Textbook Affordability and Accessibility

A guide has been created that covers all aspects of Open Educational Resources (OER) including what they are, how to find them, how to evaluate them and some additional resources.

View the OER subject guide 

Cengage Unlimited

Cengage Unlimited is a program launched by Cengage Learning on August 1, 2018 allowing students a choice to access any and all Cengage Learning digital materials for one price. There are three levels of pricing: $119.99 (one term); $179.99 (full academic year) and $239.99 (two academic years.) We will be stocking all three access codes in the Bookstore. The Bookstore will receive a 10% margin on all access codes sold in the store. The Bookstore has also identified some ways to directly offer Cengage Unlimited to specific Missouri State students.

Social Work Major

The core curriculum (9 courses) for the SWK major takes 2 years to complete and uses Cengage Learning titles exclusively in these courses. Currently, we list the 2-yr Cengage Unlimited access code as the ‘required’ material on the Booklist for first year students. The 1-yr code will be listed on the Booklist for the second year students. Traditional print titles will also be listed on the Booklist and offered as an option for the students in this program.

Student Booklists

The Bookstore will offer the Cengage Unlimited 1-term access code ($119.99) as an option on booklists that require a Cengage Learning title, unless the traditional print version is significantly less.

StreamlinED

Cengage Learning

• BMS 100/110 Starr/McMillan: Human Biology (with Cengage Unlimited optional upgrade).

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

• MTH 134  Kime: College Algebra

Kendall-Hunt

• COM 115 (selected sections) Wahl: Public Speaking with GoReact Access

McGraw-Hill

• ACC 532/632  Copley: Essentials of Accounting with Connect

• BUS 135  Nickels: Understanding Business with Connec

• COM 115 (Honors sections only)  Floyd: Communication Matters with Connect

• COM 205  Floyd: Interpersonal Communication with Connect

• COM 209  Griffin: First Look at Communication with Connect

• COM 307  Johnson: Priviledge, Power and Difference with Connect

• LAW 231/532/600/632  Melvin: Legal Environment of Business with Connect

• MED 274  Bordwell: Film Art with Connect

• MGT 345  Noe: Human Resource Management with Connect

• MGT 450  Noe: Emplyee Training & Development with Connect

• SPN 101/102/201  Goodall: Conectate with Connect

• SPN 202  Foerster: Punta y Aparte with Connect
   

• AGB 584/684  Kay: Farm Management ebook
• BUS 550/650/LAW 550/650  Lewicki: Essentials of Negotiation ebook
• CHM 107 (selected sections) ACS: Chemistry in Context ebook
• ECO 310  Borjas: Labor Economics ebook
• KIN 359  Hall: Basic Biometrics ebook
• MGT 546/646  Milkovich: Compensation ebook
• MKT 352  Castleberry: Selling ebook
• MKT 772 (selected sections) Marshall: Marketing ebook
• PSY 776  Heneman: Staffing Organizations ebook
• THE 101 (selected sections) Cohen: Theatre Brief ebook

Pearson Education

• BIO 121/122  Urry: Campbell Biology
• DTN 240  Blake: Nutrition (Modified Mastering) with Diet Analysis
• PSY 121  Hudson: Psychology Revel Custom edition

Taylor and Francis

• PSY 306  Pierce: Behavior Analysis & Learning ebook

W W Norton

• CHM 342/343 Karty: Organic Chemistry with Smartwork

 

• Of the 67 courses taught by the 13 faculty who responded, only 21 require a textbook.
• 10 of the 13 faculty indicated that they provide students with course material other than printed textbooks. Some texts are available for rent and some provide e-book options.
• 6 of the 13 faculty are unaware whether there are ADA compliant version of their textbooks available.
• 3 of the 13 faculty indicated that yes some of their textbooks have ADA compliant versions.
• 3 of the 13 faculty indicated that there are no ADA compliant versions of their textbooks.
• 7 of the 13 faculty indicated that some course material is available through other avenues such as websites and extension publications.

COM 115

Potentially moving toward direct access/direct bill. Faculty have started working with the MSU bookstore to set up direct access/direct bill for COM 115, pending a review for accessibility. The plan is to pilot in a few sections this spring and, based on what is learned there, move forward with this model for fall.

COM 209

An electronic-only McGraw-Hill SmartBook has been used for several years. There are four instructors who have taught or are teaching the course both face-to-face and electronically using this text. COM 205 (Listening) also uses the McGraw-Hill Smartbook version. It is unknown if the SmartBook format for these texts have been reviewed for accessibility.

History

• There is no formal procedure or plan for limiting textbook costs, but this does seem to be a priority of all faculty and instructors.
• Efforts are done on an individual basis and are varied.
• Many instructors (adjunct, instructors, tenure-track) said that they shopped around or kept up-to-date on current publications in an effort to minimize costs, so that they are picking the most cost efficient options for their students within reason (that is, books that are still deemed effective academic and instructional tools).
• Many instructors do not assign physical readers (with primary sources, additional articles, etc.) but instead scan chapters/articles and post them to their course webpages, as appropriate and in following of copyright laws.
• Some instructors will assign journal articles accessible through JSTOR, or are free and available through other online resources.
• Developing this sort of material, however, takes time and may not be possible for instructors as they develop a class for the first time. Stipends or incentives may help in this regard—adjuncts and instructors are particularly challenged here (this is my personal opinion), as they do not have access to the same resources, such as G.A.’s etc. and so the work falls entirely onto them. They are also teaching mostly surveys and are reaching a large amount of students and so this could be a real area of potential impact.
• In history as long as you avoid Cengage/Pearson/McGraw Hill there are a number of textbook publishers with quality offerings at $50 or less - Macmillan, Norton, Oxford etc.
• Perhaps full-time faculty should explore sharing resources with adjuncts/instructors. I have done this in the past and suspect others have as well, but we should explore this more systematically.

Political Science

PLS 101

• Teach from a common course outline but select their own textbooks. For the fall 2017 semester, faculty adopted 16 different textbooks. The price information that was currently available for these textbooks was considered. Unfortunately, Student Book Exchange and Text Bucks no longer had their fall 2017 prices available, so research was limited to the MSU Bookstore and—so as not to multiply online options—Amazon.com.
• For textbook purchases, new and used options were considered from both the MSU bookstore and Amazon. Not every option was available for every textbook. The least expensive purchase option was viewed for each textbook. The mean price of the least expensive purchase options was $80.35. The least expensive options ranged from $42 to $165.35, with only two options priced over $100.
• Five of these adoptions were available for students to rent on Amazon.com. The mean price of these rentals was $38.06.
• An analysis that included Student Book Exchange and Text Bucks would give a better picture of the actual options available to students in August. It is suspected that such an analysis would’ve resulted in a lower mean price for the least expensive purchase options and a longer list of textbooks that were available via rental.
• Generally speaking, these numbers suggest that with modest effort, most students taking PLS 101 can acquire their books at a fairly reasonable price point.
• In speaking with faculty, it seems that cost is one factor among many that faculty consider when adopting a textbook.
• Other factors include the approach to the material taken by the author(s) as well as the convenience of remaining with a familiar book.
• In managing costs, faculty indicated that they oftentimes assign older editions of a textbook (or indicate that students are free to purchase older editions).
• If a faculty member is not strongly attached to a textbook, s/he might switch textbooks solely on the basis of cost. Faculty members strongly attached to a textbook, particularly if they prefer the approach taken by a particular textbook, are likely to remain with the preferred textbook.
• Some faculty indicated a willingness to switch textbooks if a publisher eliminated a preferred delivery mode (e.g., eliminating bound books as an option and moving to unbound) or was perceived as being too pushy with “add-on” platforms, etc., even if these were not necessarily bundled into the cost of the book.

Finance 380

This is a required course for all business majors. Jeff Jones and Kent Reagan wrote a textbook that covers the 13 essential chapters for their FIN 380 course. It consists of an online code (for weekly quizzes and other practice) and a loose leaf hard copy for $100. Alternatively the online code may be purchased for $85 to access PDF files and print on their own. A hard copy is not optional. There are approximately 650 students each fall and spring, 100 in the summer. Textbook royalties for sales to MSU students go to the FBG department or its foundation account.

Insurance 211

The course offering comprises both online and seated sections. Up to 220 students enroll every semester across four sections taught by at least two instructors (mostly three). All instructors agreed upon the standard topics to be covered in the course in an effort to achieve uniformity that could make custom edition of a textbook feasible. A common text book has been adopted and corresponding pages from the textbook have been selected. A new custom edition has been requested and the publisher assures its availability beginning next semester. It should be available both in print and e-text formats. The publisher thinks that with repagination and other costs included students should be able to save up to 20% on the print edition, down from $200 currently. Other online textbooks were also considered.

Law 231

Approximately 600 students enrolled for fall 2017. Two faculty use the current hardback version of Cengage textbook. The rest use a current version of the McGraw-Hill Connect e-book.

Management 340

Approximately 650 students enrolled for fall 2017. Some instructors are using a textbook edition earlier than the most currently available. Most recent edition costs about $250 where an older edition is about $20 on Amazon. The older edition does not impact the presentation of course material. Quizzes and other material are posted to Brightspace. The instructor indicated a desire to eventually convert the course to one without a textbook at all. The instructor is considering switching to the Connect e-book next semester, with an estimated cost of $100–125.

School of Teaching, Learning and Developmental Sciences

Efforts in place:

• Two courses utilize the same textbook in order to cut down on costs and to better serve the population of students in these courses.
• Many courses across the department offer students the choice to select a printed text or an online text, depending on the method that works best for student learning styles. Faculty note that many students prefer a printed textbook, so it is important to continue to allow textbooks that can either be printed or accessed online when possible.

New efforts underway:

• The average cost of textbooks required in the core classes in the program will be estimated, and will seek to reduce this cost.
• As part of this effort, the CFD faculty is in the process of developing a student survey to better understand students’ experiences with textbook costs and accessibility. Student voices will thus guide the strategies to be implemented in order to advocate for student-centered approaches.
• Additionally, the new textbook adoption system for selecting textbooks will automatically offer sections at a cheaper price for instructors to consider more affordable alternatives.

BMS 307

In 2015 the department implemented a lecture textbook change which decreased the student cost from $210 to $35. The lecture text Gray’s Basic Anatomy is available in e-print as well as hard copy. This text is supplemented in the course with a laboratory text Atlas of Anatomy which is the same text used in all the Graduate courses in human anatomy, and is also available in a digital format.    

PSY 121

• About 2500 students per academic year in PSY 121 sections; about 330 per class
• Halfway using Streamlined Pearson approach.
• Ethical issue of promoting alternatives to the MSU bookstore. Financial aid will not pay for books purchased off campus. The discussion led to providing all alternatives and letting students decide for themselves.
• Wi-Fi is inadequate for the larger classes. If it was better, the students could utilize other interactive technology in place of the clickers they are required to purchase from the bookstore ($68 for a five-year license).
• Students use clickers for multiple classes. Turning Point appears to be most secure, Top Hat less secure.

Mathematics

Ways in which costs of course materials are currently being mitigated:

1. Using the same text for more than one course - our Calculus sequence is the best example of this but is not the only one.
2. Using freely available online and/or open source materials.
3. Adopting older editions of textbooks.
4. Adopting no textbook at all.

Ideas expressed by faculty aimed at reducing the cost of course materials for students:

1. A textbook rental program.
2. Adopting older editions of textbooks.
3. Using online homework platforms that are free of charge.
4. Supporting faculty in the development of course materials, be it a course packet or textbook, that could be provided to students at a reduced cost.

Moving forward:

1. Our focus should lie on MTH 101/103 (Intermediate Algebra) and MTH 135 (College Algebra) to impact the largest number of students.
2. A pilot MTH 103 course toward this end is slated for FA18.

Chemistry

• CHM 160 and CHM 170 share the same book, the online HW system is used so it allows students to reduce cost by using the e-book that comes with the access code.
• CHM 161 and 171 use an in-house produced lab manual which cuts down on costs for students.
• CHM 342 and 343 (Organic Chemistry I and II) share the same book. Students are given an option to purchase loose leaf form of the book to reduce cost.
• Biochemistry I and II share the same book.
• Overall CHM majors buy 3 books during their freshman, sophomore and junior years.