Inclusive Access: A multi-institutional study of academic outcomes from a statewide community college automatic billing eTextbook pilot

In response to issues related to the high cost of textbooks and other course materials, Inclusive Access programs allow the cost of a discounted eTextbook and/or courseware to be automatically added to a student’s tuition bill at the time of course registration (McKenzie, 2017). Touted for their ability to lower costs and provide students with access to materials on or before the first day of class, automatic billing programs have become increasingly prolific across the higher education landscape. At the same time, research into many aspects of the program’s impact and efficacy remains lacking. This study examined academic outcomes from an Inclusive Access pilot launched fall 2019 by Tennessee’s largest system of public higher education. Results from across 13 community colleges, 41 course areas, and 141 courses indicated no significant differences in either overall or population-specific academic outcomes between the Inclusive Access pilot semester and the two prior falls in which the courses were taught. The findings demonstrate that benefits accrued from relative cost-savings and/or Day One Access were insufficient to produce significant improvements in academic outcomes, with no significant differences in outcomes also evidenced for non-White, federal Pell grant award recipients, and/or non-traditional students over the age of 25. These results suggest that measures beyond cost-savings and Day One access, such as hidden costs, the need for perpetual access, and the ultimate repercussions of deferred costs to student debt, should also be considered when evaluating ways to provide students with affordable course materials that enable high-quality, equitable learning experiences

The influence of technological savviness and home internet access on student decisions to use print or digital course materials

The purpose of this survey research study was to examine Tennessee community college student decisions and experiences with print and digital course material formats. Analysis considered which format students prefer between print or digital, the reasons behind those preferences, and whether those preferences significantly differed based upon demographic characteristics, perceived levels of technological savviness, and/or the availability of home internet access. Students enrolled for the fall 2019 semester at community colleges across the Tennessee Board of Regents system were surveyed using both open-and closed-ended questions (n = 1,912). Results showed that most students (63.6%) preferred to use print materials, with no significant connections based on demographic characteristics (non-White, low income, age) or home internet access. Student voices woven throughout provided an additional layer of insight for educational leaders seeking to establish policies and practices that optimize the student experience

Prices they pay: Academic achievement and progress to graduation barriers experienced by community college students due to the cost of course materials

Affordability is considered a key predictor of college enrollment and academic success, yet higher education costs continue to rise. Over the past three decades, textbooks and course materials alone have increased almost three times the rate of inflation (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). To identify the extent to which course material costs create barriers for community college students, and whether these costs foster inequities for students in traditionally underserved and underrepresented populations, a cross-sectional survey research study was conducted fall 2019 amongst students enrolled in community colleges across the Tennessee Board of Regents system (N = 88,946, n = 1,912). The survey covered course material purchase behaviors, decisions, and experiences related to academic achievement and progress to graduation. Results showed nearly two-thirds of students (68.6%) have delayed purchasing a textbook due to cost. Almost half (41.3%) reported not purchasing required materials, 15.8% reported earning poor grades, and 3.3% reported having failed a course because they could not afford the materials. Logistic regressions were employed to determine whether these extents were disproportionately experienced by non-White, low income, and/or Adult Learners over age 25. Statistically significant differences in academic achievement barriers were found for low-income students, alongside significant progress to graduation barriers for non-Adult Learners, suggesting younger learners are more susceptible to consequences from course material costs. These findings inform policy efforts by helping educational leaders better understand the impacts of course material costs on the ability of community college students to achieve in coursework and progress to graduation

Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi konservatisme akuntansi

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah menguji pengaruh faktor ukuran perusahaan, risiko perusahaan, intensitas modal, pajak, komite audit, kepemilikan manajerial dan risiko litigasi terhadap konservatisma akuntansi. Data penelitian ini adalah data sekunder dari Bursa Efek Indonesia dan data harga saham harian dari Yahoo Finance.  Sampel penelitian ini adalah 192 data observasi. Pengujian penelitian menggunakan statistik deskriptif, asumsi klasik dan regresi linier berganda. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ukuran perusahaan, risiko perusahaan, risiko perusahaan, risiko litigasi, debt covenant, komite audit, kepemilikan manajerial tidak memiliki pengaruh terhadap konservatisma akuntansi. Variabel pajak dan intensitas modal berpengaruh negative terhadap konservatisma akuntansi

The Go-GN Open Research Handbook

This Handbook draws together work done between 2020 and 2023 by members of the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). GO-GN is a network of PhD candidates around the world whose research projects include a focus on open education. GO-GN is currently funded through the OER programme of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and administered by the Open Education Research Hub from the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University, UK. In our current phase of activity, we began these collaborative writing efforts with a Research Methods Handbook which was created during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic. Working together at distance provided an important way to strengthen community links when meeting in person was not possible. The Research Methods Handbook was well received by a much larger audience than we anticipated, and went on to win an Open Research Award. We followed this up with a sister publication, our Conceptual Frameworks Guide. This explores a less well traversed (but nonetheless important) area of scholarly focus. Together, these two explore open approaches to the theory and practice of research in open education. One distinctive feature of our presentation is to foreground the authentic experiences of doctoral researchers who have used specific approaches in researching open education. While it is not possible to cover all approaches in this detail, we hope that important insights are presented in this form of open practice. Throughout 2020-2022 we also regularly engaged our membership through collective reviews of recently published papers and articles. The Research Reviews serve as an overview of recent research but also as a snapshot of the critical responses recorded by doctoral and post-doctoral researchers working in relevant areas. No one volume can claim to comprehensively contain the diversity and variety of open approaches, and this is no exception. But one virtue of openness is that we can draw on the openly licensed works of others to increase our coverage of relevant areas. The Additional Resources at the end of this volume bring together a range of openly licensed texts on open education research and suggests places for further reading and research. Consequently, the information contained here represents a wide range of contributors and collaborators. The original and intended audience for this volume is the doctoral student working on an open education research project - in short, the typical student member of GO-GN and the profile the network exists to support. However, we’ve learned through feedback and analytics that the potential audience for works like this is much larger. Many people who wouldn’t describe themselves as researchers still do research and evaluation. Presenting accessible insights into research foundations and practices helps with this and can be understood as a form of open practice

Through the Lens of Equity: Impacts of Course Material Costs for Tennessee Community College Students

The goal of this nonexperimental, multi-part dissertation was to explore issues of course material affordability for students at Tennessee community colleges. Data were drawn from two sources: a 53-item student survey (n = 1,912) and three years of anonymized outcomes data provided by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). Guided by Bensimon’s conceptual framework on equity in higher education (Bensimon, 2005, 2012), data for each study were disaggregated to examine findings through the lens of equity, with attention to three populations of concern for Tennessee higher education (race/ethnicity, low-income, and Adult Learners over age 25). The first article, Prices they pay: Academic achievement and progress to graduation barriers experienced by community college students due to the cost of course materials, establishes the issue. A binary logistic regression indicated that low-income students disproportionately experience barriers to academic achievement, and that students under the age of 25 disproportionately experience barriers to graduation. The second article, Inclusive Access: A multi-institutional study of academic outcomes from a statewide community college automatic billing eTextbook pilot, compared the academic outcomes of an Inclusive Access pilot with those of the two previous fall semesters. A four-level hierarchical generalized linear mixed modeling approach to analysis showed no significant benefits or detriments to academic achievement from participation in the Inclusive Access automatic billing program pilot, either for students overall or for any of the three populations examined through the lens of equity. In the third article, The influence of technological savviness and home internet access on student decisions to use print or digital course materials, a multinomial logistic regression was employed to explore student format decisions and potential correlates including demographic characteristics, technological savviness, and availability of home internet access. Most students preferred print format materials, perceiving them to better facilitate their learning. Those who preferred digital materials did so primarily for their portability and convenience. Preferences did not significantly differ by demographic characteristics (race/ethnicity, income, Adult Learner status), level of technological savviness, and/or availability of home internet access. Findings overall provide insight useful for framing conversations around the role of institutional policies and practices in creating, perpetuating, and resolving issues related to course material costs. Recommendations for policymakers and educational leaders, along with directions for future research, are included

OER First & Last Day of Class PowerPoint Presentation (UTK Version)

This CC-BY licensed, fully editable and adaptable First & Last Day of Class PowerPoint is intended for faculty using Open Educational Resources (OER) in their courses. Similar to presentations provided by traditional publishers that introduce required course materials, this PowerPoint resource explains in a few concise slides what OER is, why it\u27s so great, and how students can access the OER needed for their course that semester. The final slide helps faculty remind students they are free to keep their materials forever, and it also recommends ways they can get involved to support OER efforts on campus. To download the PowerPoint file, scroll to the bottom of this entry and find the file listed under Supplemental files