Faculty Members’ Lived Experiences with Choosing Open Educational Resources

Abstract

The cost of textbooks has continued to increase with significant financial effects on students in higher education. Although many faculty express a desire and willingness to adopt and create open textbooks (and OER generally), few actually do. To better understand this gap between attitudes and practices, this phenomenological study builds upon the findings of a survey of faculty members at a large, nationally-ranked, high-research-activity university in the U.S. and uses in-depth interviews to understand faculty members’ lived experiences with OER adoption and creation. Results indicated that though faculty might be motivated to use and create OER to reduce cost and improve pedagogy, they are regularly stymied by quality considerations, copyright fears, technical difficulties, and sustainability concerns. We explore each of these issues in some depth and provide discussion and suggestions on how similar institutions (e.g., high-research-activity) should respond to help support OER adoption and creation.