Sustainable access to
Education Resources
Provost OER Committee
Colorado State University
My students aren't reading the book.
ChatGPT, Cheg undercut texts.
Use the PDF and online stuff? (Unreliable, low quality)
Negotiate with publisher? (No resale value, no market pressure)
What goes in syllabus? In the bookstore? ADA compliance? Reliable links. Copyrights.
Keep my standards,
but reach max number of students?
Be a good student,
finish with minimal cost.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
Start of "Great Inflation"
Average textbook costs $100 (all classes)
Average textbook cost $500
Recreational books $20
(Pre-pandemic!)
Average textbook costs $1,200
Recreational books $20
Textbook inflation overtakes average inflation rate.
End of "Great Inflation"
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
Universities start charging
STEM majors more
Publishers create artificially small markets
Reduce supply old editions to keep relative costs up
Move old editions to rental only
Offer university specific editions which limit used textbook value
Increase dependence by bundling labs/assignments.
New models split/hide the costs.
Student Monitor (2020). Renting textbooks now exceeds purchasing.
See here.
We keep change books like fashion changes clothes!
"[College textbook market] has a relatively high number of replacements...1 of 13 [books] ... where non-comparable replacements.
In fact BLS now models college textbooks with the same methods it uses for apparel.
BLS summary
We assign (lots of) non-essential resources:
"The research ...revealed a continuum of centrality of learning resources, depending on the importance of the resource to the successful completion of the course." Horsley and Huntly (2010)
Student use whatever has the homework!
"The resources at the top of the priority list related specifically to successful completion of assessment tasks." "... textbook of tomorrow project which redefines such ‘texts’ as any digital resource actually used by teachers and learners... " Horsley et. al. "The role of textbooks... DOI:https://doi.org/10.21344/iartem.v3i2.787
"... to teach such branches of learning... in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life."
Morrill Act, 1862
We need to reach the most vulnerable in their first year large classes, high DFW rates
Most 1st year courses have good OER texts, but need adapt syllabus, labs, quizzes, homework.
Faculty, postdocs, grad-student TA's, need to stick with and update materials.
Text
Provost OER Committee will be rolling out recommendations and is open to conversations.
Speak Up. Get involved.
James.Wilson@ColoState.Edu