Beating Commercial Publishers at Their Own Game: Improving Outcomes and Lowering Costs Using Open High School Science Textbooks

• In Event: Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Instructional Technology SIG Roundtable Session: Computer Training in the Classrooms

Abstract

Given the emergence of Open Educational Resources (OER), it is increasingly important to begin to understand potential effects of OER in regards to student outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative study is to analyze whether the adoption of open science textbooks significantly affects science learning outcomes for secondary students.

This study uses a quantitative quasi-experimental design with matched groups and multiple regression to examine whether student learning was influenced by the adoption of OER textbooks, replacing traditional publisher-produced textbooks. Students who used open textbooks scored .65 points higher on state science CRTs than students using traditional textbooks when controlling for the effects of teacher, gender, socio-economic status, science ability, prior academic achievement, prior science training, and student age.

Authors

• Jared Robinson, Brigham Young University

• Lane Fischer, Brigham Young University

• David A. Wiley, Brigham Young University

• John Hilton, Brigham Young University