Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

The Affordable Materials Project in conjunction with Subject Librarians went on a Listening Tour to learn about faculty course materials practices, challenges, and concerns.  During the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022, AMP members and librarians spoke with faculty teaching high enrollment, introductory courses that typically use commercial textbooks.

We had conversations about how textbooks and homework systems are chosen and used and what services might promote the use of high-quality, low-cost textbooks and open educational resources (OER).   The Listening Tour’s findings and recommendations are now available here.

Villanova faculty, staff, students, and friends are cordially invited to join the Affordable Materials Project (AMP) in celebrating faculty members, Jeanne Liedtka, JD, and Valentina DeNardis, PhD, who were awarded Open Educational Resource (OER) Faculty Adoption Grants for 2021-22 in a virtual forum on Wednesday, March 9, from 3-4 p.m.

At this event, faculty will share their insights into the benefits and challenges posed by redesigning their courses using FREE, OPENLY LICENSED TEXTBOOKS. Students will also share feedback on using OER.

This event is perfect for faculty considering or curious about OER and everyone interested in educational affordability, accessibility, and inclusivity. This ACS-approved event is co-sponsored by the AMP and Falvey Memorial Library.

REGISTER HERE

Please be sure to join us at this event to celebrate faculty who support textbook affordability at Villanova!

Regina Duffy is a Communication and Marketing Program Manager at Falvey Memorial Library.

The Affordable Materials Project (AMP) and Falvey Memorial Library are set to host a lineup of fall events. AMP is a University-wide collaboration between the Villanova bookstore, Falvey Library, the Center for Access, Success and Achievement (CASA), and the Office of the Provost, all working together to provide faculty with resources and options for selecting high quality, affordable course materials and creating student awareness of affordable options for obtaining course materials. At the conclusion of the spring 2021 semester, AMP celebrated an important milestone—saving Villanova students more than $1 million on course materials!

Join AMP and Falvey Library at one—or both—of these upcoming virtual events:

Best Practices for Course Materials Adoption Workshop (Monday, Oct. 18, at 11:30 a.m.)

Falvey Library staff and Course Materials Manager Bernadette Mania will be holding a workshop for faculty on selecting course materials on Monday, Oct. 18, 11:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. via Zoom. Get answers to your questions about course packs, copyright, and e-reserves. Learn about the effort to provide electronic copies of course texts. Hear about resources to help lessen the financial burden of textbooks/course materials on students without sacrificing quality. Please register here.

Authoring an Open Access (OA) Interdisciplinary Textbook: Michael Pagano, PhD, on Liquidity, Markets & Trading in Action (Wednesday, Oct. 27, at 1:30 p.m.)

Join Michael Pagano, PhD, The Robert J. and Mary Ellen Darretta Endowed Chair in Finance, Professor, Finance & Real Estate, on Wednesday, Oct. 27, from 1:30-2:15 p.m. for a virtual talk on authoring the open access textbook Liquidity, Markets & Trading in Action: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. This book will be of interest to finance, economics, and information technology faculty, and includes a TraderEx simulation and ancillary instructor materials. Dr. Pagano will explain the thought process that went into publishing OA, describe the authoring experience, and touch on the OA funding model that made it possible. A description of programs that support OA publishing at Villanova will be included. Please register here.

Both events are open to the Villanova community and faculty everywhere interested in open access publishing. Faculty interested in course adoptions should consider applying for the Open Educational Resources (OER) Faculty Adoption Grant. Designed to encourage faculty to select free, openly licensed textbooks as primary course materials, applications for the grant will be accepted until Saturday, Oct. 30. Faculty members will be required to adopt an OER textbook for a new/existing course taught in spring 2022. The 2021 recipients of the OER Faculty Adoption Grant, Valentina DeNardis, PhD, and Jeanne Liedtka, JD, will save students an estimated $10,000 in one semester while they experiment with new ways of teaching.

Please contact Linda Hauck, Business Librarian, for more information on AMP and open access opportunities.

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Memorial Library.

The Affordable Materials Project celebrated the work of five faculty members who adopted open educational resources (OER) in the 2020–21 academic year.  OER are free, accessible, and openly licensed textbooks.

Alexander Diaz Lopez, PhD, Assistant Professor, Mathematics & Statistics; Stephanie Katz Linkmeyer, PhD, Assistant Teaching Professor, Chemistry; Sarvesh Kulkarni, PhD, Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering; Sue McFarland Metzger, Professor of the Practice, Information Systems; and Motjaba Vaezi, PhD, Assistant Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, were motivated to adopt OER for a variety of reasons not limited to the significant cost savings for students. Faculty noted that the award inspired them to try OER.

Dr. Katz Linkmeyer appreciated the seamless integration of OER with Lab Archives, and Professor McFarland Metzger’s integrated with Blackboard. They liked that digital OER incorporated interactive features, but were also available as PDFs for offline use or in print. Professor McFarland Metzger noticed that by giving students the OER they all were on the same page with course content. One faculty member attributed improved Course and Teacher Surveys scores, in part, to the adoption of OER.

Several faculty remarked they supplemented OER with extra notes, problems, exercises, and figures to better align with their course objectives and that this was time intensive but worthwhile. Additional support for these projects would be welcome.

Students remarked that they liked having continued access to the book in contrast to e-book rentals. They admitted that the use of OER relieved students from weighing the risks involved in waiting to see if the assigned textbook is really used as a key resource for learning and assessments. They felt that the use of OER relieved financial pressures and hoped to see more widespread adoption of OER across the curriculum.

The 2021–22 OER Faculty Adoption Grant is accepting applications.  Visit this site to apply.

A recording of the full faculty forum, including student’s remarks is available to the Villanova community and a version with only the faculty presentations, is available for open viewing.

Linda Hauck is the Business Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library and Affordable Materials Project member.

Join us in celebrating five faculty members awarded OER Faculty Adoption Grants for 2020-21 in a virtual forum. Faculty will share their insights into the benefits and challenges posed by redesigning their courses using free, openly licensed textbooks. Students will share feedback on using OER. This event is perfect for faculty considering or curious about OER and everyone interested in educational affordability, accessibility, and inclusivity.

Existing and emerging financial limitations, COVID-19, and the pivot to online learning has exposed challenges that many students face securing the course materials they need to succeed. This workshop is for faculty and academic support staff to learn about strategies and resources available across the university to reference whenever a student discloses being in need of course materials. The workshop will run for approximately 30 minutes with time for Q&A afterwards.

Please REGISTER at the following link:

https://villanova.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIpceCgrDMsEtKvuA9QzKv4VNbD9YiOODkQ

Questions? Contact Linda Hauck, Business Librarian. For more information about the Affordable Materials Project, please visit: https://library.villanova.edu/amp/index.html

Existing and emerging financial limitations, COVID-19, and the pivot to online learning has exposed challenges many students face securing the course materials they need to succeed and thrive. Villanova faculty and academic support staff are encouraged to learn about strategies and resources available across the university to reference whenever a student discloses being in need of course materials.

Affordable Materials Project members compiled a listing of local course materials assistance programs and initiatives and hosted virtual workshops (recorded January 13, 2021 and January 21, 2021) for faculty and staff to share best practices for working with students facing challenges with securing the course materials they need.

Note: recordings of the video are only viewable by Villanova community members.

AMP is a university-wide collaboration between the bookstore, Falvey Memorial Library, CASA, VITAL, and the Office of the Provost, all working together to address one of the most pressing issues students face today.

By Regina Duffy

Existing and emerging financial limitations, COVID-19, and the pivot to online learning has exposed challenges many students face securing the course materials they need to succeed and thrive. Villanova faculty and academic support staff are encouraged to join the Affordable Materials Project (AMP) for this virtual workshop to learn about strategies and resources available across the university to reference whenever a student discloses being in need of course materials.

The workshop will be offered on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 3 p.m., and will run for approximately 30 minutes with time for Q&A.

AMP is a university-wide collaboration between the Villanova University Shop, Falvey Memorial Library, the Center for Access, Success and Achievement (CASA), Villanova Institute for Teaching and Learning (VITAL), and the Office of the Provost, to address one of the most pressing issues students face today. Their mission is to provide faculty with resources and options for selecting high quality, affordable course materials and create student awareness of affordable options for obtaining course materials. The committee is led by Lauren Ward, CASA, AAP Counselor & Coordinator, and is comprised of dedicated faculty and staff representatives from the co-sponsoring areas.

To attend the Course Materials Assistance Program at Villanova Workshop on Jan. 21 at 3 p.m., please REGISTER HERE. Once registered, you will be sent a link to this workshop.

With the struggles students are facing, it is more important than ever to be able to confidently direct students to affordable solutions. We hope that by attending this workshop, faculty and academic support staff will learn how to best help direct our students when they need it most. Please join us to learn more about how you can support our students at Villanova!

For more information about the Affordable Materials Project, please visit: https://library.villanova.edu/amp/index.html

  Regina Duffy is a Communication and Marketing Program Manager at Falvey Memorial Library

By Regina Duffy

This January, the Affordable Materials Project (AMP) will be sponsoring a virtual workshop aimed at helping faculty and academic support staff learn about course materials assistance programs offered at Villanova University, as well as best practices for guiding students to them. Existing and emerging financial limitations, COVID-19, and the pivot to online learning has exposed challenges that many students face securing the course materials they need to succeed.

The workshop will be offered on Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 10 a.m., and Thursday, Jan. 21, at 3 p.m., and will run for approximately 30 minutes with time for Q&A. The workshop is being presented on two different dates and times for the convenience of attendees and will cover the same material.

AMP is a university-wide collaboration between the Villanova University Shop, Falvey Memorial Library, the Center for Access, Success and Achievement (CASA), Villanova Institute for Teaching and Learning (VITAL), and the Office of the Provost, to address one of the most pressing issues students face today. Their mission is to provide faculty with resources and options for selecting high quality, affordable course materials and create student awareness of affordable options for obtaining course materials. The committee is led by Lauren Ward, CASA, AAP Counselor & Coordinator, and is comprised of dedicated faculty and staff representatives from the co-sponsoring areas.

To attend the Course Materials Assistance Program at Villanova workshop on Jan. 13 at 10:00 am, please REGISTER HERE. Once registered, you will be sent a link to the workshop.

To attend the Course Materials Assistance Program at Villanova Workshop on Jan. 21 at 3 p.m., please REGISTER HERE. Once registered, you will be sent a link to this workshop.

With the continued rise in the cost of textbooks, struggles brought on by COVID-19, financial difficulties of collegiate students, and many courses having to switch to virtual platforms, it is more important than ever to direct students to affordable solutions. We hope that by attending this workshop,  faculty and academic support staff will learn about strategies and resources available across the university to reference whenever a student discloses being in need of course materials. Please join us to learn more about how you can help our students at Villanova!

For more information about the Affordable Materials Project, please visit: https://library.villanova.edu/amp/index.html

Regina Duffy is a Communication and Marketing Program Manager at Falvey Memorial Library.

By Linda Hauck

Course materials are a small portion of total student costs, but they are a piece that faculty and support staff can positively impact.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of college textbooks has increased 87.5% between 2006 and 2016.

The Affordable Materials Project (AMP) is equipping students and faculty with strategies for making course materials more affordable. This is no small contribution given that Villanova students spend on average $940 on textbooks.

Downward pressures on the cost of college course materials are showing up in the numbers. According to the National Association of College Stores, student spending on course materials has declined 41% between 2007 and 2019.

However, this may not be cause for celebration. A US PIRG study, Fixing the Broken Textbook Market 2^nd ed, reports that “two-thirds of students skip buying the assigned textbooks” and almost one fifth of students “skip buying access codes necessary to complete assignments.”  These behaviors adversely impact academic achievement and student’s general well-being.

The AMP book-matching initiative is a collaboration between the University Shop and Falvey Memorial Library.  The University Shop shares the list of faculty assigned books with the Library. The library matches required books to ebooks in our collection with unlimited simultaneous users and identifies additional titles that the library can license.  In five short semesters, from spring 2018 to spring 2020, this program has realized a cumulative potential savings for students of over $718,000.  The cumulative library cost was less than $43,000. That is a 1670% return on investment!

We are hopeful that the OER Faculty Adoption Grant, the most recent AMP effort generously funded by the Associate Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning, will run up equally impressive numbers. This year 5 grants of $1000 will be awarded to faculty who revise or design a course around using open educational resources, which are entirely free for students to use and may be revised to suit educational goals.  We look forward to calculating the student savings this investment will bring!

Linda Hauck, MLS, MBA, is the Business Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.

Shortly after COVID-19 forced the shift to all online instruction, the library fielded a number of urgent student requests for help accessing electronic versions of their textbooks.  Some students may not have taken their textbooks home, but many were without because they shared textbooks or relied on print reserves.  Sadly librarians couldn’t be of much help because commercial textbook publishers fiercely protect their revenue streams. They only license electronic versions of their textbooks to students, not to libraries for sharing.

A few students benefited from free access to textbooks offered by VitalSource and RedShelf, commercial digital content providers. But many titles aren’t included in these temporary offerings.  Students had to scramble to find the money to rent electronic textbooks.

As this unprecedented semester concludes and faculty reflect on course materials selections, it is a perfect occasion to consider alternatives to commercial textbooks. Open textbooks are available online for free in multiple formats, are accessible, and have Creative Commons licenses that enable use and remixing without requesting special permission.

OER Commons and Open Textbook Library are tools for finding OER listed on our database A-Z page and on our OER guide. OER Commons is a search tool for a curated list of learning objects that are openly licensed. It includes not only textbooks but assignments, lesson plans and simulations. Open Textbook Library is a discovery tool for textbooks in use at multiple colleges or universities or which have been published by recognized scholarly societies. Some of these textbooks are reviewed and come with instructor materials.

Finding alternatives to commercial textbooks can be time consuming. Enlist the aide of your liaison librarian or use the OER help form.  Tell us about your current textbook or describe your ideal, and we’ll supply you with OER options.

The Office of the Provost in partnership with the Affordable Materials Project (AMP) is happy to announce the Open Educational Resources (OER) Faculty Adoption Grant, which is designed to encourage faculty to select free, openly licensed textbooks as primary course materials. This pilot grant program will award up to five grants in the amount of $1,000 to faculty members who adopt an OER textbook as the primary learning material for a new or existing course that they expect to teach during 2020-21 academic year. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Linda Hauck, MLS, MBA, is Business Librarian for Falvey Memorial Library.