Entries by zyBooks Staff

The Research Behind the Results: How Peer-Reviewed Studies Validate zyBooks Effectiveness

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zyBooks stands alone among major educational publishers in conducting peer-reviewed research on our platform’s effectiveness. While competitors rely on testimonials and marketing claims, we submit our findings to rigorous academic scrutiny through peer- reviewed conference proceedings and journal articles. Recent studies demonstrate measurable improvements in the factors that matter most for student success: engagement, learning […]

Teaching Manufacturing Processes – 2025 zyBooks Guide

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Practical strategies for improving student success with interactive learning The Evidence for Interactive Learning Peer-reviewed research in engineering courses using zyBooks has documented statistically significant improvements when activities are assigned for grades. A study of engineering courses found that the percentage of students receiving A’s, B’s, and C’s increased from 45% to 57%. While these […]

Research-Based Evidence for Interactive Engineering Homework: Key Findings from ASEE 2025

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A seven-semester study presented at ASEE 2025 provides new data on interactive homework effectiveness in engineering courses. Dr. Yasaman Adibi, Dr. Adrian Rodriguez, and colleagues tracked 345 students across similar course conditions, varying only whether interactive textbook activities were assigned for points or recommended and not assigned for points.  Key findings: The research addresses a […]

Five-Fold Engagement: zyBooks Drive Engineering Student Success

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What if a simple change to your homework structure could reduce failing grades by 22% and boost student engagement by 500%? New research from a major public university reveals how zyBooks are transforming engineering education outcomes. Read the research here. Key Research Findings A new ASEE conference paper tracking 345 engineering students across seven semesters […]

Tackling Computer Science Growth

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You likely saw the New York Times article on explosive Computer Science growth and difficulties departments are facing. Several of us professors grew tired of publishers underutilizing the web and instead pushing their textbooks (some with clunky web enhancements) — with big price increases to boot.

zyBooks wins competitive Phase I SBIR grant from U.S. Dept. of Education

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Hadley Dreibelbis, Finn Partners Hadley.Dreibelbis@finnpartners.com 202-518-6496 ZYBOOKS USES U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION GRANT TO FUND UNMET NEEDS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION zyBooks receives $200,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Award Los Gatos, California, June 6, 2018 – With a growing workforce demand for computer science skills, it is more necessary than […]

Coding in the biochemistry lab

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Emma Ward has her eyes fixed on a career in life science research. The University of Illinois at Chicago student talked to numerous faculty while investigating graduate school options. As she gathered advice in laying out her path towards her goal, one problem stood out to her: there was a need for programming skills in […]

Artist discovers a passion for computer science

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When thinking about a college major, John Pham was most interested in art and robotics. So, when it came time to declare a major at the University of California, Riverside, he felt most drawn to mechanical engineering, well aware of the challenges that lay ahead. John’s first experience in coding happened at Citrus Hack, the […]

How we help reduce student frustration

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zyBook authors understand that content delivery can evolve as we better understand our students. One area of concern for us is student frustration. Certainly, we want students to wrestle with our content, but we don’t want them to struggle so much that they give up in frustration. Authors use our student activity report to help […]

Why we work at zyBooks, part 2

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In a previous post, we shared some responses from our zyBooks colleagues to the question “Why do you work at zyBooks?” We went around the office (and the virtual office around the country) to capture some more of what drives our company.

Thankful for you!

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We’ve enjoyed a wonderful 2017 with all of you. In fact, this year zyBooks has impacted more students and instructors than ever! For 2018, we’re looking forward to serving even more customers and offering more products that increase student confidence and make instructors’ jobs more enjoyable. We’ll have some exciting news for you very soon regarding the latest platform updates, so please stay tuned!

Increasing competency in C

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Even to the most seasoned instructor, when 450 students take their seats on the first day of class, the landscape can feel intimidating. Confident achievers sit down in the lecture hall beside curious learners and annoyed students. Some arrive with years of coding experience, whereas others are just starting out. How can an instructor possibly […]

Why we work at zyBooks

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We spend a significant portion of our lives at work. For some, work is just a necessary evil to pay for life’s pleasures. For others, work is a passion and part of one’s complete lifestyle. In this post, staff at zyBooks respond to the question “Why do you work at zyBooks?”

Discrete Math: out with the tome, in with the zyBook

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Dr. Sandy Irani is a longtime Professor of Computer Science at UC Irvine. And like any good professor, she constantly looks for ways to improve the classroom experience. But over the years, Dr. Irani has kept running into the same issue; the classic textbook for her Discrete Mathematics course (considered the “standard” across universities) was […]

Using interactive material to foster sustained learning

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I teach Discrete Mathematics at UC Irvine. Although many professors shy away from teaching lower division courses, I really enjoy reaching students early in their undergraduate careers. In addition to teaching a subject that I love, I also have a chance to impact students’ academic work habits based on my experiences. Looking back, while I […]

Market Wired: Elsevier and zyBooks Bring Computer Organization and Design Textbook Into the Digital Age

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Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, and zyBooks, an online interactive textbook provider, today announced the launch of a web-based interactive version of the market-leading textbook Computer Organization and Design, Fifth Edition (David A. Patterson & John L. Hennessy, 2013). Read more ››

HIGHER EDUCATION: UCR behind next-gen ‘books’

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This week, zyBooks, a Los Gatos-based company co-founded by UCR professor Frank Vahid, received a $4 million infusion of cash from a combination of sources. Bialla Venture Partners in Sausalito put down $2 million. The rest came from other investors and a grant from the National Science Foundation. Read more ››

zyBooks Secures $4 Million in Funding to Take College Textbooks into the Interactive Age

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zyBooks, the leading provider of interactive digital learning products for the rapidly growing higher education STEM (Science, Technology Engineering & Math) market, announced a $4 million investment round led by Bialla Venture Partners, LLC. In conjunction with the funding, managing member of Bialla Venture Partners, David Uri, will join the company’s Board of Directors.

zyBooks Touts ‘Less Text, More Action’

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If a picture is worth 1,000 words, animations are worth 5,000—at least, that’s one of the principles underlying interactive online textbook replacements zyBooks. Another principle: Students should interact and engage with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning as if they’re in dialogue with their education. Read more ››

Success in learning and teaching

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Wendy Hankes has taught high school classes for 24 years and is an expert at picking up new things fast. But when the principal of Big Spring High School in Pennsylvania asked her to teach a brand new Intro to Java course the next school year, even Ms. Hankes was overwhelmed. “I was going to […]

zyBooks Now at 200 Universities in Two Years, Challenging the “Free Materials” Movement as Well as Big Publishers

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A company formed by professors and computing professionals to help college students succeed in STEM courses seems to have struck a chord, with over 200 universities and 60,000 student users in just two year. Yet unlike many recent efforts towards free materials such as Khan Academy, MOOCs, and OpenStax, this company unabashedly charges a subscription fee.

A Programmer With Many Hats – Working at zyBooks

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My journey to zyBooks started with one person: my graduate advisor at UCR, Frank Vahid. Frank had been one of my undergraduate professors, and I had been particularly struck by his unique philosophy towards teaching. I knew I wanted to work with Frank during my graduate studies because of this, because I agreed — the […]

Feedback, keep it coming!

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I’d like to start with a quick introduction. My name is Roman Lysecky. By day (and often nights and weekends) I’m an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona. I am also a co-author of the Programming in C, Programming in Java, and Programming in C++ zyBooks, as well as […]

Textbooks Aren’t Written for Students

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Having been involved in university teaching and publishing for 25 years, and authored three textbooks for two major publishers, I’ve learned this: Most textbooks aren’t written for students. They are written for instructors. That’s because instructors make the adoption decisions.  At zyBooks, from day one we insisted that zyBooks are to be written for students. That means: […]

Meet the zyBooks development team

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Sometimes in the midst of all the great tech that surrounds us, it can be easy to forget that the cool websites, great apps, and can’t-live-without devices that you use daily are designed and built by teams of people. I’d like to introduce one of our core teams at zyBooks, our product development team. That’s me on […]

The Web’s Real Power for Learning

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Would you send your child to a piano instructor who teaches by playing in front of 50 students, testing and grading them every few weeks, and moving on? Probably not. Except for those with an initial knack or extra-strong commitment, most students would quit. Yet that’s how most colleges teach science, technology, engineering, and math […]

Let’s breathe interactive life into the common textbook

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Students learn in a variety of ways — they listen, read, create, speak, share, engage, ask, get assessed, receive feedback, get mentored, and eventually maybe become a mentor themselves. Some need to read less and listen more, others need to “do” first then read. Some need to ask, others need to share, others need to […]

“Learning by Doing” with the Modern Textbook

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I clearly recollect my Circuits and Systems class in a freshman class of 45 students, where every 3rd period was a time for the professor to walk amongst us as we solved problems and raised our hands for help.  Learning happens by doing, and we had an opportunity to do just that with the help of our professor. […]