The Faculty Herald

Even if you are using open education resources or links to see material, Steven J. Bell and April Batinsey advocate that you should list your reading materials in the bookstore system well in advance.

While the overall amount that the average college student spends on textbooks has decreased over the last few years, according to data from the National Association of College Stores, for Temple University students even lower textbooks costs can present financial challenges. According to research on faculty course material practices from Bayview Analytics, instructors tend to agree. In the 2022 report, Turning Point for Digital Curricula, Bayview reported that 64% of faculty and 86% of administrators either strongly agreed or agreed “that the cost of course materials is a serious problem for my students”.

A recent study reported that “65% of students nationwide skipped textbook purchases despite concerns of their grades.” Students who can’t afford the textbooks and codes that are often bundled with textbooks may not be able to complete assignments, and students have reported having to decide between necessities such as food and their textbooks. As an institution whose mission is to provide students with an affordable education, faculty attention to the cost of learning materials can help students alleviate the accumulation of future debt.

Textbook affordability is a complex issue, but what is clear is that transparency of course material costs can matter for student success. One path that all Temple University instructors can take is to conveniently provide students with information about their course materials, regardless of where the costs fall on the affordability spectrum. When students have this information at the time of course registration or at least in advance of the start of the semester, they are more likely to be well prepared for academic success the first day of class.

This path begins when instructors submit their course materials information to the Temple University Bookstore, via the Adoption Insights Portal (AIP). According to AIP data, only about 40% of  instructors regularly submit course materials information. For those courses, students can then search the Course Materials Look-Up to see what materials are required and the available format options (e.g., new print, used print, digital, rental, etc.). If those requirements are submitted to AIP early enough, students can link from the registration system to the Look-Up system.

There are any number of reasons why some instructors will choose to ignore messages sent by the AIP system encouraging them to submit their textbook information:

• They assume students are going to bypass the Temple University Bookstore and purchase the course materials from their preferred online source, without realizing that students who use financial aid for textbook purchases must use the University Bookstore..
• They may be uncertain as to what course materials will be in use until shortly before the course begins.
• They may not be using any textbook. The course materials might be a combination of instructor notes, links to newspaper and magazine articles, selected scanned book chapters (within the guidelines of Copyright Fair Use) or other non-textbook content.
• They may be using Open Education Resources (OER), such as a zero-cost textbook from Openstax, LibreTexts, Open Textbook Library or some other repository.
• They may be using a textbook provided through TopHat or another learning platform which provides direct access via the Canvas system.
• They may be pointing students, through links in the Canvas system, to a Temple Libraries e-book or other licensed library resources (e.g., articles, streaming video, etc.)

However, we would urge you to submit your course materials information, even when you are using zero-cost materials as the additional transparency helps students budget for and manage their semester costs.The following case study provides insight into how the AIP System can incorporate certain types of zero-cost course materials.

Case Study: Why Reporting Course Materials Matters

Back in June, Steven connected with an instructor, Edmund (Ned) Lafer, who was seeking information about using copyrighted material as course learning materials in their fall course. Ned is a faculty member at the Fox School of Business where he teaches Health Care Management 3501. What could one of Ned’s students learn about the course materials?

The student path begins with the registration system. Here’s what a student sees when they find Ned’s HCM 3501 course:

When students click on the Bookstore icon in the registration system it will take them to the Temple Bookstore Course Materials Look-Up System. Imagine a student who is interested in registering for your course. What information will they find when they search for your course in the Look-Up System. What would you like them to know about the cost of your course’s materials?

Here is what Ned’s prospective and enrolled students will learn about his course materials:

You’ll notice two important pieces of information. First, students see a banner message indicating that they should “Wait for Class” before making a purchase from the different options presented. Second, the “Please Note” indicates that for Ned’s course there is a Temple Libraries e-book available to the students. That gives students a zero-cost option, although they may later choose to purchase one of the other available options depending on what best suits their needs as a learner. Note also that even if Ned were not providing a zero-cost option, students would be able to see clearly that they have multiple purchase options. With a spectrum of formats at different price points, students can potentially lower their materials cost considerably.

If Ned’s intent was to offer his students a zero-cost option for the course material by pointing them to the availability of the Libraries e-book (which has a multi-user license), he could certainly have decided there was no point in reporting it to the Bookstore through the AIP. But in doing so, now when students register for the course or when they locate the book in the Look-Up System they will see that the zero-cost option exists for this course section. In the absence of this information, students might simply choose to purchase the textbook or try to succeed in the course without the textbook in order to save money.

Ned was able to alert the bookstore that students would be provided a free digital copy through Temple Library by using AIP’s comments feature for this title:

Adding this comment alerted the bookstore, who were able to then create a custom note for the course, informing students of the free option. When the recommendation changes from the default “required” to “go to class first,” it further alerts students to the free option.   

What if you’ve adopted an open (OER) textbook for your course. That material can also be indicated in the AIP. Here’s an example of how the System displays the course of a faculty member who has adopted an OpenStax OER textbook:

Similar to the Look-Up record for Ned’s course, students can clearly see that OER course material can be obtained for free through OpenStax. OpenStax partners with the bookstore and a publishing company called Xanedu to provide low-cost print options for their OER materials for those students who would like a print copy.  If students “Wait for Class” as indicated in the record, the course syllabus could easily provide a link to the open textbook.

You may decide not to use any form of textbook (free or traditional), and the AIP also provides the tools to indicate this.  The third adoption button states, “I am not using any materials for this class,” and will also provide an option to indicate whether you are using OER

While the authors agree that AIP’s language needs improvement, what students see is much clearer, as they are informed there are no required materials to purchase. This is more beneficial to students than having them search the Look-Up System only to find a message that no materials have been reported for the course.

To be sure, there are nuances to each situation in which faculty choose to achieve textbook affordability by providing students with zero-cost or alternative format (e.g., print and digital rentals, used copies, etc.) course materials. It is through knowing more about the B&N AIP System and how it can adapt to zero-cost and alternative format materials, that faculty can assure their students are fully aware of all of their course material options. The next time you receive an email from the Bookstore or the AIP system requesting course materials submissions for upcoming semesters, please take time to provide this information, whether requiring a commercial textbook or some other zero-cost option. If our ultimate goal is to help our Temple University students to have an affordable higher education, taking this small action may have a big impact on their future.

Steven J. Bell, MLS, Ed.D., is an associate university librarian. April Batinsey is the textbook manager at the Temple University bookstore.