Investigating the use of free, open source, open access, and interactive mathematics textbooks in college courses

Abstract

We summarize findings from a large-scale study which investigates how students and teachers use textbooks. The exploration involved textbooks for calculus, linear algebra, and abstract algebra used in post-secondary classrooms by over 50 teachers and 1,000 students in the United States. The research capitalizes on PreTeXt textbooks, which among many advantages, such as interactive capabilities, permit capturing what users are viewing at any given time and the duration of the viewing. By collecting additional data from the users, we can identify distinct patterns of textbook use associated with specific textbook features. This work opens up a path for understanding how free, open source, interactive textbooks can become tools for enhancing real-time mathematics learning and teaching