Perspectives from a Departmental Adoption of an Open Technical Communication Textbook

Abstract

In fall 2020, Kennesaw State University implemented an open educational resource (OER) as its required textbook across all sections of its TCOM 2010: Technical Writing course. Using results from a quantitative study of students and faculty using the Open Technical Communication textbook, this paper provides valuable perspectives on actual use of an OER in the technical communication survey course. Results of the study revealed both expected and unexpected insights that indicate topics for further research. From the faculty survey, there may be a positive effect of faculty involvement in the creation and adoption process on their perception of the OER, and the relationship between faculty perceptions of student engagement and students’ actual academic achievement may not be a close one. From the student survey, students’ actual use of OER is about as inconsistent as their use of traditional commercial textbooks, students’ use of supplementary resources has a positive effect on their perception of the OER as long as they choose to use them, and students’ interest in an OER and their perception of its quality do not appear to be related.