstudentpopulation;

•Guaranteeing students cost savings large enough tocompensatefortheirinitialdiscomfortandfrustrationwiththetechnology;

• Providing resources and support for faculty adapting theirinstructiontofitnewtechnologies.

1.BarbaraRomzek,interimviceprovostforacademicaffairsattheUniversityofKansas,inanonlinememototheKUcommunity,“NewFederalLawRequiringTimelyTextbookInformationtoStudents”(http://www.provost.ku.edu/memos/20100215February15,2010).

2.SeetheDaytonaStateCollegeVisionstatementaboute-textbookadoption(http://www.daytonastate.edu/etext/vision.html).

3.SteveKolowich,The All E-Book Diet,InsideHigherEd,September3,2010(http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/09/03/daytona).

4.JeffreyR.Young,To Save Students Money, College May Force a Switch to E-Textbooks,ChronicleofHigherEducation,October24,2010(http://chronicle.com/article/The-End-of-the-Textbook-as-We/125044/).


Project Description

In July2009,DaytonaStateCollegeapplied foragrant fromtheU.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement ofPostsecondaryEducation(FIPSE)tosupportacomparativestudyofdifferenttextbookdistributionmodels.

DSC’s institutional and student profiles are quite different fromthoseofmostcollegesanduniversitiesthathavecompletedsimilarstudies.Thecollege,whichhasanopenadmissionspolicy,servesmorethan30,000studentsonlineandatsixphysicalcampusesinatwo-countydistrict(VolusiaandFlagler)ineastcentralFlorida.Itsmissionistoprovideaccesstoaqualityeducationforstudentswithawiderangeofpersonal,professional,andacademicbackgrounds.Nostudentisturnedaway,thoughmanyarerequiredtocompletedevelopmentalcoursesbeforemovingontocollegecreditcourses.

Howmight textbook innovations fare among studentswith suchdisparateeducationalgoalsandlevelsofattainment?InNovember2009ourProject to EvaluateTextbookRentalModels5 receiveda two-year FIPSE grant for $274,713 to address this importantquestion. We compared the traditional model of studentspurchasingprint textbookswith several alternatives:print rental;co-op print rental, organized by the bachelor of applied science(BAS) program’s student club; e-text rental; and netbook rental(e-textrentalwith freeuseofanetbookcomputer).BystudyingtheimpactofthesealternativemodelsinseveralsectionsofEnglishand economics courses offered at the college’s main campus inDaytonaBeach,weintendedtogatherdatameasuringthemodels’influenceonfinancialandnonfinancialoutcomes,including:

•Academicperformance• Retention• Studentandfacultypreferences

DSC Students: Diverse and Often on the Margin

At the time we received the FIPSE grant, print textbook rentalprogramswerenotnew,andsomeinstitutionshadpilotedprograms

5.SeetheDaytonaStateCollegestatementon

textbookgrants(http://www.daytonastate.edu/etext/

textbookgrant/index.html).


involving widespread adoption of e-texts or requirements thatstudentsborroworbuyanelectronicdeviceforregularclassroomuse. But such pilot programs had been implemented almostexclusivelyatprivate,research-focused,orendowment-supporteduniversitieswith residential campuses and traditional-age,mostlyfull-timeundergraduates.Forexample,institutionsparticipatinginafall2009pilotproject6usingAmazon’sKindlee-readerincludedPrinceton University7, Arizona State University8, the UniversityofVirginia9,CaseWesternUniversity10,ReedCollege11,andPaceUniversity12.AtDSC,no studenthousing is availablebecause all students arecommuters.Many students enroll in courses determined to finda place for their college education among significant preexistingcommitments, likeworking full- or part-time jobs and caring forchildren and other family members. Students’ academic work isfrequentlyinterruptedbyachangeinjobstatus.

DSC Students’ Job InsecurityIn July 2011, according to the Florida Department ofEconomic Opportunity the unemployment rate in PalmCoast, the biggest city in Flagler County, stood at 14.7percent,downfrom15.5percentthepreviousJulybutstillthehighestunemploymentrateinFlorida.

Forthesestudents,vocationalandworkforcecertificateprogramsare nearly as attractive as a two-year associate of arts transferdegree. Preferences for these programs, combined with DSCstudents’ other characteristics, allowed us to evaluate textbookrental models’ impact on a student demographic previouslyunrepresentedinstudiesofthiskind.

DSC Students, 2010–2011 • 46percentfull-time• 54percentpart-time• 31percentmajorwageearnersinhousehold• 4,226consideredlowincome• 1,536earnedacertificatethepreviousyear• 1,941earnedanAA

6.DouglasMacMillan,Amazon’s Kindle Is Off to College,BloombergBusinessweek,May4,2009(http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2009/tc2009054_280910.htm)

7.CassCliatt,Kindle Pilot Results Highlight the Possibilities for Paper Reduction,NewsatPrinceton,February22,2010(http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/64/38E35/)

8.ArizonaStateUniversity,Amazon’s Kindle Heads to ASU Classrooms,ASUNews[now],May6,2009(https://asunews.asu.edu/20090506_kindle)

9.UniversityofVirginia,Darden to Test Amazon’s Kindle DX,UVaToday,May6,2009(http://news.virginia.edu/node/8566?id=8566)

10.CaseWesternReserveUniversity,Case Western Reserve University Students to Pilot Latest Addition to Amazon Family of Wireless Reading Devices,NewsCenter,May6,2009(http://blog.case.edu/case-news/2009/05/06/kindledx)

11.ReedCollege,ComputingandInformationServices,Amazon Kindle DX Pilot Project Overview,2009(http://www.reed.edu/cis/about/kindle_pilot/index.html)

12.PaceUniversity,Kindle Pilot Program at Pace University,YouTubevideo,October30,2009(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0ik9RmLetc)


Getting Started

Getting startedwith the textbook rental programwasnot easy.From the beginning it was clear that significant project designchanges—toboth thecoursesande-readerdeviceselected—wereneeded.Materials forMAC1140 (Pre-Calculus),oneof thetwocoursesdesignatedforthestudy,hadbeentooradicallyalteredbythedepartment’sfacultytousewiththepublisher’sunmodifiedtext,whichthestudyrequired.Accordingly,sectionsofECO2013(PrinciplesofMacroEconomics)weresubstitutedforMAC1140.Materials for ENC1102 (Literature andComposition), the othercoursedesignatedforthestudy,werelikewiseunsuitablebecauseno publisher had yet obtained sufficient electronic rights toliteraryworks to create a comprehensive anthologyof readings.Theprojectteam’ssolutionwastosubstituteENC1101(CollegeComposition), a general-education coursewhich, like ECO2013,draws a representative cross-section of the college’s diversestudentbody.Finally,theelectronicdeviceoriginallydesignatedforstudyinsomecourse sections was Amazon’s Kindle e-reader. Although otherinstitutions had run or planned pilot programswith this device,itwasdeemedimpracticalforusewiththespecifictextbooksandcourses included in our study. Several e-readers that have sincebecome popular, like Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Samsung’sGalaxy Tab, were not yet available when our study began in2009.Consequently,theprojectteamelectedtosubstituteaDellnetbookcomputer(specifically,theInspironMini) fortheKindle,whichwouldbothallowstudentsfullaccesstoe-textmaterialsandprovidedocumentcreation tools throughMicrosoftOffice2007.Table 1 summarizes the changes to the project forced by theseconditions.


Original Choice Replacement Reason

MAC1140(Pre-Calculus)

ECO2013(Principles

ofMacroEconomics)

Pre-calculuscourse

contentwastoo

highlycustomized.

ENC1102(LiteratureandComposition)

ENC1101(College

Composition)

Noliterature

anthologieswere

availablease-texts.

AmazonKindle

Netbook Coursetextbooks

werenotpublished

inKindleformat.

In addition tomaking thesechanges, the teamaddressed severallogisticalissuesinitsearlymeetings:

•Coursesectionsinvolvedinthestudyhadnotbeenlabeledduringregistrationforthespringsemester;studentsenrolledin thosesectionswereadvisedof their involvement in thestudytopreventthepurchaseofunneededcoursematerials.

•Department chairs agreed to accommodate late sectionswitchesbystudentsunwillingtoparticipateinthestudy.

•A loaner agreement form was drafted for use in thenetbook rental sections to communicate to students theirresponsibilitiesandliabilitiesandensureahighcollectionrateofthedevicesattheendofeachterm.

Performing the Experiment

Implementationofthestudybeganduringthespring2010semester,with four sections each of ENC1101 and ECO2013. Over theproject’sfoursemesters,12facultymembersandmorethan1,250studentsparticipatedinatleastonepilotsection.Studentsincontrolsectionspurchasedaprintedbookfromtheirsourceofchoice,whilestudentsintheprintrentalsectionsgottheirtextbookeitherfromthecirculationdeskinthecampuslibraryorfromtheBASClubintheco-opmodel.Inthee-textrentalsections,studentspurchasedanaccesscodeatthecollegebookstoreandthenregisteredonlineforaccess to thee-text.Students in thenetbookrental sectionsregisteredrentede-textsonlineandborrowedaDellnetbookfrom

Table1.ProjectDesignChanges


thecollege’s ITstaff. (Beforedistributingthenetbooks,staffgavea short presentation on the device’s specifications and features,includingthee-text’shighlightingandannotatingtools.)

Asthestudyproceeded,severalchallengesarose.

Challenge #1: Online Access

DSC’sDaytonaBeachcampushasawirelessnetworkfromwhichstudentsine-textrentalandnetbookrentalsectionscouldaccesscoursematerialsduringclass.Whenwirelessaccesspointsintheseclassroomsbecameoverloaded,techniciansworkedtoboostsignalstrength to accommodate full classes. Students nevertheless haddifficultyaccessingtheire-textsattimesduetotechnicalissueswithpublishers’sites.

Got E-Text? Get E-Reader Onefrustratedfacultymemberobserved:“Teaching with the e-text [without an e-reader] makes collaborative exercises in which individual students would need to be looking at different pages in the text very difficult. Students were unable to refresh their memory of the reading in the moments just before class began. Each time we discussed the reading, we had to devote at least a few minutes to simply summarizing it and recalling the salient features”.

Response:Publishers attempted tomake access faster andmoreconsistent. Inaddition,studentswereencouragedtodownloadacopyofthee-textontheirharddrivesifthetextwasavailableasaPDF.Instructorsine-textrentalsectionsfrequentlyprojectedthee-textonascreenforallstudentstoview.

Challenge #2: Lack of Basic Computing Skills

Thoughsomestudentseasilynavigatede-text interfacesand fullyutilizeddigitaltools,othersstruggledwithbasice-textfunctionalitylikecreatingauseraccount,enteringaccesscodes,locatingreadings,creatingbookmarks,usinghighlightingtools,andwritingnotes.


Back to Basics? Afterteachingwithane-text,onefacultymemberconcluded,“Weneedtogetmorestudentsuptospeedtechnology-wise— to spend more time explaining simple tech concepts.”Anothernoticeda“hugelearningcurveforsomestudents,especially those older students or students withoutmuch[previous]opportunitytousetechnology”.

Response:Several facultymembersdecided to take the leadandpresenttheirstudentswithadetailed in-classtutorialonhowtoaccessthee-textanduseitsfeatures.

Challenge #3: Responsibility for Technical Instruction

Despite initial presentations from faculty, IT personnel, andpublisher representatives (who were invited to visit the e-textrentalandnetbookrentalsections),afewstudentsineachsectionrequiredongoing instruction inhowtouseelectronicresources.Faculty struggled to determine when and how this instructionshouldbeprovided.

Response:Somefacultymemberscreatedanddistributeda“cheatsheet”tostudentswithsimplifiedlog-ininstructionsandshortcutsfore-texttoolsandfeatures.Additionally,e-textaccessinstructionswerepostedoncoursehomepageswithin thecollege’s learningmanagement system, and students were sometimes referred topublishers’technicalsupportservices.

Challenge #4: Logistics of Text Distribution and Collection

Coordinating the distribution of purchased print books, rentedprintbooks,rentede-texts,andloanednetbookcomputersproveddifficult for project teammembers,especiallyearly in thestudy.Studentssometimeshadproblemsobtainingtheappropriatetexts,aswell.

My Textbook Is Where? Whereas traditionally most students have obtained theirbooks fromasingle,simplevisittothecampusbookstore,studentsinthestudyhadtointeractwiththecampuslibrary,publisher websites, and the IT department, andmany had


todoso inaway that accommodated their statusasdualenrollmentstudentsorfinancialaidrecipients.

Response:Textdistributionandcollectionimprovedasthestudyprogressed,despitetheabsenceofamajorresponsetothechallenge.Faculty made small changes, such as including an announcementabout the date of netbook collection on the schedules in theircoursesyllabi.Inaddition,latenetbookreturns,whichwereinitiallycoordinatedbyITpersonnel(availableonlyduringbusinesshours),wereeventuallycoordinatedbycampussafetyofficers(available24hours)tobetteraccommodatestudents’schedules.

Challenge #5: Adapting Instruction

Facultyconsideredwhetherandtowhatdegreedifferenttextbookdistribution models should drive their instructional practices.Facultyteachingprintrentalsectionsfoundthattheyadaptedtheirteachingplansandmethodsverylittle.Asidefromaskingstudentsnottowriteorhighlight intheirbooks(manystudents, fearingalowbuy-backprice,alreadyrefrained),nothingmuchchanged.

Response: Faculty teaching e-text rental and netbook rentalsectionsconfrontedarangeofquestionsrelatingtowhenandhowtheymightadaptclassroompracticestobetterfitthetechnologiesavailabletostudents:

•Whatroleshoulde-textsande-readersplayintheclassroom—inlectures,discussions,andcollaborativeexercises?

• Should these technologies simply be available to studentswhen completing their usual assignments? Or shouldassignmentsberedesignedinaccordancewiththeskillsthesetechnologiesdevelopandthetoolstheyinclude?

•Howmight e-texts ande-readersmotivate students to gobeyondmerereading?

•Howmighttheyhelpcreateandstrengthenstudentlearningcommunities?

•Coulde-textsande-readersserveeffectivelyasgatewaystoothertechnologicaltoolssuchasclickers13andbackchannels14,amongothers?

13.ScottJaschik,Clicker U,InsideHigherEd,

November3,2008(http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/11/03/clicker)

14.HansAagard,KyleBowen,andLarisaOlesova,Hotseat:

Opening the Backchannel in Large Lectures,EDUCAUSEQuarterly,Vol.33,No.3,

2010(http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/hotseat-

opening-backchannel-large-lectures)


Though faculty found it difficult to answer these questionsconclusively, theirresponseshelpedthembetterunderstandthata change in textbookdistributioncoulddramatically affect issuesrangingfromcoursedesignandmajorlearningoutcomestospecificassignmentsandclassroomexercises.

Evaluation Methods

TomeetbothFIPSErequirementsandlocalneeds,weusedmultipledata sources to evaluate the models’ impact on participatingstudentsandfaculty:

•Online surveys focused on usability, affordability, model-specificpreferences,andaptitudeforlearning.

• Focus groupssolicitedcandidfeedbackfromstudentsontheadvantages,disadvantages,andimplicationsofeachmodel.

• Stakeholder interviews conductedvia telephonewithprojectteammembers yielded insights into the administrative andtechnological challenges accompanying each model andhelpedidentifypotentialbarrierstoimplementation.

All evaluative instruments were approved by the college’sinstitutionalreviewboard(IRB).Participationwasstrictlyvoluntary,and no identifying information was collected from respondents.Studentselectingtoparticipateinafocusgroupwererequiredtosignaconsent form; facultymemberswhoagreedtoengage inastakeholderinterviewwereaskedtogiveverbalconsent.

What We Learned: Student Perspectives on Textbooks

Of327studentswhocompletedouronlinesurvey:

• 83 percent reported usually purchasing the requiredtextbooksfortheirclasses.

• 29percentadmittedtonotpurchasingarequiredtextbookatleastoncebecauseofitscost.

• 24percentblamedtextbookexpensesfortakingfewercredit


hoursthandesiredduringoneormoresemesters.• 15percentidentifiedtextbookexpensesasaninfluenceonchoiceofmajor.

• 59percentconfirmedthatthetypicalcollegetextbook(neworused)costsupwardof$74.

•No matter the textbook distribution model underconsideration, students overwhelmingly supported choice.Theyworried that a particularmodelwouldbe forcedonthem— either through class or activity fees— and theydisliked the idea of the college adopting a one-size-fits-allapproachtotextbookacquisition.

What We Learned: Students’ Technological Anxieties

Onelimitationofthisprojectwastheriskofstudentself-selectionintooroutoftherentalmodels.Specifically,studentsunfamiliaroruncomfortablewiththeuseoftechnologymighthavechosentooptoutofane-textornetbooksectioninfavorofonewithatraditionaltextbook format. In aneffort tocapture thisdata, studentswhowithdrewfromaproject-relatedsectionduringthefirsttwoweeksofthetermwereaskedtochoosethestatement(s)bestdescribingtheirconcerns.Resultsvaried,but insufficient technical skills andlackofanavailableprintedbookemergedastheleadingcausesforwithdrawal,assurveydataforECO2013inTable2indicate.

Reason Given Fall 2010Spring

2011

Ididnotwanttotakeacourseinwhichahardcopyofthe

requiredtextbookwasunavailable.

4 5

Ifounditinconvenienttoaccessmytextbookfroma

computer.

2 3

IdidnotfeelthatIhadthetechnicalabilitytoreador

referencemytextbookfromacomputer.

1 9

Ihadvisualdifficultiesreadingmytextbookfromacomputer

screen.

2 3

Idislikedbeingunabletomark-uporhighlightportionsofthe

textbook.

1 0

Idislikedbeingunabletoreferencemytextbookduringclass. 1 1

Table2.ReasonsforWithdrawingfromECO2013


What We Learned: Retention, Grades, and Course Completion

In addition,we gathered data on retention and grades, althoughit was simply a snapshot of students’ academic performance ina particular section of ENC1101 or ECO2013. Further, thesestudentswereenrolled in justonecourseofferinganalternativetothetraditionaltextbook,sowecouldnotconfidentlydeterminehowretentionandgradeswouldbeaffected ifoneof the rentalmodels were adopted college-wide. Given the limitations of theavailabledata,wehavethusfaronlydrawnanecdotalconclusionsabouttheproject’sinfluenceonnonfinancialstudentoutcomes.

PreliminarydatarevealthatprintrentalsectionsofENC1101(seeTable 3) and e-text rental sections of ECO2013 (see Table 4)producedthehighestcoursecompletionrates,butinferencesdrawnfromthedatawouldbebettersupportedbylookinglongitudinallyattheoverallcoursecompletionrateofstudents involved inthestudy.

ENC1101 Textbook Model Fall 2010 Spring 2010

Student

Count

Percentof

total

Student

Count

Percent

oftotal

PrintRental 36 77% 24 57%

E-text 32 65% 20 53%

Netbook 28 60% 22 51%

Traditional 34 67% 19 46%

*CompletionisdefinedhereasearningatleastaDinthecourse

Table3.ENC1101CompletionRateby*TextbookDistributionModel


ENC1101 Textbook Model Fall 2010 Spring 2010

Student

Count

Percentof

total

Student

Count

Percent

oftotal

PrintRental 56 81% 66 83%

E-text 51 89% 64 82%

Netbook 27 75% 54 73%

Traditional 51 89% 45 75%

*CompletionisdefinedhereasearningatleastaDinthecourse

What We Learned: Individual Models

Participantsintheprintrentalmodelappreciatedthesimplicitywithwhichthelibraryrentedandcollectedtextbooks.Theywerepleasedtosecureatextbookfor$30orless,astherentalfeewasloweredto $15midway through the study to retain student participantswhowantedtotakeadvantageoftheon-campusbookstore’snewrentalprogram.Figure1showsstudentperceptionsofthismodel.

Table4.ECO2013CompletionRate*by

TextbookDistributionModel


Likes: Dislikes: Challenges:

PrintRental •Costsavings

•Securing the book

through the library

was easier and

quickerthangoingto

thebookstore

•No need to worry

about“buybacks”at

theendoftheterm

•The instructor and

students were all

referencingthesame

editionofthebook

•Guarantee that

books would be

available

•Will not have the

book as a reference

forsubsequentterms

•Concerns about

quality of previously

rentedbooks

•Could not write in

our highlight the

pages

•A used copy of

the book may be

availableforpurchase

from an online site

for a fraction of the

rentalfee

Inaddition,theprintrentalmodelseemedtohaveuniversalappealamong participating faculty, who liked the fact that nearly everystudenthad a textbook inhand.One instructor commented, “Itwas great thatmy students pickedup the bookon the first dayofclass.Sooftentheydeferpurchasingthebookforavarietyofreasons,andthishindersthelessonplansIhavedevised.”

Studentsparticipating in theBASClubco-opprint rentalmodel,whopaid$25per textbook, suggested that theysaved inexcessof$75foreachbookrented.Regardingretentionandcompletion,studyparticipantssaid:

“I will be graduating one semester early, and it’s partlybecauseofthebooksbeinglessexpensiveandallowingmetotakeonemoreclasseachsemester.”(Student)“I feel that I can takemore classeswhen I don’t have tospendhalfthecostofaclassforabook.”(Student)“Students can get through an entire bachelor’s degreeprogramwithatotaloutlayof$350orlessforrentingbooks,whilebuyingbookswouldlikelycost$2,000ormore.”(Faculty)

Figure1.StudentPerceptionofthePrintRentalModel


Figure2showsstudentresponsestoaBASClubsurveyabouttherelationshipbetweentextbookcostanddegreecompletion.

5%0%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

StronglyAgree

StronglyDisagree

Agree

Without the opportunity to rent my textbooks for $25,the financial burden of attending college might prevent me from

finishing my degree.

Disagree

Studentreactions to thee-text rentalmodel, shown inFigure3,were almost certainly affected by the (unexpected) fact that asizablecostsavingswasnotrealizedacrosstheboard.

Figure2.BASClubStudentSurveyQuestion:Degree

Completion(n=88)



E-text

Rental

•Costsavings

•Pagefinderfeature

•G l o s s a r y / i n d e x

feature

•Hyperlinkfeature

•Portability

•No possibility of

losing or forgetting

thebook

•E n v i r o n m e n t a l

impact

•Bookwasdividedby

section,notchapter

•Hadtoscrollpageby

pageeachoneloaded

individually

•Pages had to be

printedindividually

•Unable to copy and

paste

•Couldnotzoominto

expandanitem

•Unable to reference

thebookduringclass

•Reading from a

computerscreenwas

fatiguing

•Timeconsuming

•Entirely dependent

on a good Internet

conncetion

•Classroom was ill-

equipped to handle

the students’ Wi-Fi

needs

•Difficult to access

the book at the on-

campuscomputerlab

•Unavailable on a

web-enabled cell

phone

•Off campusaccess is

impractical if you do

not have a personal

computer

Figures4and5showthecostofthetextbyrentalmodelcomparedtothetraditionaltextbookpurchasemodelforthetwocoursesinthestudy.Duringthreeoftheproject’s foursemesters,studentsenrolledinsomeofthee-textpilotsectionspaidonly$1lessforrentalof theire-texts than studentswhoboughtaprintedbookduetopublisherpricingdecisions.Thesestudentswerealsounabletorecoupaportionofexpensesbysellingthetextbooksbacktotheon-campusbookstorewhenthecourseended,whichincreasedtheirdisappointment.

Figure3.StudentPerceptionofE-TextRentalModel


$10$0

$20

$30

$40

$50

$60

$70

$80

$90

$100

Spring 2010 Spring 2011Summer 2010 Fall 2010

traditionalE-textPrint rental

Spring 2010 Spring 2011Summer 2010 Fall 2010

traditionalE-textPrint rental

$20$0

$40

$60

$80

$100

$120

$140

$160

$180

Figure4.CostofTextbyRentalModelforENC1101ComparedtoTraditional

TextbookPurchase

Figure5.CostofTextbyRentalModelforECO2013ComparedtoTraditional

TextbookPurchase


Thearticulatedbenefitsofthee-textrentalmodelincluded:

•Costsavings(thoughvariableandsometimesverysmall)• Portability•Keywordsearchfeatures• Positiveenvironmentalimpact

Students indicated theywantedmore interactive components inthee-text.Althoughtheycomplainedthatreadingfromacomputerscreenwasfatiguing,theyalsonotedthedesirabilityofhavingthee-textaccessibleonaweb-enabledcellphone.

Students with limited computer literacy found the e-text moreintimidating than their more technologically savvy counterparts.Furthermore, the majority of students simply found the e-textinconvenient and time-consuming compared with a printedtextbook.Duringthefocusgroups,mostparticipantsacknowledgedthattheyhadnotreadasmuchoftheassignedmaterialinelectronicformastheywouldhaveinhardcopy.Onestudentmentionedthatshe liked“thesimplicityof justpickingthebookup,atanytime,anywhere,butnotwithalltheadditives.”

E-Texts and Millennials Although our expectation that older study participantswould be least receptive to this model held true, someyoungerstudentsexpressedasimilardegreeofdiscontent.Theycommentedonthe“hiddencostsofthee-text,”whichincluded computer access, web access, and (sometimes)printing, and they noticed the digital divide between“disadvantaged”studentswhosehomeenvironmentwasnot“resourcerich”and“advantaged”studentswithconvenient,reliable, around-the-clockweb access. Finding the time tostudywasnotenough;studentsalsoneededtobeintherightlocation.


Whilewelloverhalfofthestudentsexpresseddissatisfactionwiththee-textmodel(seeFigures6and7),themajorityofparticipantsconfirmed that they would be amenable to using an e-text if itmeantobtainingtheirtextsforaround$35.Theoneexceptionwasformathematicscourses.Nearlyallparticipantsnotedthatusingane-textforthissubjectwasnotanoption;theywouldpaymoreforaprintedtext inwhichtheycouldsolvemathproblemsbyhand.Students simply couldnot imaginee-text features and tools thatwould allow them to work mathematics problems with greaterspeed, efficiency, and convenience than old-fashioned paper andpencil15.

5%0%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

StronglyAgree

StronglyDisagree

Agree

I enjoyed reading and referencing my textbook from acomputer screen in place of a hard copy.

Disagree

15.JohnK.Waters,E-Textbooks: 4 Keys to

Going All-Digital,CampusTechnology,August3,2011(http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/08/03/e-

textbooks-4-keys-to-going-all-digital.aspx)

Figure6.E-TextStudentSurveyQuestion:ReadingElectronically(n=104)


5%0%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

StronglyAgree

StronglyDisagree

Agree

I was better able to prepare for my exams using the E-bookformat than I would have with a hard copy of the textbook.

Disagree

Withregardtostudents’participationlevels,facultygenerallyfeltthatthee-textshadadampeningeffect.Asoneinstructorremarked,“It was a detriment to learning thematerial. Many students didnot do the required reading; they simply found it inconvenient.”Students’ lackofenthusiasmdidnot lessen thee-text’spotentialbenefits,however.“Somestudentsareresistanttotechnology,butthisforcesthemtoexperiencethedigitalworld,”anotherinstructorsuggested. For faculty, e-texts offered new tools for engagingstudentsthroughdigitalnote-taking,asynchronousmessaging,andanalyticfeedbackthat,ifproveneffective,couldnotbeduplicatedinaprintrentalmodel.

Thenetbook’sportability,applications,andassociatedcostsavings(only in some instances once the e-text was factored in) werepositive features of this model from the students’ perspective,asshown inFigure8.However,manystudentspreferredusingapersonal laptop computer instead of the school-issued netbookbecause itoffereda largerscreenand full-sizekeyboard,amoreuser-friendlymouse,andalongerbatterylife.Whenconsideringa

Figure7.E-TextStudentSurveyQuestion:PreparingforExams(n=104)


futuredeviceforpurchase,studentsmentionedtheimportanceofbeingabletotogglebetweenlandscapeandportraitmode.


Netbook

Rental

•Costsavings

•Portability

•Nothavingtousethe

on-campuscomputer

lab

•Usedtheapplications

to complete

coursework

•Mouse pad is tricky/

verysensitive

•Screenistoosmall

•Shortbatterylife

•Did not display the

entirepageonscreen

•Applications were

a distraction when

doingwork

•Carrying the device

toandfro

•Beingaccountablefor

thedevide

•Could not access

book at work or

whilecommuting

•Timeconsuming

•Classroom was ill-

equipped to handle

the students’ Wi-Fi

needs

•Requires a wireless

Internetconnection

•Digitaldivide

•Not all students are

technologicallysavvy

•Liability

Although challenges of a technical nature frustrated both facultyandstudents(seeFigures9and10),participatinginstructorsnotedthat “students always had access to a word processor” and “itwasabenefittobeabletohavestudentswriteusingthenetbooksin class.”One instructororientedher coursedesign around theavailabletechnology,butthendevotedasubstantialamountoftimetotroubleshootingduringthefirstweeksofclass.Twointervieweesmentioned that they were forced to reconfigure course syllabiasaresultofspottywirelessaccess in theclassroom.Unreliableconnectivity, sometimes traceable to unresponsive publisherwebsites,wascitedasthebiggestobstacletointegratingtechnologywiththeclassroomexperience.

Figure8.StudentPerceptionsofNetbookRentalModel


5%0%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

StronglyAgree

StronglyDisagree

Agree

I found the administrative aspects of teaching a course with a netbook to be more cumbersome than teaching with a

traditional textbook.

Disagree

5%0%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

StronglyAgree

StronglyDisagree

Agree

The applications available on the netbook helped me completemy coursework.

Disagree

Figure9.NetbookFacultySurveyQuestion:AdministrativeIssues(n=10)

Figure10.NetbookStudentSurveyQuestion:DeviceApplications(n=26)


Going E-Text: Key Considerations

Though the resultsofour study includeddataonhowtextbookdistributionmodelsaffectedstudentretention,grades,andprogramcompletion,thesnapshotqualityofthisdatahasprovenlessusefultousindeterminingwhatwewillneedto“goe-text”college-widethanthefeedbackwereceivedthroughsurveysandfocusgroups.Ouranalysisofthesefindingshasledustoexpectthatmanystudents(andsomefaculty,too)willbereluctanttochange,butclearfinancialincentives as well as strong technical and instructional supportwill help ensure a successful conversion. The rapid evolution ofbothe-textsande-readerswillalsohelpsmooththewayforward.Indeed,wearestruckbythewaymanyofthedifficultiesoure-textrentalandnetbookrentalsectionsencounteredhavealreadybeensolvedbyongoingproductdevelopmentsinceourstudybeganin2009, fromtheenhancementanddiversificationofe-textstotheriseofthetabletcomputer.

At present, DSC is moving forward with campus-wide e-textadoption,followingaleadershiptransitionthatincludedwelcominganewpresidentinAugust2011.Thoughwehavenotsetatimelineforgoinge-text,throughourstudywehaveidentifiedalistofkeyconsiderationsourinstitutionandotherslikeitwillneedtoaddress:

•Avoid top-down mandates. Institutions that require allinstructors to simultaneously go e-text might be courtingdisaster.Aneffectiveapproachwillencourage,butnotrequire,e-textadoption.Shouldreluctant facultymembersobservedemonstrablebenefits intheclassroomsofcolleagueswhohaveswitched,theywillsoondecidetogoe-textaswell.

•Know your technological limits. Investing in infrastructureincreasesandupgradespriortogoinge-text—notduring,andnotonlyasneeded—willhelpcreatestudentandfacultybuy-inbydemonstratingacommitment to theprojectandpreventingtechnologyfailures.

•Help students see the advantages.Asizablenumberofstudentswho otherwise welcome technological expansion in theirlivesdrawthe lineattextbooks.Clearlycommunicatingtostudents how much money they will save and what neweducationalobjectivestheymightmeetwilllessenresistance

Figure2.BASClubStudentSurveyQuestion:Degree

Completion(n=88)


tothismajorchange.• Involve student support services. Faculty are never aninstitution’s only teachers. Collaborate with IT personnel,writing consultants, learning specialists, supplementalinstructors, on-campus tutors, and other support staff inthee-textselection,implementation,andtrainingprocesstoensurethattheassistancestudentsreceivecampus-wide isbothconsistentandvaluable.

• Provide instructional support and training for faculty.Ultimately,facultywillbearthebiggestresponsibilityformakinge-textadoption successful. The development and disseminationof best practices for teaching with e-texts should be fullysupportedatthecollege,program,anddepartmentlevels.

Implementing a new campus-wide solution to the problem ofprohibitivelyexpensivetextbooksisnotwithoutrisks.But,asourstudyhasshown,carefulplanningandpilotingcanhelpinstitutionsdevelop strategies for using e-texts to ensure that this enduringproblemtroublesstudentsmuchlessinthefuture.

Documents

A STUDY OF FOUR TEXTBOOK DISTRIBUTION MODELSformamente.guideassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012_3_4... · State College completed a two-year comparative study of four textbook