Meet our ISU Textbook Heroes! Textbook heroes are members of the ISU community who have promoted or adopted low-cost or free course materials, including open educational resources (OER), helping ISU students save on the cost of course materials and showing an outstanding commitment to student retention and success. The Textbook Heroes initiative exists to express our gratitude and appreciation for those working to make course materials more affordable.
This initiative was launched in Fall 2020, and we hope to announce a new cohort of heroes each year. Do you know a faculty member, administrator, or student working to make course materials more affordable at ISU?
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"I have been using OER for six years. I became discouraged by the increased cost of textbooks and what seemed to be a constant release of new editions only to ensure profits for the publishers. I found that OpenStax provides outstanding resources that fit my needs and those of my students. I use OpenStax in my Concepts of Biology course and Principles of Microbiology course. I have about 350 students enrolled in these courses annually. Without using OER, students would typically expect to spend $200.00 for a textbook. Students are grateful for the cost savings and the flexibility of having an ebook that is accessible on any device." -Jack Shurley - Biology
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"In collaboration with multiple members of our faculty, and some of our graduate teaching assistants, we recently accomplished a full course redesign of SOC 2201: Introduction to Gender and Sexuality. This redesign accomplished two major goals. First we wanted to update the curriculum in response to student feedback that the course needed to include more contemporary content on both gender and sexuality. Second, we sought to eliminate the use of a textbook to save students money. SOC 2201 is a very popular undergraduate course, and we typically teach 3-4 sections each semester with between 175-200 students enrolled. We also offer one section every summer. The redesigned course has been implemented across sections to maximize impact on the student experience. Our previous textbook cost $99 to purchase new from the bookstore, so eliminating this requirement for the course will save approximately $40,000 in student expenses each year. This allows students to focus their financial resources on other costs related to their education. These savings have been accomplished while simultaneously enhancing the learning experience for students through the implementation of current and culturally relevant reading materials that are available through open education resources. Students are already reporting they appreciate both the new content, and the reduced cost of attending the class." - Darci Graves, Sociology, Social Work, and Criminology |
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"I have been using OER materials in my upper division classes, such as POLS 4455/5555: Environmental Politics and Policy, for a number of years. In my experience using these materials not only allows students to keep costs in check, but also allows for flexibility with readings and activities. Last year I switched to OER for POLS 2231: Introduction to Comparative Politics. This change increased engagement with students. I believe this is due in part to the ease of inclusion of current issues and/or breaking news—topics that spark interest in many students. Overall, I find the accessibility of OER materials supports student success" - Donna L. Lybecker, Political Science |
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"My first step toward lowering costs in ANTH/ENGL/LANG 1107, Nature of Language, a course with an average enrollment of about 50, was to find a free open access textbook. I found a very good one, but, written for intended majors and in a fairly formal style, it wasn't the best fit for ISU students. As I've been redesigning the course to support improved General Education Objective 7 (Critical Thinking) outcomes, I found myself creating materials to scaffold learner engagement and problem solving, including Moodle lessons, which the students appeared to find more engaging than reading a text. With the support of the ITRC, I am transferring these lessons and accompanying guides into an open access workbook (using Pressbooks) that aligns with the weekly structure and outcomes of the course, uses a conversational style, provides self-check activities and incorporates recorded lectures and short videos. In my other courses, I have replaced textbooks with peer reviewed journal articles, professional podcasts and blogs, academic websites, and ethnographic videos." - Elizabeth A. Redd, Anthropology |
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"For about 5 years now, I have committed to lowering the cost of course materials and textbooks in ways that do not lower the quality of the course. I most frequently use an OER textbook and self-authored lab manual for the introductory Biological Anthropology course (ANTH 2230/2230L). The text cost for students in the class is effectively $0, compared to $150-200 in the past. I also use articles and chapters instead of full textbooks in upper division and graduate Anthropology courses and resources which provide pdf or interactive full texts at little to no cost to students that integrate collaborative annotations and comments among the students within the texts themselves. Writing my own materials for labs and choosing supporting materials outside of textbooks has also allowed me to design them more inclusively for students with vision and hearing impairment, students of diverse genders, and with decolonized/diversified examples. I have not seen any decrease in student performance when using OER materials as compared, in fact, if anything students gain research skills in searching for and identifying primary resources that further enhance projects in the class and makes resources more available for distance learning." - Samantha Blatt, Anthropology |
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"In collaboration with multiple members of our faculty, and some of our graduate teaching assistants, we recently accomplished a full course redesign of SOC 2201: Introduction to Gender and Sexuality. This redesign accomplished two major goals. First we wanted to update the curriculum in response to student feedback that the course needed to include more contemporary content on both gender and sexuality. Second, we sought to eliminate the use of a textbook to save students money. SOC 2201 is a very popular undergraduate course, and we typically teach 3-4 sections each semester with between 175-200 students enrolled. We also offer one section every summer. The redesigned course has been implemented across sections to maximize impact on the student experience. Our previous textbook cost $99 to purchase new from the bookstore, so eliminating this requirement for the course will save approximately $40,000 in student expenses each year. This allows students to focus their financial resources on other costs related to their education. These savings have been accomplished while simultaneously enhancing the learning experience for students through the implementation of current and culturally relevant reading materials that are available through open education resources. Students are already reporting they appreciate both the new content, and the reduced cost of attending the class." - Darci Graves, Social Work |
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"I redeveloped the following course with all its sections into an OER course: SOC 4421/SOWK 4421; SOC/SOWK 5521 Families in Social Context. The course is an elective for sociology and social work majors, but many students with other majors are also taking this class. It is a required course for the concentration in criminology (with a major in Sociology) and for the minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies. The course is taught as an asynchronous online course. In the past, I have used a textbook for this course plus a variety of materials from government sources and research organizations. The course now utilizes only free resources. For each weekly section, I have assigned one or two readings in the form of scholarly articles authored by leading scholars in the field of family sociology or family demography. For each week, I also added articles from news outlets or magazines on current issues and on international perspectives on the topic. Apart from being a cost saving for the students, the course is now also even more on the cutting edge of scholarly work as well as current developments." - Gesine Hearn, Sociology |
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"Since Spring 2017, I adopted an open access textbook that I found online for my Differential Equations course (Math 3360). The textbook covers all the required materials for this course. The textbook and the solution manual are made available for the students to download freely. In addition, I posted my own lecture notes as pdf files on Moodle, so the students can review the lectures. For the students who need additional help on certain background topics, I also provide the links of videos/lectures on Moodle so the students can view them when necessary. This allowed me to customize the course materials to help students to learn more easily. I believe that adopting OER materials in math courses would have tremendous positive impact in higher education." - Yunrong Zhu, Mathematics & Statistics |
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"In an effort to help my students manage their time and finances, I made the decision to shift to integrating OER materials. For several years I taught the 16-week OLP 6661 Performance Improvement course. This was one of our most demanding courses, partially due to the size and scope of the course project. In an attempt to streamline the course, which included moving the course to an 8-week course format, I turned to OER and reduced the teaching material requirement of three books, down to one, plus OER materials. The OER materials I use in this course are peer-reviewed case studies that I assisted my past graduate students in creating. These OER materials were essential in allowing me to re-conceptualize the course flow and major project while maintaining key course objectives. These materials also resulted in saving students approximately $70 per semester in course material costs." - Rob Lion, Organizational Learning & Performance |
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"Over a decade ago I decided that I could no longer justify the cost of textbooks or course materials for my students. I decided then that I would take whatever time needed to either find available OER resources or create my own resources for my classes. I work to adapt existing open content for my courses, and I also help students learn to create and use OER for any future instruction work they may design or develop." - John Curry, Organizational Learning and Performance |
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"For several years, I have used an OER textbook from the Open Textbook Library for my Introduction to Chemistry (CHEM 1101) sections and an OpenStax OER textbook for my General Chemistry courses (CHEM 1111 and CHEM 1112). Consistent with the extensive published literature, I have found no differences between the success rate of my students with a free textbook vs. a traditional, costly textbook. Although I have no control over tuition rates and other assorted fees, I can ensure that my courses have minimal ancillary costs and remain good values for my students by adopting low-cost or free course resources. In addition to the direct benefits of making college more affordable, students have reported to me that the use of an OER textbook has reduced their financial and emotional stress levels and has given them more time to study because they do not have to work as many hours." - Todd Morris, Chemistry |
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"I have committed to minimizing textbook expenses to students without sacrificing quality of instruction. I have found materials that are less expensive and of similar quality where no OER materials exist, and curated OER and other publicly-available materials to create supporting texts for class instruction. Students use library resources to access articles and texts that reinforce course content. Using this approach, I have entirely eliminated textbook costs in CSD 2258, CSD 4401, and CSD 4432. Further, I have reduced costs in CSD 2250." - Elizabeth Schniedewind, Sign Language Interpreting |
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"Following from an extensive team effort with multiple faculty and graduate student assistants, we recently completed a total OER redesign of SOC 1101, Introduction to Sociology, including using materials from an OER publisher as well as materials that we developed ourselves. In doing so, we eliminated a textbook and a supplemental text that were together costing students around $80 per semester. Not only that, but the course we created is clearly superior to its prior version. We are now using this team-developed OER course across all of our sections of SOC 1101 (over 300 students each semester), which represent around $25,000 in savings per semester. Within just a few years, this choice to move to OER will literally save our students hundreds of thousands of dollars, and not only that, we are providing a superior experience with convenient and early-accessible materials that are developed for our particular students and their particular needs." - Jeremy Thomas Note: ISU Libraries also wishes to extend their gratitude to Dr. Thomas's OER team. Special thanks to the Sociology department faculty for their planning input, and to the graduate students who assisted Dr. Thomas in the course development work: Jessica Sargent, Sarah Liftawi, and Jessica Reynolds. |
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"I teach an undergraduate course, CSD 3315 - Clinical Processes – Pediatrics. This is a foundational course that provides information about what it’s like to be a pediatric clinician in the field of speech-language pathology. As I began working to redesign my course, I came to realize that there wasn’t one book that fit my needs for my course. I was able to work with our librarian to seek out resources for the course that were already available as e-books for the students, including their textbook. I also use a variety of websites and journal articles that the students are able to access. I remember the daunting cost of textbooks when I was in school, and it’s an exciting feeling for me to know that I’ve been able to offer the students all of their resources at no cost. " - Mary Van Donsel, Communication Sciences and Disorders |
The OER resources in my course include an online open source textbook along with a wide variety of additional OER readings from the Library of Congress, US government institutions, universities, and libraries. Students appreciated that not every chapter in the textbook had to be covered and they appreciated being able to read a variety of reading sources that supplemented textbook readings. The students all stated that they learned a great deal from the readings and they were pleased that the OER readings did not cost them anything. There is no loss of quality in the course and in fact, the OER material has only improved the course. - Dr. Mark K. McBeth, Political Science
Adopting an OER for Art 1100 was a win, win situation for our department. It has benefited our students by providing equal access to the textbook and saving them money. Using the new resource inspired the redesign of the course for both face to face and online classes. This change created the opportunity to improve our students experience and quality of their education. - Amy Jo Popa, Art
I have seen a lot of positive changes in my course, Hist 1111: Survey of US History 1, since I started assigning OER materials. Making this switch allowed me to tailor my materials to my course goals, and it has provided more flexibility in my course design. One of the clear benefits of using OER has been that my students are now able to readily access course material at any time and in any place to complete the coursework, and they can quickly look up the answer to a reference question. Most importantly, making use of OER has substantially reduced the cost of course materials, which is an important step in removing barriers that can impede student success. - Dr. Marie Stango, History
I have recently adopted an Open Educational Resource (OER) for use in my Economic Issues (ECON1100) course at Idaho State University. The book I have selected for this course is Principles of Economics (2nd Edition) from OpenStax. I believe that it is important to provide low-cost, high-quality materials for my classes and am committed to providing affordable course materials. With the OER, the students in my course do not have to worry about the cost of the book as it is provided free of charge, which has been a tremendous help. Additionally, OpenStax provides students with resources such as tips on time management, setting priorities and how to utilize the features within the book. - Dr. Iris Buder, Economics
I teach courses in US History and the History of Science and Technology and it has been rewarding to find OER materials that fit my syllabi and the course topics. For example, I teach my general education US History courses with a free online textbook called Building the American Republic. Students have told me that they appreciate that it can be read on many different digital platforms or they can get a low-cost print copy. I like it because it's very user friendly and top-notch quality for a survey textbook. Win-win! - Dr. Sarah Robey, History
Although there are not yet suitable OER materials for World History textbooks, I appreciate the OER initiative because it has encouraged us to think about decreasing the additional fees that students pay for their courses. Therefore, I have adopted a low cost textbook and I have relied more on academic journal articles that are free to our students through Ebsco, Jstor, and other such databases. This has the added benefit of teaching students how to locate primary and secondary sources. - Dr. Zackery Heern, History
When I began teaching the Introduction to Information Research (LLIB 1115), it was difficult to locate affordable texts that discussed information literacy concepts and provided practical advice to students for college-level research. Although I could easily teach the material, the students needed something they could refer to in the future. So, I wrote a workbook for students to use through the research process, which introduced them to information literacy concepts and the library resources available to them. Librarians encouraged me to publish it…why not? Developing my “text” into an OER required some technology assistance, a student intern at the library helped tremendously, and I can easily update the OER each year. That is particularly important as the library resources and citation formats often change. Meanwhile, the students that have this resource have research assistance at their fingertips throughout their college career. - Catherine Gray, Library, author of Bridging the Gap: A Guide to College-Level Research
My students love the readings I use in ENGL 1101: Writing and Rhetoric 1 from the OER textbooks Bad Ideas about Writing and Writing Spaces. Written specifically for first-year college writing students, these textbooks introduce key concepts in writing and rhetoric in a way that invites students to talk about their prior knowledge of these concepts, such as audience and revision, and how expectations for college writing differ from expectations for high school writing. Students appreciate the mythbusting approach in Bad Ideas about Writing and I see them learn so much each week when they reflect on their learning. Both textbooks are free to access digitally and hence reduce barriers to student success, but the biggest benefit I see is the conversations they start about students’ writing practices, attitudes, and knowledge. - Dr. Lydia Wilkes, English