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Abstract
The high cost of textbooks is of concern not only to college students but also to society as a whole. Open textbooks promise the same educational benefits as traditional textbooks; however, their efficacy remains largely untested. We report on a case study about one community college’s adoption of a free online psychology textbook. During the fall semester 2011, 690 students used this book. Compared with students using a traditional text in the spring of 2011, students who used the free online textbook scored higher on departmental final examinations, had higher grade point averages in the class and had higher retention rates.
Acknowledgements
The authors are listed in alphabetical order – the two authors on this paper share co-authorship. One of the authors of this study was involved in the adoption and modification of the textbook in question. The other author later used this textbook (outside this study) while teaching a class.
Notes
John Hilton III and Carol Laman are co-authors of this article.
1. These resources are all available from http://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/carol.laman/stangor-textbook.