Open Introductory Psychology Textbooks

Abstract

Given their high cost, many students no longer buy textbooks for all of their courses, impacting their learning and performance in these courses. This is especially prevalent at community colleges. Open (digitally free) textbooks constitute one solution to this problem, but the latest national survey of college faculty found that 66% were not aware of open textbooks and 15% only somewhat aware. Because introductory psychology is psychology’s most popular course with 1–2 million students enrolled annually and almost 50% are community college students, we addressed this unawareness problem by providing analytical discussions of the viability of the open introductory textbooks presently available. We conclude that traditional textbooks are higher in quality, but open textbooks meet a specific market need.

Cost, Outcomes, Use, and Perceptions of Open Educational Resources in Psychology: A Narrative Review of the Literature

“…This finding is somewhat surprising given that computerized analyses of the two textbooks indicated that the writing in the OpenStax textbook was at a higher-grade level and subsequently would be considered more difficult than the writing in the commercial textbook (Jhangiani et al., 2018). In addition, a critical analysis by two psychology professors concluded that this textbook had a low level of writing quality, noting a lack of consistency in the writing style throughout the chapters (Griggs & Jackson, 2017a). One reason could be how the examples are presented, as students indicated the examples were more effective in the open textbook than the commercial textbook (Jhangiani et al, 2018).…”

“…As presented in this review, much of the research on perceptions of OER has indicated that students view the quality as comparable to commercial materials (see Hilton, 2016, for a broader review). However, a critical analysis was conducted on three open Introduction to Psychology textbooks and the conclusion was that the quality was lower than that of commercial textbooks (Griggs & Jackson, 2017a). This assessment was based on the amount of coverage of topics typically covered in Introduction to Psychology courses, writing style, and updating of content.…”

“…The growth of open textbooks is likely related to the ubiquity of textbooks as required course materials (Illowsky, Hilton, Whiting, & Ackerman, 2016), coupled with high costs of commercial textbooks (USPIRG, 2014). Open textbooks are particularly appealing to faculty because they can be edited and adapted (Griggs & Jackson, 2017a). In contrast, faculty members may be frustrated with outdated or inaccurate information presented in a commercial textbook, which cannot be changed under the copyright (Bliss & Smith, 2017).…”

“…This assessment was based on the amount of coverage of topics typically covered in Introduction to Psychology courses, writing style, and updating of content. Griggs and Jackson (2017a) criticized the use of teams of writers for the Noba and OpenStax textbooks for causing a lack of continuity of writing style across chapters. One positive feature noted by Griggs and Jackson (2017a) was that most of the OER they reviewed were at an appropriate level of difficulty.…”

What Happens When Trained Graduate Student Instructors Switch to an Open Textbook? A Controlled Study of the Impact on Student Learning Outcomes

“…Some evidence indicates few, if any, differences in student learning between OER and traditional textbooks (Clinton, 2018;Hilton, 2016). However, much of the research examining the effects of OER on student learning outcomes has been criticized (Griggs & Jackson, 2017a, 2017b, particularly regarding a failure to control for a range of potential confounds.…”