Relationship between academic discipline and user perception of the future of electronic textbooks

Abstract

In the past, research on electronic textbook has been conducted in hindsight and influenced by the technology used. This paper aims to add to the current research by shifting the focus to the future and student perception. It outlines component desirability, identifies relationships between the desirable or undesirable components and discipline, and ranks the components. The study used an internet survey to propose seventeen components which students could chose to be included or excluded in their future textbooks and rank based on perceived usefulness. The responses from three academic disciplines of Engineering, Medicine, and Business were analyzed in detail. Results showed that the components in electronic textbooks should be tailored to the discipline. Interactive Equations, Hide Unimportant Aspects, and Manipulatable and 3-D images were some of the components that showed association with a discipline. By including student input, designers will be able to meet the students’ exact academic needs.