THE ADOPTION DECISION OF TEXTBOOKS WITH SUPPLEMENTARY DIGITAL CONTENT BY SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES
Date
2011-03-24
Authors
Caseley, Gavin B.
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Abstract
Higher education publishers increasingly invest in elaborate supplementary
digital textbook packages in the competition for textbook adoptions. This
supplementary digital content ranges from video demonstrations for instructors
to online practice exercises for students. The research study was designed to
examine how textbook adoption decisions are made at public universities in
South Africa and the role played by supplementary digital textbook content in
these textbook adoption decisions.
In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-four faculty members
responsible for making textbook adoption decisions at two public universities in
Gauteng. It was found that the quality of textbook content was the single most
important criterion currently applied in textbook adoption decisions followed by
the cost of the textbook to students. Supplementary digital textbook content was
not found to have an important influence on textbook adoption decisions for
most faculties included in the study. The research did find, however, that
supplementary digital textbook content can be expected to play an increasingly
important role in textbook adoption decisions made at public universities in
South Africa with implications for both faculty and higher education textbook
publishers.
Description
MBA - WBS
Keywords
Textbooks, Education, Universities, South Africa