- Title
- Human physiology students' perceptions of etextbooks : Towards open access as an alternative to traditional textbooks
- Creator
- Julien, Brianna; Lexis, Louise; Salisbury, Fiona; Russell, Kathy; Loch, Birgit
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/204166
- Identifier
- vital:19969
- Identifier
- ISSN:2200-4270
- Abstract
- Science experts across the globe are requesting educators to teach science in authentic and inquiry-driven ways to prepare graduates to be scientifically literate citizens. Shifting from traditional teacher-centred approaches to models of authentic learning requires new and innovative resources. In an inquiry-driven human physiology curriculum an etextbook, 'How to Do Science: a guide to researching human physiology', was developed as an alternative to a traditional textbook and is an example of how professionally designed electronic textbooks can support new approaches to learning. While the advantages of OER have been documented internationally, there is little empirical evidence to indicate benefits of open etextbooks for students in Australia. This study found a majority of students prefer etextbooks compared to hardcopy textbooks, most often due to accessibility, ease of use and convenience. Regarding How to Do Science specifically, a majority of students rated accessibility, attractiveness, ease of navigation, and the quality of the content as high or very high. Students reported that the etextbook contributed most to their learning through assisting in completion of authentic scientific assessment tasks. The etextbook was designed for local use, however, the release as an OER has meant wider dissemination with more impact. We encourage educators to incorporate OERs into their practice. [Author abstract]
- Publisher
- University of Sydney
- Relation
- International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education Vol. 26, no. 7 (2018), p. 38-51
- Rights
- All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence
- Rights
- Copyright 2018
- Subject
- Educational change; Open access publishing; Open educational resources; Physiology; Students; Textbooks; 3903 Education systems; 3904 Specialist studies in Education
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