HOW CAN WE BUILD SUSTAINABLE OPEN TEXTBOOK PUBLISHING PROGRAMS AT AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES? - PHD CONFIRMATION OF CANDIDATURE PRESENTATION BY ...
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Books by AndrzejRembowski, licensed under Pixabay license
How can we build sustainable open textbook
publishing programs at Australian universities?
PhD Confirmation of Candidature presentation
by Samara Rowling
Overview • Research shows 80 per cent of students struggle with education costs - open textbooks can help • OT publishing models still emerging in Australia – little research available, most from outside publishing discipline • Aims to fill gap in knowledge by surveying and interviewing university staff involved in OT publishing • And answer the question: ‘How can we build sustainable open textbook publishing programs at Australian universities?’ Book by congerdesign, licensed under Pixabay license
What does the literature tell us? • Education costs like textbooks create systemic barriers – can cause food insecurity and withdrawal from study • Universities worldwide are responding by adopting, adapting, and creating OT • Most OT publishing centralised through university libraries – libraries taking more active role in content creation as well as curation • OT publishing programs are more established overseas (e.g. North America) – funding available from governments/non-profits • Australian OT publishing models are still emerging - lack of funding – universities bear the burden
What’s missing?
In short: Specifics
• How many Australian universities are publishing open
textbooks?
• How are they funding OT publishing activities?
• What resources do they have for OT publishing and how
are they allocating these? What else do they need?
• Are they achieving their goals? Why? Why not?
• What would make OT publishing easier?
Gap by Gaillila-Photos, licensed under Pixabay license
Summary of literature • Growing body of research on open educational resources (OER) use in Australian higher education – focus on adoption not publishing • Smaller body of research on Australian university and library publishing – mentions open access but not OT, focus is on university presses • Little research conducted on OT publishing in Australia • Most OT publishing research – from reports to cases studies in academic journals – is from North America and Europe Book by congerdesign, licensed under Pixabay license
Research questions
How can we build sustainable open textbook publishing
programs at Australian universities?
• What factors contribute to sustainability of OT publishing programs?
• What are some of the barriers preventing OT publishing programs
from being sustainable?
• What resources do universities need to build sustainable OT
publishing programs?
• What opportunities exist for increasing and improving OT publishing at
universities?
Theoretical context
• Research guided by open education theory
• Open education can be defined as:
– Sharing knowledge, ideas, teaching practices,
infrastructure, tools and resources, inside and outside
formal educational settings
– Equal access to knowledge and standing invitation to
participate in advancing new ideas common themes of
movement
Open door by Manfred Antranias Zimmer,
licensed under Pixabay licenseTheoretical context
• Free and inclusive education Marxist socialist philosophy
– Education determined by social conditions
– Education system favours wealthy/powerful elite
– Education should be free from capitalist influence
• Echoed in UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘higher
education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit’
• Education enables people to realise other human rights – e.g.
advance socioeconomic status and resist oppression
• Still a ‘stubborn and unacceptable gap’ between education
needs and available resources
Graduation by jonathangraff, licensed under Pixabay license
• Goal of OT publishing is to address this gapMethodology
• Mixed method explanatory-sequential design
• Consists of two sequential phases:
– Phase 1 – Collection and analysis of quantitative data (Questionnaire)
– Phase 2 – Collection and analysis of qualitative data (Interviews)
• Used to:
– Form groups based on quantitative results and follow up with qualitative research
– Guide sampling for qualitative phase from quantitative resultsMethodology
• Two variants:
– Follow-up explanations variant
– Participant-selection variant
• Participant-selection model variant:
– Focus is on second qualitative phase rather than initial quantitative phase (less
common approach)
– Used when quantitative information is needed to identify and select best
participants for in-depth study
– Chosen because there’s not enough public data about OT publishing in Australia
for samplingMethodology
• Approach modelled on Adema and Stone’s landscape study of
new university presses (NUPs) and academic-led publishing
• Aimed to help funders and publishers understand progress
and success of NUPs and academic-led presses in the UK and
overseas
• Divided into two strands:
– Survey of existing and planned NUPs in UK higher
education
–Interviews to help researchers understand more
about presses and publishing initiatives operating in UKQuestionnaire - Participants
• University staff involved in publishing – target n=40
• Focus on (but not limited to) university libraries
• Promote through relevant professional groups
e.g. Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL)
Librarian by Kollinger, licensed under Pixabay licenseQuestionnaire – Data collection
• 15-20 minute online questionnaire – USQ survey tool
• Includes quantitative questions about publishing activities
e.g. ‘On average, how many titles does your institution publish each year?’
• Includes qualitative questions about publishing experiences
e.g. ‘Has your institution’s publishing activity been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?
If yes, please describe how.’
• Can self-nominate for follow up interviews (if needed) on final question
• Mapped questions to research questions to assist with analysis
• Responses will be coded using aliases to protect privacyQuestionnaire – Data analysis
Quantitative responses
• Use analytical software (SPSS) to analyse dataset into descriptive statistics
• Convert into frequency tables – ‘counting summary’ of values in dataset
• Used to interpret trends in sample
• Process:
Rank scores in Count no. of
Record
dataset from times score
frequency of
lowest to occurs in
specific values
highest value sample
• Can interpret relative positioning of specific scores within overall distribution for sample by
incorporating cumulative percent distribution
• Use tables to identify OT publishing trends and relate back to qualitative findingsQuestionnaire – Data analysis
Qualitative responses
• Use coding software (NVivo) to code and analyse responses into themes and subthemes
using thematic analysis
• Used to identify, analyse, and report patterns in dataset
• Process:
Define
Search
Familiar Generate Review and Report
for
with data codes themes name findings
themes
themes
• Relate patterns back to research questions and literature
• Understand effect of patterns on OT publishing outcomes and make recommendationsMethodology - Interviews
• Participants – Questionnaire respondents – target n=15
– Recruited through final question in questionnaire
– Selected based on questionnaire responses – different perspectives
• Data collection – One-hour videoconferencing interviews
– Semi-structured to allow for candid discussion
– Qualitative questions about project experiences and outcomes
e.g. ‘What are some of the barriers you encountered while working on a publishing
project?’
• Data analysis – Responses coded using aliases to protect privacy
– Recordings transcribed – participants can check and amend before analysis
– Content analysed using thematic analysis (NVivo)Methodology Mixed method explanatory design participant-selection model adapted from Creswell and Plano Clark (2007, p.73)
Contribution to field
Through my research I will:
• Fill gap in knowledge of open textbook publishing practices and
activities in Australia
• Collect and publish quantitative data about current open textbook
publishing practices and activities at Australian universities
• Collect and publish qualitative data about current open textbook
publishing experiences at Australian universities
• Provide evidence-based recommendations for building more
sustainable publishing programs at Australian universitiesSignificance
The results of this research will assist with:
• Increasing publication of open textbooks
• Lowering cost of educational resources
• Removing other barriers to education such as copyright restrictions
• Production of more accessible, diverse, and inclusive contentMilestones * Based on part-time enrolment Thesis milestones Expected completion date Human ethics approval obtained Completed July 2021 (USQ HREC ID: H21REA125) Confirmation of Candidature finalised August/September 2021 Data collection (Questionnaire) completed November 2021 Data analysis (Questionnaire) completed January 2022 Data collection (Interviews) completed June 2022 Data analysis (Interviews) completed December 2022 First draft of thesis completed December 2023 Revisions and second draft completed December 2024 Third draft completed August 2025 Final revisions and submission February 2026 *
Dissemination strategy Publication milestones Expected completion date First journal article (Questionnaire data) June 2022 • Q1 • Open access Second journal article (Interview data) June 2023 • Q1 • Open access Third journal article (Questionnaire and interview data) June 2024 • Q1 • Open access Publish research data: 2026 • FAIR principles – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable • Open access licence Publish thesis: 2026 • Open access book • USQ research repository with no embargo
Questions?
Books by AndrzejRembowski, licensed under Pixabay licenseReferences • Adema, J & Stone, G 2017, Changing publishing ecologies: a landscape study of new university presses and academic-led publishing, Jisc, Bristol, United Kingdom, viewed 12 April 2021, . • Arkoudis, S, Marangell, S, Baik, C, Patrick, C, Bexley, E & James, R 2018, 2017 Universities Australia student finances survey, Universities Australia, Canberra, ACT, viewed 12 April 2021, . • Bexley, E, Daroesman, S, Sophie, A & James, R 2013, University student finances in 2012: a study of the financial circumstances of domestic and international students in Australia’s universities, Universities Australia, Canberra, ACT, viewed 12 April 2021, . • Braun, V & Clarke, V 2006, 'Using thematic analysis in psychology', Qualitative Research in Psychology, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 77-101, viewed 8 May 2021,. • Brown, G 2016, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the 21st century: a living document in a changing world, Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, United Kingdom, viewed 28 June 2021, . • Cooksey, RW 2020, 'Descriptive statistics for summarising data', in Illustrating statistical procedures: finding meaning in quantitative data, Springer, Singapore, pp. 61-139 viewed 8 May 2021, . • Creswell, JW & Plano Clark, VL 2007, 'Choosing a mixed methods design', in Designing Books by congerdesign, licensed under Pixabay license and conducting mixed methods research, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, United States, pp. 58-88.
References • Creswell, JW & Plano Clark, VL 2011, 'Choosing a mixed methods design', in Designing and conducting mixed methods research, 2nd edn, Sage Publications, Los Angeles, pp. 53- 106. • Harboe-Ree, C 2007, 15, 'Just advanced librarianship: the role of academic libraries as publishers', Australian Academic & Research Libraries, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 15-25, viewed 15 December 2019,. • Kahle, D 2008, 'Designing Open Education technology', in T Iiyoshi & MSV Kumar (eds), Opening up education, MIT Press, Cambridge, United States, pp. 27–45 viewed 28 June 2021, . • Marx, K & Engels, F 2010, Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx/Engels Internet Archive, viewed 29 June 2021, . • Neary, M & Winn, J 2012, 'Open education: common(s), commonism and the new common wealth', Ephemera, vol. 12, pp. 406-22, viewed 29 June 2021,. • The National Union of Students, YOUNG Campaigns & Australian Council of Social Service 2019, Starved of opportunity: young people’s experience of Youth Allowance and Newstart, Sydney, NSW, viewed 12 April 2021, . • United Nations 2015, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, New York, Books by congerdesign, licensed under Pixabay license United States, .
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