Students as Co-Authors: Achievement Emotions, Beliefs About Writing, and OER Publishing Decisions

Faculty interest in open educational resources (OER) and open pedagogy has grown over the past several years. The current study examined how achievement emotions and beliefs about writing influenced students’ decisions to publish their work in an OER. Students in two online undergraduate psychology courses worked in groups to write papers on marginalized pioneering psychologists, with the option to contribute their work as chapters in an OER (hosted on Pressbooks). After the project, students (N = 68) completed a survey that included measures of achievement emotions, beliefs about writing, demographic items, and questions about their decision to publish. A majority (61.8%) of students decided to publish their work as chapters in the OER. Those who chose to publish reported significantly less shame and significantly more pride, enjoyment, and positive beliefs about writing. Overall, the findings are informative for faculty using writing-intensive forms of open pedagogy in their courses.