Open Educational Resources: An Affordable Alternative to Traditional Textbooks with a Positive Impact on Student Success

Editor's Note: The following post tells the story of  how a group of professors from Central Connecticut State University worked to convert a traditionally published textbook into an OER book freely available to students by regaining intellectual property rights from the original publisher and undergoing a collaborative revision process.

Authors:

Jason L. Snyder, Ph.D., Professor of Marketing, Central Connecticut State University
Mark D. Cistulli, Ph.D., Professor of Marketing, Central Connecticut State University
Alana Ledford, Instructor, Central Connecticut State University
Cathleen Donahue, Instructor, Central Connecticut State University

If you ask any student about the cost of textbooks, you will most likely hear horror stories of outdated, overpriced books and expensive supplemental materials. This has been the status quo for college students for decades. However, there are other options for students in the form of Open Educational Resources, commonly known as “OER.”

At Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), one group of professors who teach the same Managerial Communication course to business students has developed its own materials--and it costs the students nothing. 

“We teach Managerial Communication (MC 207 at CCSU) and preach clarity and brevity, but many of the texts we used were hundreds of pages and, more importantly to students, hundreds of dollars. It just didn’t make sense,” says Jason Snyder, a professor in the Marketing Department at CCSU and lead author of Today’s Business Communication: A How-To Guide for the Modern Professional. Professor Snyder, along with Professor Mark Cistulli, Professor Cathleen Donahue, Professor Alana Ledford, and SCSU Professor Robert Forbus worked together to write the second edition of the book and measure its impact on student learning. The results were encouraging. 

The Journey to Zero Dollars

In 2013, the textbooks used in the Managerial Communication course at CCSU cost almost $200. In 2021, the cost was zero. So what happened? In 2014, Professors Snyder and Forbus, wrote their own book, which, at the time, cost about $35 dollars in print and $15 in digital. While that was a large improvement, it wasn’t enough. 

In 2019, Professor Snyder emailed the Executive Acquisitions Editor and asked if the publisher would be willing to release the rights back to the book authors (Professors Snyder and Forbus). In this case, there was little negotiation. Professors Snyder and Forbus informed the publisher that they did not intend to write a second edition of the book for publication with the publisher. As a result, the publisher eventually drafted an agreement that reverted all rights, including “uncontested control over the content, format and distribution channels”  back to the authors. The publisher retained the right to market and sell the original work as part of its digital collection but gave up rights to alter the work in any way. The process on the author side was straightforward. The authors and the publisher negotiated the terms that resulted in a one-page document that was signed by all parties. 

With the rights in hand and with the help of the Digital Resources Librarian Sharon Clapp from the Elihu Burritt Library, the authors added a BY-NC-SA Creative Commons license to the book. The license acronym stands for Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike and “lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially” as long as the authors are given credit for the original work and any new creations be licensed under identical terms¹. The authors not only wanted to make the book available to instructors and students, but they also wanted instructors and students to feel free to modify the content to suit their purposes. The authors understood that this license would give instructors the ability to ensure that the book’s content closely aligned with their courses’ learning objectives.

In 2020, Professors Snyder and Cistulli, with the approval of Professor Forbus, applied for and were awarded a grant through the Connecticut OER Grant Program to work on a new edition of the text and ancillary materials. By mid-2020, Professors Donahue and Ledford joined the project. The expanded team wrote a revised and updated version of the book along with an instructor’s guide, quizzes, and PowerPoint lecture slides. The process of writing collaboratively was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, in-person meetings were not possible so the professors all agreed to use technology to facilitate the process. Meetings were conducted virtually via WebEx, and all research materials and writing files were shared via Microsoft OneDrive. 

The professors agreed on a general framework for the book in the early stages. They also agreed on the broad topics that would be addressed. From there, each professor became the primary author and expert on two chapters of the book. Once each of the chapters was written, two of the remaining three professors acted as content editors. Once all chapters were put through this process, an editor (a former CCSU student) was hired to review the book. After a few rounds of additional revisions, including the use of Adobe Acrobat DC accessibility checker to ensure the final copy was accessible, the book was done. At that point, a comparable process was put into place for the instructor’s resource guide. 

Today, that book is freely available on the GoOpen Connecticut website (https://goopenct.org/). The instructor’s resources are freely available to instructors from Professor Snyder, who can be reached at snyderjal@ccsu.edu. The estimated savings for CCSU students is between $14,000 and $35,600 each semester. The authors hope that the GoOpen Connecticut project will help other instructors find these resources and realize similar savings for their own students.

A Positive Impact on Students

Is the quality of the content the same as traditional textbooks that students purchase? Are students learning as well or better with OER? The answer appears to be “yes.” Professor Snyder and his colleagues conducted two studies to measure the impact of the new materials on their students. They compared the Spring 2019 semester, when students used costly textbooks, to Fall 2020, where a free, first edition OER was used. The results have not yet been submitted for publication, but the results were clear: student performance was comparable. The OER had no adverse impact on student performance. 
 

Performance did not drop off and students were happy to have the burden of textbook costs lifted off their shoulders. As the table below demonstrates, students care a great deal about the cost of their materials. Said one student in a class evaluation: “Thank you for making it free! It takes a lot of stress off students who struggle to pay for class materials. I had to pay $700 for just class materials this semester, so this book being free was a huge relief.”

The Future

Currently, more data are being collected to determine additional ways to measure the impact of OER in classrooms. By the end of 2021, there will be even more information to help guide the team’s research. In October 2021, the authors shared their most recent findings at the annual conference of the Association for Business Communication². A recording of that presentation can be found on the CCSU website. 

“We don’t want this to be one and done,” adds Professor Cistulli. “In addition to future updates to the book, we hope to continue to measure the effects of OER in our classrooms, and, if appropriate, ask our colleagues to consider using OER in their classes, too.”

Working Together

This process was enjoyable, and the authors worked well together. Writing a book is a serious undertaking and demanding of one’s resources, so it helps to have authors who are open to feedback. We completed the work by assigning each author two chapters to become the expert on and also two chapters for which they would serve as a reviewer. The process was iterative. The final version of the materials looked dramatically different than the early versions. We also learned that deadlines are necessary. The team worked well setting deadlines and holding one another accountable. 

One benefit of having multiple authors is that the diversity of ideas is evident in the book. The first edition of the book included the perspectives of two authors from relatively similar academic backgrounds. The second edition of the book benefitted from the increased diversity of the authors and other contributors. 

One of the benefits of a project like this one is that the final product is closely aligned with the course learning objectives. It can be difficult to find resources that align with learning objectives, but when the instructors are the creators of those materials, that alignment is possible. It is our hope that this alignment will help to encourage students to engage with the materials. Engaging with the materials will lead to better performance and persistence. After all, the goal of creating OERs is to not just save money and it’s not just to ensure no declines in performance, but it is to also help students learn more and do better.

Availability of OERs for Business/Managerial Communication

Today’s Business Communication: A How-to Guide for the Modern Professional, 2nd edition is available at: https://goopenct.org/courseware/lesson/882/overview.

Instructor resources and PowerPoint lecture slides are available to instructors through Professor Snyder. For more information on this OER project, please contact Dr. Jason Snyder, snyderjal@ccsu.edu.
 

1. The Noun Project. “About The Licenses.” Creative Commons. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

2. Ledford, A., Donahue, C., Cistulli, M., & Snyder, J. L. (2021). Impact of open educational resources (OER) on learner performance and persistence [video presentation]. Annual Conference of the Association for Business Communication, Virtual. https://whova.com/embedded/speaker_session_detail/abcai_202110/1985870/

About the Authors

Jason L. Snyder holds a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences from the University of Connecticut. He is a professor in the Marketing Department at Central Connecticut State University. Dr. Snyder has conducted consulting in the areas of employment communication, social entrepreneurism, and strategic planning. He is the lead author on multiple books about business communication, and his research has appeared in journals such as the International Journal for Business Communication, Journal of Education for Business, Communication Quarterly, and Corporate Communications: An International Journal. He also serves as the Publication Board Chairperson and Director-at-Large for the Association for Business Communication. When he isn’t working, Dr. Snyder enjoys spending time with his family, running, listening to podcasts and punk rock, and eating fruit. He also serves on the Board of Team MAD Charities.

Mark D. Cistulli holds a Ph.D. and an M.B.A. from the University of Connecticut as well as a B.A. in Sociology from Boston College. He is an active teaching professor in the Marketing Department at Central Connecticut State University. Dr. Cistulli’s academic interests include advertising and promotion, marketing communication, and business communication. He is published in several peer-reviewed academic journals on these subjects. In 2018, he was awarded the Faculty Teaching Award for Higher Education from the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Board of Regents. When not teaching or conducting research, Dr. Cistulli enjoys coaching, watching, and participating in various sports with his family and friends. 

Alana Ledford is a grant writer, business communications analyst, and educator.  She teaches Managerial Communication as adjunct faculty in the School of Business Marketing Department at Central Connecticut State University and social media strategy in the School of Communication, Media and the Arts at Sacred Heart University. Previously, she held positions in sports marketing and account management at companies including adidas America, Zappos and Timex. Alana graduated with honors earning dual degrees in Mass Communications and English Literature from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).  She completed her master's in Integrated Communication at the University of Hartford.  She holds certification in Online Teaching through Quality Matters, a global organization leading quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. With an appreciation for the outdoors, she serves on the board of a local nonprofit which focuses on environmental conservation and education.

Cathleen (Cathy) D. Donahue is a communications strategist and educator.  She has partnered with over 500 organizations to grow their strength and viability through strategic planning, marketing, and communications. Cathy is a champion of coaching leaders to build strong personal and professional brands.  A veteran presenter, she frequently speaks on communication strategy, leadership development, and organizational planning. Cathy serves as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Business Marketing Department at Central Connecticut State University where she teaches managerial communication.  She is a member of the Board of Advisors for the University’s Center for Teaching & Innovation.  She is also a member of the Association of Business Communications. Cathy holds a master’s degree in Organizational Development and Leadership from St Joseph’s University (PA) and a bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross (MA).  She holds certification in Online Teaching from Quality Matters, a global organization leading quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. A resident of New Milford, CT, she is an active volunteer for the Candlewood Lake Authority promoting responsible stewardship of the largest lake in the State of Connecticut.