Faculty Motivation for OER Textbook Adoption and Future Use

Area of Science:

• Educational Technology
• Higher Education Pedagogy
• Scholarly Publishing

Background:

• Rising costs of commercial textbooks and copyright restrictions hinder educational material accessibility and customization.
• Open Educational Resources (OER) offer a potential solution to these challenges in postsecondary education.
• Understanding faculty motivation is crucial for successful OER adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factors influencing faculty motivation to adopt Open Educational Resources (OER).
• To examine the relationship between OER adoption and effective teaching practices.
• To inform strategies for promoting OER use in higher education.

Main Methods:

• Survey administered to 469 postsecondary instructors (professors, lecturers, etc.).
• Structural equation modeling used to analyze survey data.
• Focus on autonomous motivation and its link to OER textbook use and teaching success.

Main Results:

• Autonomous motivation (enjoyment, perceived value) was the strongest predictor of current and future OER textbook adoption.
• No significant relationship was found between OER textbook use and self-reported teaching success.
• Faculty perceptions and motivations are key drivers for OER integration.

Conclusions:

• Faculty engagement with OER is primarily driven by intrinsic factors like enjoyment and value.
• While OER adoption is influenced by motivation, its direct impact on teaching effectiveness requires further investigation.
• Findings support the development of targeted initiatives to encourage OER adoption in higher education institutions.