2010 Florida Student Textbook Survey Findings

1. 2010 Florida Student Textbook Survey Findings Susan (Susie) Henderson May 16, 2011

2. LISTENING TO FLORIDA’S STUDENTS…AND LEARNING FROM THEM

3. Survey Purpose To learn how FL students: • Acquire and use textbooks • Perceptions of increased cost of educational materials • Textbook preferences • Format • Features • Effect of textbook costs upon students’ education, decisions, actions, and outcomes. Data Collection/Analysis • Structured on-line survey (Survey Monkey) • Sample non-random, voluntary participation • Multiple-choice and open-ended questions • Sept. 21, 2010 – March 21, 2011 • N = 14,220 • Analysis according to three categories: • University/College enrollment • Part-time/Full-time • Hours toward degree • 0-60 hours • 61-120 hours

4. Type of Institution Attended: Slightly more of college students (54%) responded to the survey than did university students (46%). Red=Colleges Blue=Universities

5. Hours toward degree Over half of university respondents said they had earned between 61-120 hours, while 18.3% of the college students had earned 0-60 hours credit. 64.5% of college students said they were seeking associate’s degrees.

7. On average, how many textbooks per course did students report purchasing in fall, 2010? • 1 • 1.5 • 2 • 2.5 • 3 • 3.5

8. Number of books purchased: 85.2% of university students and 94% of college students reported they had purchased between 1 and 7 books in Fall 2010 semester ~ 1.5 books per course.

9. Textbook Costs for Fall, 2010 Semester

11. What is the most used student strategy to reduce textbook costs? • Rent textbook • Read library reserve copy • Buy electronic textbook • Buy used books • Share books

12. Approximately 40% of both university and college students buy new/used books to reduce costs. • More college (21.4%) students said they bought used books from the campus bookstore, while more university students (12.3%) shared books with classmates.

13. it has caused me extreme difficulty in class because i choose to pay a bill rather than purchase a book so I struggle in certain classes since I have to share with other students. • Avoid classes that use high priced textbooks • Take fewer classes • Not use a book at all • Started a book exchange • Take out a loan to afford books. • Students have begun stealing textbooks • Sometimes I sacrifice eating for a few days so I can afford the books needed. • I didn't fail a course but I have received bad grades because I didn't have the book. • Three of our roommates bought a single text book and …really hard to study during the exams. It has also affected our grades. • A cheap “print on demand” version would be nice. Love the idea for paying either $5 or $10 - still cheap to get the online access for book and print on own. • Buy book - copy it - return it • Use older versions, Google books, Wikipedia, dept. loaner copies,

14. Almost half (48.8%) of university and 46% of college students said they would be willing to pay $5 to $10 for every open textbook used in a course to maintain textbook currency and help fund their development.

15. Frequently/occasionally not register for the course – • 28.4% college students • 18.4% university students

16. Did not purchase their books: • 46.7% of college students • 55.5% of university students.

17. Only 10% of respondents identified electronic access as their way of accessing textbooks. • Close to 90% of students chose print versions of their textbooks.

18. Four top study aids to achieve good grades were identified by almost equal proportions of university and college students were (in order of magnitude):

19. ‘Very important’ or ‘important’ text book formats were primarily commercially printed or downloadable to their computers.

20. All depend on the subject or class i.e. for Chemistry I would want a printed book • I buy it - I own it for life! • Disability means can ONLY handle commercially printed book. Please keep that option!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! • I am gradually moving towards electronic as I get used to it • all the electronic stuff is hard on the eyes i prefer printed text • Yes I have an iPad. It would be great to use it for all classes • NOT on a device that can crash! Drop your kindle, fail every course, waiting for a replacement. • I learn better with physical print • I would happily purchase an eReader if my textbooks were of a reasonable cost and available on the eReader. • I would need a format that can be accessed in places where there is no power or internet

21. What is the top feature that students want in a digital textbook? • Incorporates multi-media • Search within the textbook • Time book is available • Links to websites • Highlighting

22. The top features for digital textbooks chosen by students were in descending order: search within the textbook, time book is available, printing and highlighting.

23. Over 2/3 of all respondents said they ‘never’ read E-Books.

24. Of the respondents who access electronic reading materials, the personal or public computer was the most frequently identified method.

25. Three-fifths of student respondents said they were interested in using electronic textbooks.

26. Three-fifths of student respondents said they would rent one or more of their required textbooks, if it saved them money.

27. Almost 70% of student respondents said they would or ‘maybe’ purchase electronic textbooks for some or all of their courses, if it would save them money.

28. Among the reasons given for lack of interest in digital textbooks, almost half of the students said they (1) like having a printed copy to write in, highlight, etc., (2) inconvenient to read, (3) difficult to move to different pages/sections of a book.

29. The Florida 2010 Student Textbook Survey report and revised survey questions Will be available no later than July 1 in: The Orange Grove Digital Repository www.theorangegrove.org

30. THANK YOUFOR JOINING US Susie Henderson, Associate Executive Director Florida Distance Learning Consortium Tallahassee, Florida shenderson@distancelearn.org