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The Library’s Are you #TextbookBroke? student feedback
campaign has ended, with over 70 students participating over two campuses
during Open Education Week, 3-7 March 2025. We would like to thank all who were involved. Your
feedback will contribute to the Library's 2025 Textbook Affordability Project activities, and it was a pleasure to be able to talk to students about
their experiences with textbooks at JCU. We appreciate the honest feedback.
A common theme that emerged was finances as a pain
point, which is unsurprising given the whopping
(up to) $11,200 paid for books this
study period alone by participants. Students talked of the easing in financial
pressures that adequate, free access to course materials would bring, from
being able to afford groceries, wellbeing activities, bills, other academic
costs and even car insurance. One student highlighted the fact that having
access to a high quality free etextbook for their course meant they would have, "the ability to focus on study rather than struggling to pay off a textbook
that might not be beneficial". Another commented that, "I struggle to afford
my textbooks because uni = not enough time for work". While most students were
spending on average between $100-$300 on textbooks this study period, nearly a
fifth paid between $400-$900. It is worth noting that some students reported
spending no money on textbooks at all. Most of those that were asked in
person about this stated that their course had a prescribed textbook but they
chose not to buy it, in some instances because they couldn’t afford it.
Overwhelmingly students saw the value in having access to
online books wherever possible. Some pointed out that the physical textbooks
they were required to buy in some instances no longer made sense in a study
environment where everything is online. One student pointed out the
advantage of having an etext that allowed them to “print sections and also copy and paste”, and another mentioned the benefit of “immediate access”. Australian and
local context within their textbooks was also ranked highly as a consideration
for many students, with nearly all participants rating it as either "of some
importance" or "very important". It is worth noting here that open educational
resources with the right Creative Commons licenses can usually be easily
adapted to include local context and examples, and our FAQ on OER adaption, adoption and creation is a good starting point for more information about this.
Please visit our webpages for more information about the Textbook Affordability Project or open education at JCU, or you can contact our Open Education Team with any enquiries you may have.
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