This report updates Open Textbook Workshop Report #2. It includes new data from Fall 2016 workshop participants.
The 6 workshops held in Fall 2015 resulted in 66 textbook reviews published in the Open Textbook Library. 6 months after the workshop, there were 22 confirmed open textbook adoptions, and an estimated $110,600 in student savings during Winter and Spring 2016. Surveying those faculty again one year after the workshop, there were 10 additional confirmed open textbook adoptions, and a cumulative estimated savings of $390,000 from the Fall 2015 workshops to date.
In 2016, 11 more Open Textbook Workshops were offered at 9 colleges and attended by 151 faculty. The workshops resulted in 111 textbook reviews published in the Open Textbook Library, 36 confirmed open textbook adoptions, and an estimated $217,700 in student savings to date.
By the numbers
| Total program costs through 2016 | $43,216.72 |
| Estimated student savings to date | $607,700 |
| Student savings per dollar spent | $14.06 |
| Faculty participants who wrote reviews | 71% |
| Faculty participants who adopted open textbooks within 2 quarters of the workshop | 23% |
| Faculty participants who adopted open textbooks within 4 quarters of the workshop | 27% |
| Faculty reviewers who adopted open textbooks | 38% |
Takeaways
- Saving students $14.06 for each program dollar spent is an outstanding return in comparison to other kinds of OER activities (such as offering faculty stipends to adapt or create open course materials).
- The weak link in this type of assessment is incomplete data, which raises the possibility that savings are underestimated.
- Faculty don’t always teach a course within 2 quarters of taking the workshop. Some initial “no” responses can more accurately be classified as “not yet” because they intend to adopt during the coming academic year.
