13
Whether tracking open textbook adoptions for a department, post-secondary institution, region, or country, first determine the parameters to be collected and definitions to be used. Without these, it is impossible to clearly and accurately track and interpret adoption data. Additionally, look for a balance between compiling data that’s useful and making it onerous for faculty who are submitting adoption information. Here are questions that can guide these decisions.
- How will this information be used?
- Will the numbers be manipulated in a formula or as part of a statistical analysis? If so, what information is required?
- How difficult is it for those filling out an adoption form to obtain the information?
- How important is it that requested values be exact? Are estimates acceptable?
- Does it make sense to offer a range of values for particular values?
- Will adoptions be reported for a typical school year, starting in September, or the calendar year?
Adoption Definitions
BCcampus Open Education uses the below terms in its adoption reports. Definitions of these terms are provided on its Known Open Textbook Adoptions in B.C. web page for reference.
Adoption: Each adoption refers to a course section within a specific term and year for which an open textbook has replaced a a primary textbook or educational resource that must be purchased.
Book (open textbook): A comprehensive compilation of content organized into chapters that includes a table of contents, learning outcomes, and learning activities created to meet course objectives in a specific subject area and is assigned an open-copyright licence or released into the public domain.
Faculty: The number of individual instructors who have adopted one or more open textbooks for one or more course sections. A faculty member is only counted once.
Savings: Savings include a range. The number at the lower end is calculated as follows: number of students (see “Students”) × $100. (This number was derived by OpenStax based on a formula that takes into account used textbook purchases and rental costs as well as new textbook costs.)
The number at the upper end is calculated as follows: number of students (see “Students”) × actual cost of the textbook being replaced if purchased as hard copy and new.
Students: The total number of students in all course sections within which an open textbook is used as the primary educational resource.
BCcampus’ decisions
From the beginning, BCcampus has taken a conservative approach to adoption tracking by determining it was better to under-report open textbook usage rather than overestimate, especially in cases of uncertainty. Well-defined parameters were established early in the process, making statistics collection easier. For example, it was decided that:
- Only open textbooks would be counted, not other open educational resources
- Open textbooks must be adopted as the primary course resource, and open textbooks assigned as optional, supplementary, or secondary rea