Further research

This research is meant to be part of the beginning of an ongoing discussion about the place of inclusive access pay models, digital textbooks, and required resources, in a Canadian post-secondary context. As such, and based on the findings and conclusions reported above, areas of further research have been identified:

• Developing digital textbook pedagogy. If the trend towards increasing adoption of digital resources continues, work focusing on how to develop digital textbook pedagogy such that it provides an improvement for student learning needs to be done.
• Usage of IPM resources. Working with institutional stakeholders, platform partners, as well as publishers to develop and measure usage and engagement with IPM resources, as well as usage of enhanced eText features.
• Impact on affordability and access. Developing a transparent model for calculating how the eText/IPM initiative affects the affordability of course materials; working with Financial Aid to monitor student debt load and encumbrance to see if the eText/IPM initiative has an effect.
• More robust models of student achievement. Developing a more robust way of understanding student achievement to yield better insight into the impact of academic initiatives such as eText/IPM.
• Routine measures of student feedback. Student feedback, including student satisfaction with eText/IPM should be monitored and routinely gathered to provide a measure of the student perception of the initiative.
• Large scale surveys of student acquisition and use of resources. Potentially modelled on similar work being done at institutions in the United States, we need to develop a better understanding of how students use and acquire resources, and how that could change over time.
• Student use of required resources. We need to develop a better understanding of how, when, and why students choose to purchase course materials to be able to better support student needs and learning.