LAUSR

Objective To evaluate student perception on a publisher textbook versus an open educational resource (OER) textbook adapted for introductory nutrition. Use of Theory or Research Efforts to increase OER adoption have become wide spread across post-secondary education. The Cost, Outcomes, Usage, and Perceptions (COUP) framework was developed by the Open Education Group to provide a consistent approach to studying OER impacts. Target Audience Participants were students registered in an introductory nutrition course offered at one public university during the 2017 – 2018 academic year. Program Description During the fall semester a publisher's textbook was used in an introductory nutrition course. In the spring semester, the publisher's textbook was replaced with an OER nutrition textbook that was purposely created for the university. Evaluation Methods An online survey to assess usage, perceptions, and engagement was distributed to students one month prior to finals. Responses to the questions related to the likes and dislikes of the textbook were coded using thematic analysis by two different reviewers and then confirmed by a third, independent reviewer. Responses were compared across semesters. Results Sixty-four percent (223/346) of students in the fall responded to the “like” question and 55% (190/346) responded to the “dislike” question. In the spring, 92% (285/311) responded to the “like” question and 49% (153/311) responded to the “dislike” question. Students liked both textbooks’ structure, content, application, and accessibility. More students commented positively on the publisher's textbook structure (n = 87) while more students commented on liking the OER textbook's accessibility (n = 122). For both textbooks, students “dislike comments” related to structure, application, accessibility, and necessity. More students commented that they did not need the publisher's textbook (n = 25) vs the OER textbook (n = 6). Conclusions In addition to perception, further investigation is needed on the cost, usage and engagement of OER introductory nutrition textbooks to inform the integration of OER textbooks in nutrition post-secondary education. Funding University of Hawaii at Manoa, Children's Healthy Living Summer Institute.