Textbooks and other required course materials can add significantly to the cost of a college degree, and 麻豆原创 faculty are doing what they can to help.
During the Fall 2020 semester, at least 31 faculty members provided their required course materials at no cost to students through . These efforts resulted in an estimated combined savings of $751,339.50聽for 6,425 students enrolled in courses across four colleges and nine departments.
With a total enrollment of 71,444, roughly 9 percent of the 麻豆原创 student-body took a course using OER 鈥� up by 5 percent from Fall 2019.
One of the largest contributing factors to the growth of OER usage from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 was the collective work done by 10 faculty members within the in collaboration with the . These two departments were able to combine their expertise to scale 鈥榦pen鈥� learning through the use of Webcourses and 麻豆原创 Pressbooks, both available at no additional cost to students and faculty. Their concerted efforts resulted in an estimated combined savings of $232,710.60聽for 1,990 students enrolled in nearly every section of College Physics I听补苍诲听College Physics II minus the exception of one honors-level section.
鈥淲hile cost may not be something faculty initially see as much of a problem, taking on the student perspective is key to exhibit a basic level of student care in terms of materials costs,鈥� says Associate Professor of Physics Bo Chen.
While textbook expenditures have plateaued over the past few years, as reported by the , students continue to seek ways to offset the costs.聽According to the Florida Virtual Campus 2018 Student Textbook and Course Materials survey, which polled 21,400 students across Florida鈥檚 public institutions of higher education, 61 percent did not buy course materials, 43 percent took fewer courses, 41 percent did not register for a course and 23 percent dropped a course altogether 鈥� all due to cost.
Health sciences major Emily Sierra has experienced financial strain due to the cost of course materials nearly every semester of her college career.
鈥淎t one point, I was living off $100 a month but [was] expected to have the money for textbooks five-times that amount,鈥� says Sierra, who took one of Chen鈥檚 courses this semester. 鈥淭extbook fees for a single science course can be upwards of $300, so I would only buy the textbook and materials for my science classes and just hope for the best with the rest of my courses.鈥�
OER are broadly defined by UNESCO as 鈥渢eaching, learning and research materials in any medium 鈥� digital or otherwise 鈥� that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.鈥�
鈥淚 believe adopting (open educational resources) has had positive impacts on my teaching as well as students’ learning.鈥� 鈥� Assistant Professor Ellen H. Kang
鈥淚 believe adopting OER has had positive impacts on my teaching as well as students’ learning,鈥� says Assistant Professor of Physics Ellen H. Kang, who implemented OER materials in her College Physics course. 鈥淭he free online textbook has enhanced students鈥� accessibility, [and] the fact that the e-textbook can be customized for each instructor has allowed for greater flexibility in the preparation of my course materials.鈥�
According to Kang and Chen, taking a聽collective, departmental approach to selecting 鈥渙pen鈥� educational materials facilitates the building of shareable, well-aligned聽courses that faculty can customize and, in turn, share back with their colleagues. As new concepts develop, the current systems can then be enhanced for students鈥� benefit.
For Sierra, not having to pay for her physics textbooks and course materials was, 鈥渁 lifesaver.鈥�
鈥淭his semester, I was able to afford all of my textbooks and supplies because my physics materials were free,鈥� she says. 鈥淏oth of my parents lost their jobs at some point this semester because of COVID-19. So having my homework, textbook, quizzes [and] practice problems given to me really was monumental for not just me but also my family.鈥�
And the positive impact extends beyond her budget.
鈥淭o have a professor who cared enough to put in the hours of work to make the supplies free, especially in the midst of the scariest and most uncertain times our generation has faced in history, made me feel seen as a student,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t motivated me to push that much harder when studying because I knew he did very clearly care about our success as students.鈥�
