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Effects of e-textbook instructor annotations on learner performance

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Abstract

With additional features and increasing cost advantages, e-textbooks are becoming a viable alternative to paper textbooks. One important feature offered by enhanced e-textbooks (e-textbooks with interactive functionality) is the ability for instructors to annotate passages with additional insights. This paper describes a pilot study that examines the effects of instructor e-textbook annotations on student learning as measured by multiple-choice and open-ended test items. Fifty-two college students in a business course were randomly assigned either a paper or an electronic version of a textbook chapter. Results show that the e-textbook group outperformed the paper textbook group on the open-ended test item, while both groups performed equally on the multiple-choice subject test. These results suggest that the instructional affordances that an interactive e-textbook provides may lead to higher-level learning.

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Acknowledgments

A previous version of this paper was presented at the 48th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2015. We would like to thank David A. Goodrum and Sarah Engel for reviewing and providing their valuable comments in preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kelly School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Alan R. Dennis

  2. University Information Technology Services, Indiana University, 2709 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, IN, 47408, USA

    Serdar Abaci & Kelly O. McNamara

  3. School of Education, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Anastasia S. Morrone

  4. HighPoint Global, LLC, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Joshua Plaskoff

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  1. Alan R. Dennis
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Correspondence to Serdar Abaci.

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Dennis, A.R., Abaci, S., Morrone, A.S. et al. Effects of e-textbook instructor annotations on learner performance. J Comput High Educ 28, 221–235 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-016-9109-x

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