Research

zyBooks vs. Traditional Textbooks

• With a single lesson, zyBooks improved student performance by 16%
• Least-prepared students improved by 64%
• Students self-reported significantly higher levels of engagement with the zyBook
• Students voluntarily spent twice as long with the zyBook, even though the zyBook had half the text
• 96% of instructors polled recognize zyBooks for boosting their students’ confidence with the subject matter

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zyBooks improve student letter grades up to ⅔

• Across 4 courses at 3 universities (Univ. of Michigan, Univ. of Arizona, and UC Davis)
• Comparing students in the same course that switched from traditional textbooks to zyBooks, with the same instructor and semester of year
• Students using zyBooks received more As/Bs and fewer Ds/Fs
• zyBooks significantly improved exam and project grades

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How Many Points Should Be Awarded for Interactive Textbook Reading Assignments?

• Will students read if awarded points? Yes, 74% more
• Will students “cheat” system to get points? No, most students will be earnest
• How many points should be awarded? 5 – 10 points in total (out of 100 course points)

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Students Learn More with Less Text that Covers the Same Core Topics

• Students learned 118% more in a single-lesson with minimal text
• Minimal text preserves substance, conveying the same content with more precise language.
• Methods: Avoid extra words/phrases, use declarative sentences, move text to tables where appropriate
• Students self-reported a significant preference for minimal text

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STUDENTS WILL EARNESTLY COMPLETE INTERACTIVE WEB MATERIAL

• When using zyBooks, fewer than 3% of students “cheat the system”
• Despite the availability of the answer, the overwhelming majority of students will make an earnest attempt at completion
• Methods: award small amount of points for completion and assign reasonable amount of work

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• A. Edgcomb, F. Vahid, R. Lysecky, and S. Lysecky. Getting students to earnestly do reading, studying, and homework in an introductory programming class, ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, March 2017. paper
• J. Yuen, A. Edgcomb, and F. Vahid. Will Students Earnestly Attempt Learning Questions if Answers are Viewable?, Proc. of ASEE Annual Conference, New Orleans, June 2016. paper
• A. Edgcomb and F. Vahid. Simplifying a Course to Reduce Student Stress so Students Can Focus Again on Learning, Proc. of ASEE Annual Conference, New Orleans, June 2016. paper
• F. Vahid, S. Lysecky, and A. Edgcomb. Introduction to Computing Technology: New Interactive Animated Web-Based Learning Content, Proc. of ASEE Annual Conference, New Orleans, June 2016. paper
• F. Vahid, A. Edgcomb, S. Lysecky, and R. Lysecky. New Web-Based Interactive Learning Material for Digital Design, Proc. of ASEE Annual Conference, New Orleans, June 2016. paper
• F. Vahid, A. Edgcomb, B. Miller, and T. Givargis. Learning Materials for Introductory Embedded Systems Programming using a Model-Based Discipline, Proc. of ASEE Annual Conference, New Orleans, June 2016. paper
• F. Vahid, D. de Haas, S. Strawn, A. Edgcomb, S. Lysecky, R. Lysecky. A Continual Improvement Paradigm for Modern Online Textbooks. Int. Conf. of Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI), Spain, Nov. 2015. paper
• A. Edgcomb, D. De Haas, R. Lysecky, F. Vahid. Student usage and behavioral patterns with online interactive textbook materials. Int. Conf. of Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI), Spain, Nov. 2015. paper
• A. Edgcomb, F. Vahid. How Many Points Should Be Awarded for Interactive Textbook Reading Assignments? Proc. of Frontiers in Education conference (FIE), El Paso, Oct. 2015. paper
• A. Edgcomb, F. Vahid, R. Lysecky. Students Learn More with Less Text that Covers the Same Core Topics, Proc. of Frontiers in Education conference (FIE), El Paso, Oct. 2015. paper
• A. Edgcomb, F. Vahid, R. Lysecky, A. Knoesen, R. Amirtharajah, and M.L. Dorf. Student Performance Improvement using Interactive Textbooks: A Three-University Cross-Semester Analysis, Proc. of ASEE Annual Conference, Seattle, June 2015. (Best paper award) paper
• A. Edgcomb, J. Yuen, F. Vahid. Experiments in Student Crowdsourcing of Practice Question and Animation Creation, Proc. of ASEE Annual Conference, Seattle, June 2015. paper
• A. Edgcomb, F. Vahid. Effectiveness of Online Textbooks vs. Interactive Web-Native Content, Proc. of ASEE Annual Conference, Indianapolis, June 2014. (Best paper award) paper