Inclusive access course materials: the impact on student outcomes.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20406249

The rising cost of course materials over the last 20 years has had a negative impact on student finances, higher education choices, and grades. Two recent models have emerged to help increase student access to course materials while driving down acquisition costs - third party open educational resources and publisher content driven inclusive access programs. The potential impact of open educational resources on student outcomes has been widely studied. However, the potential impact of inclusive access programs on student outcomes has been studied less so. The intent of this quantitative correlational research study was to examine the relationship of student outcomes for students who had their required course materials provided on or before the first day of class, as part of an inclusive access program, compared to students who had the responsibility of sourcing their own required course materials. Study population size was 2,550 (N=2550). Data analysis techniques used in this study include chi-square test of independence and independent t-tests with a standard p-value of .05. Results of the data analysis revealed varying improvement in the increase in the number and percentages of students who passed a class with a letter grade 'C' or better when their required course materials were provided as part of an inclusive access program, compared to students who had the responsibility of sourcing their own required course materials. Furthermore, the results of chi-square and t-tests, provided insight into any statistically significant relationships between student populations who were enrolled in courses using an inclusive access program and student populations who had the responsibility to source their own required course materials.--Author's abstract