Savings without sacrifice: A case report on open-source textbook adoption

Rising textbook costs have prompted the development of open-source textbooks to increase access to education. The purpose of this case report is to examine open-source textbook adoption through the COUP framework (costs, outcomes, use, and perceptions) comparing a semester with a commercial textbook to a semester with an open-source textbook. Students (N = 520) were enrolled in an undergraduate course at a mid-sized public university in the United States. Results indicated that although costs were substantially lower, student learning outcomes and perceptions of quality were similar or better with an open-source textbook. Although students were much more likely to access the open-source textbook electronically, there were no differences in how they reported using the two textbooks to support their learning. Considering the financial savings of open-source textbooks, these findings build on existing empirical support that encourage the adoption of open-source textbooks

Cost, Outcomes, Use, and Perceptions of OERs in Psychology: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Open educational resources (OER) have been developed to free students from the expense and instructors from the restrictions of commercial materials. There has been a wealth of empirical examination on numerous aspects of OER. The purpose of this narrative review is to synthesize and integrate the findings on OER in psychology to assist instructors in making informed decisions about course materials. Topics in this review were organized according to the COUP framework of cost, outcomes, use, and perceptions. Results indicated that OER adoption yielded cost savings while generally having similar or better outcomes in terms of grades. Students typically reported similar use and perceptions of OER compared to commercial course materials. Resources for instructors interested in OERs are described. Criticisms of OER, such as concerns about quality, are addressed as well as limitations of reviewed research and future directions for research and development of OER

Open Pedagogy: A Systematic Review of Empirical Findings

Open licensing used in open educational resources allows for teaching and learning practices that are not possible with traditional copyright. There is a growing body of empirical research on open pedagogy. However, definitions and instantiations of open pedagogy vary in the literature. The purpose of this review was to systematically search and synthesize empirical findings on open pedagogy. In this, the definitions of open pedagogy across empirical reports were examined. Generally, open pedagogy was defined in the context of open licensing affordances; however, there were exceptions particularly when examining faculty experiences with open pedagogy. Synthesized findings may be used by faculty to inform use of open pedagogy especially when considering issues with student confusion and changing power dynamics

Exploring Childhood Psychological Disorders through Chat GPT: Writing Fictional Vignettes from a Parent\u27s Perspective

This was designed for child development students (introductory, undergraduate course) to use generative AI writing tools to develop a fictional example of child with a psychological disorder

Efficacy of Open Textbook Adoption on Learning Performance and Course Withdrawal Rates: A Meta-Analysis

Open textbooks have been developed in response to rising commercial textbook costs and copyright constraints. Numerous studies have been conducted to examine open textbooks with varied findings. The purpose of this study is to meta-analyze the findings of studies of postsecondary students comparing learning performance and course withdrawal rates between open and commercial textbooks. Based on a systematic search of research findings, there were no differences in learning efficacy between open textbooks and commercial textbooks (k = 22, g = 0.01, p = .87, N = 100,012). However, the withdrawal rate for postsecondary courses with open textbooks was significantly lower than that for commercial textbooks (k = 11, OR (odds ratio) = 0.71, p = .005, N = 78,593). No significant moderators were identified. Limitations and future directions for research, such as a need for more work in K–12 education, outside of North America, and that better examine student characteristics, are discussed

A comparison of two in-class anxiety reduction exercises before a final exam

The purpose of this quasi-experiment is to test two different methods for helping students reduce anxiety before an exam. Students in two introductory psychology courses (N = 111) engaged in either a focused-breathing or expressive-writing exercise before their final exam. Results indicated that, compared to previous exam performance, both focused breathing and expressive writing improved performance for students with high levels of trait test anxiety. However, there was no effect on final exam performance for either method for students with low levels of trait test anxiety. Both exercises appeared to reduce state anxiety for students, although the reduction was greater for students with high levels of trait test anxiety. These findings can be used to assist students who struggle with trait test anxiety

Interest-enhancing approaches to mathematics curriculum design: Illustrations and personalization

Two common interest-enhancement approaches in mathematics curriculum design are illustrations and personalization of problems to students’ interests. The objective of these experiments is to test a variety of illustrations and personalization approaches. In the illustrations experiment, students (n = 265) were randomly assigned to lessons with story problems containing decorative illustrations, contextual illustrations, diagrammatic illustrations, misleading illustrations, or no illustrations (only text [control condition]). Students’ problem-solving performance and attitudes were not affected by illustration condition, but learning was better in the control compared with contextual illustrations. In the personalization experiment, students (n = 223) were randomly assigned to story problems that were either personalized based on: a survey of their interests, their choice of interest topics, a randomly assigned interest topic, or the original nonpersonalized story problem (control). The findings indicated there were benefits for choice personalization both for performance in the problem set as well as on a later learning assessment

Student attitudes toward group discussions

Student attitudes toward active learning techniques, such as group discussion, are often negative. The purpose of this study was to determine if an intervention informing students of the usefulness of group discussions affects their attitudes on group discussions. Students were randomly assigned to view a video and answer an essay question either on the value of group discussions (treatment) or on how group discussions were graded (control). Students in the treatment indicated group discussions as more useful as students in the control. Importantly, there were no differences in attitudes prior to the intervention. In addition, students reported their perceptions of the value (benefits) and costs (disadvantages) of group discussions in open-ended items. Findings are informative for pedagogical practice as well as designing future interventions

Evaluating the Efficacy of Virtual Reality (VR) Training Devices for Pilot Training

Virtual Reality (VR) technology is a quickly advancing field that has many documented benefits, including highly detailed environments, accuracy to the real world, and low cost of entry in the flight simulation market. At the time of this study, VR technology has not been well tested or widely accepted in the aviation industry. In this mixed methods study, quantitative and qualitative data was collected on beginning-level instrument pilots (n = 120) while performing a visual traffic pattern at an airport. A one-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the equivalence of each group in the study based on previous flight and VR experience. Then, a one-way ANOVA was conducted on pre-test/post-test gain scores to compare each training group, as well as a post hoc Tukey HSD to conduct multiple comparisons and evaluate mean differences between the groups. The results show that participants who train in a VR simulator perform similarly to students who conduct training in a PC-based simulator. Both training groups performed significantly better than the control group, which conducted no training between the pre-test and post-test. Finally, survey data was evaluated to find that students who trained in VR simulators believed they performed better on the post-test than the pre-test and most felt that VR simulators could be an acceptable training technology for use in the flight training curriculum. These results will help inform flight training organizations who are considering new technology that provides a low-cost and high-value alternative to costlier, fixed-based simulators

Understanding Student Experiences of Renewable and Traditional Assignments

Renewable assignments are student created artifacts that have value outside of courses. However, more empirical inquiry in renewable assignments grounded in theoretical frameworks is necessary. In this study, students (N=69) engaged in renewable assignments and were asked to report on their perceptions based on the self-determination theory of motivation and social justice principles. Overall, students reported higher levels of motivation as well as more opportunity to represent their identities for renewable assignments than traditional assignments. Students who opted to publicly share reported higher levels of competence and relatedness than did students who did not opt to publicly share