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Zero textbook cost – And 3 other ways to reduce the cost of learning resources for students
 

Zero textbook cost – And 3 other ways to reduce the cost of learning resources for students

Erica Wilson Professor, Clare Thorpe, Desiree Kozlowski Associate Professor Carlie Daley
Substack
Substack
13/04/2026

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Zero textbook cost – And 3 other ways to reduce the cost of learning resources for students
Published (Version of record)
1
Higher education
I (Erica) have been observing my eldest child navigate her first weeks as a new student at a large Australian university. Despite working as an academic in universities for over 25 years, trying to guide her through post-senior year life has been quite challenging: early entry (or not?), mid-year entry (or not?), gap year (or part thereof?), application, enrolment, subject selection, accommodation, living costs…....If I feel this lost, I wonder how it must be for her and other first year students?.........The prescribed texts for this semester alone will likely cost her (or probably her parents) hundreds of dollars......A good university subject is determined by the extent and number of learning resources, right? Yes….and also no. Having set textbooks and reading lists in my own teaching for many years, I must admit I rarely questioned why I needed so many, how they were directly relevant to assessment and learning success and, perhaps most importantly, what the impost was on students.......In making a holistic curriculum transformation through the Southern Cross Model block approach, our University has recently asked all of us the same questions.
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