scholarly journals Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment Courses

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Edward Watson ◽  
Denise P. Domizi ◽  
Sherry A. Clouser
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
Faculty Experiences ◽  
Biology Textbook ◽  
Course Redesign ◽  
Open Education Resources ◽  
Online Format ◽  
The Cost

<p class="3">As public funding for higher education decreases and the cost to students to attend college increases, universities are searching for strategies that save students money while also increasing their chances for success. Using free online textbooks is one such strategy, and the OpenStax College initiative at Rice University is one of the most widely recognized producers of such materials. Through a mixed method approach, this article examines the student and faculty experiences of adopting and using an OpenStax textbook. With 1,299 student participants, it was found that students greatly value the quality, attributes, and the cost of the OpenStax Biology textbook, though minor concerns were raised about its online format. Faculty adoption of a free textbook provides unique opportunities for course redesign and improvement, and the approach employed in this course transformation context resulted in clearly articulated learning outcomes, a fully realized structure in the course’s learning management system, and improvements to instructional practice. The student, faculty, and course benefits of this study offer a compelling argument for the adoption of high quality open education resources (OER) in public higher education contexts.</p>

scholarly journals Pharmacy students and faculty perceptions of online team-based learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 121-125
Author(s):  
Frank Yu ◽  
Jessica Wooster ◽  
Tianrui Yang
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Faculty Member ◽  
Student Motivation ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Knowledge Retention ◽  
Pharmacy Students ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Faculty Experiences ◽  
Team Based Learning ◽  
Online Format

Aim: This survey study aimed to describe student and faculty experiences and perceptions regarding the sudden shift to delivery of online team-based learning (TBL) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Data such as perception of engagement and effectiveness of online TBL, challenges and recommendations for improving the online TBL experience were collected. Results: Eighteen (58.1%) faculty and 154 (75.9%) students completed the survey. Most students did not feel more engaged with their teammates or instructors using the online format and only one faculty member responded he/she felt more engaged with students via the online TBL format. Forty-one (26.7%) students responded they felt the online TBL improves knowledge retention, while no faculty responded they felt online TBL improved students’ knowledge retention. The top challenges described include lack of student engagement and technological difficulties. Conclusion: This study showed that a lack of training and preparation for the sudden online TBL transition led to decreased student motivation and engagement.

Innovative Use of Open Educational Resources in the Higher Education Libraries

2020 ◽  
pp. 179-189
Author(s):  
Prince G. ◽  
Hariharan G.
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Information Requirements ◽  
Parent Institution ◽  
Open Education Resources ◽  
The Cost

Advancement in Science and Technology has made a tremendous impact on library and information centers. It has changed the traditional libraries and information centers into digital libraries, and library services are oriented towards ICT. As an outcome, e-resources are becoming more common among the libraries of higher educational institutions. They have gradually replaced the traditional print resources. Unfortunately, most of the libraries in the higher education sector except reputed institutions are facing a financial crunch situation. These institutions due to the limitation in the budget, find it hard to fulfill the information requirements of its users in the electronic environment. The cost of subscription to electronic resources goes beyond the purchasing capacity of the parent institution. Funding agencies at the institutions adopt consortia-based approach rather than individual institutional funding. In this context, open education resources fulfill the information requirements of the higher education institution. This chapter analyzes these open educational resources.

scholarly journals Analysis of Student and Faculty Perceptions of Textbook Costs in Higher Education

Open Praxis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Troy Martin ◽  
Olga Maria Belikov ◽  
John Hilton III ◽  
David Wiley ◽  
Lane Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Private University ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Specific Cost ◽  
The Real ◽  
Brigham Young University ◽  
Willingness To Use ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Open Textbooks

The cost of textbooks has continued to impact students in higher education. Students have reported that they make decisions on which courses to take based on the specific cost of textbooks. Faculty have reported willingness to use open textbooks to help ease the burden on students but are unsure where to find viable options. We examined the responses of 676 students and 573 faculty from a large private university (Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah) to understand the real impact of textbooks costs to students and how they are dealing with this ongoing problem. We found that 66% of students at this institution have not purchased a textbook due to cost. We also discovered that 91% of faculty at this institution would be willing to use OER alternatives and that 53% of them would welcome assistance identifying and adapting materials for their course.

scholarly journals FINANCIAL ACCESSIBILITY IN COST-SHARING POLICIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN MOZAMBIQUE

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
José Amilton Joaquim ◽  
Luísa Cerdeira
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cost Sharing ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Indirect Costs ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Massive Growth ◽  
Allocation Process ◽  
The Cost

The massive growth of the student population in higher education institutions has challenged traditional forms of public funding, and cost-sharing policies have been one of the options used by governments. In this sharing, it is important that, depending on the social and economic characteristics of students, issues related to equity and accessibility are safeguarded. This study seeks to understand how cost-sharing policies – taking into account the direct costs of attending higher education, indirect costs, other living expenses and the Mozambicans’ social and economic features – can help or hamper the access to higher education in Mozambique. The selected empirical research contexts encompass eight higher education institutions in the province of Gaza – universities and polytechnics – from the public and private sectors. Empirical data were collected from a questionnaire implemented with higher education students; furthermore, the authors carried out a document analysis on the financing of higher education in Mozambique and worldwide. Allows concluding that, in Mozambique, the cost-sharing model follows a dual-track policy. Also, the part of the financing still ensured by the State is far from meeting the real needs of students and families, due to the high study and living costs, which are well above the students/families’ income. There is no diversification of social support for students, and the only help students have comes from scholarships, whose allocation process is inefficient. This calls into question the issues of higher education equity and accessibility, especially for families with the lowest socio-economic conditions in the country.

A comparison of the cost of research in South Africa's public research and higher education institutions

2008 ◽  
Vol 104 (11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
D.R. Walwyn
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Public Research ◽  
Pricing Policy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Annual Salary ◽  
Research Sector ◽  
Salary Survey ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Comparative Information

Despite the importance of labour and overhead costs to both funders and performers of research in South Africa, there is little published information on the remuneration structures for researchers, technician and research support staff. Moreover, there are widely different pricing practices and perceptions within the public research and higher education institutions, which in some cases do not reflect the underlying costs to the institution or the inherent value of the research. In this article, data from the 2004/5 Research and Development Survey have been used to generate comparative information on the cost of research in various performance sectors. It is shown that this cost is lowest in the higher education institutions, and highest in the business sector, although the differences in direct labour and overheads are not as large as may have been expected. The calculated cost of research is then compared with the gazetted rates for engineers, scientists and auditors performing work on behalf of the public sector, which in all cases are higher than the research sector. This analysis emphasizes the need within the public research and higher education institutions for the development of a common pricing policy and for an annual salary survey, in order to dispel some of the myths around the relative costs of research, the relative levels of overhead ratios and the apparent disparity in remuneration levels.

Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 61-73
Author(s):  
Yu. M. Tsygalov
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
First Results ◽  
Spread Of Infection ◽  
The Cost

The forced work of Russian universities remotely in the context of the pandemic (COVID-19) has generated a lot of discussion about the benefits of the new form of education. The first results were summed up and reports were presented, the materials of which showed that the main goal of online education — the prevention of the spread of infection, - has been achieved. Against this background, proposals and publications have appeared substantiating the effectiveness of the massive introduction of distance learning in Russia, including in higher education. However, the assessment of such training by the population and students in publications and in social networks was predominantly negative and showed that the number of emerging problems exceeds the possible benefits of the new educational technology. Based on the analysis of the materials of publications and personal experience of teaching online, the potential benefits and problems of distance learning in higher education in Russia are considered. It is proposed to consider the effects separately for the suppliers of new technology (government, universities) and consumers (students, teachers, society). It is substantiated that the massive introduction of online education allows not only to reduce the negative consequences of epidemics, but also to reduce budgetary funding for universities, optimize the age composition of teachers, and reduce the cost of maintaining educational buildings. However, there will be a leveling / averaging of the quality of education, and responsibility for the quality of training will shift from the state/universities to students. The critical shortcomings of online education are the low degree of readiness of the digital infrastructure, the lack of a mechanism for identifying and monitoring the work of students, information security problems, and the lack of trust in such training of the population. The massive use of online education creates a number of risks for the country, the most critical of which is the destruction of the higher education system and a drop in the effectiveness of personnel training. The consequences of this risk realization are not compensated by any possible budget savings.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document