Affordable Learning $olutions

PSY 345: OER Textbook

Professor Abe Rutchick participated with his large (>250) Social Psychology (PSY 345) class because he knows what it feels like to not be able to afford your books. Similar to many other Psychology professors, his AL$ book is via NOBA, a free service for psychology. He is now committed to avoiding textbook costs whenever possible, including in his senior-level courses (for which he uses only primary sources). He teaches in much the same way, though the quality of the ancillary materials is more uneven given the nature of the particular zero-cost text he has chosen.

When asked some feedback he received from students regarding using OER materials, he shared:

• Students appreciated not having to buy books
• There were no technical challenges, although occasionally there were mismatches between the way topics were discussed in the text and in lecture. (I did not want to conform my lecture to the text.)