Research Study Finds BibliU’s Digital Content Platform Improves Student Outcomes

New data from Coventry University and BibliU, a leading learning enablement platform and digital content provider for universities, has shown that students making use of digital content and learning features had better mean module results than their peers who did not use these tools. The study was performed by independent research firm, Green Shoots.

Based on a sample of 14,500 Coventry University students during the 2019/2020 academic year, the data indicates that there is a positive relationship between using the BibliU platform and improved academic performance. Students who made 50 or more visits to BibliU over the course of the 2019/2020 academic year achieved a mean module mark 4% higher than those who did not use the platform.

Similarly, the more time students spent on the BibliU platform, the higher their marks: students who spent less than one hour using the BibliU platform achieved a mean module mark of 60%, while students who used the platform for more than 10 hours during the academic year achieved a mean module score of almost 64%.

Making the most of BibliU’s digital content features available on the platform also showed improvements in academic performance. Students who extensively used BibliU’s interactive features (50 times or more over the academic year), such as favourites tagging, referencing, highlighting, downloads, text to speech, and commenting, achieved a mean module mark that was 2% higher than students using BibliU without the features.

These findings reflect BibliU’s own market research* from 2021 showing that 90% of students believe that most textbooks should be provided digitally, and that 70% of students in the UK have skipped buying necessary textbooks and learning materials due to high costs or perceiving it as a waste of money.

Phil Brabban, University Librarian and Group Director of Learning Resources at Coventry University, says:

“Through our use of BibliU, we are clearly seeing improvements in student performance. This data helps to show that making the most of the digital content access and offerings is something that all educational institutions should consider, especially now there is a drive to embed digital approaches into on-campus learning. Having seen a positive relationship between usage of the available BibliU features and student marks, we are happy to have taken on BibliU as our chosen learning enablement platform.”

Dave Sherwood, CEO at BibliU, comments:

“Due to the pandemic, we have seen a rush towards digitalisation to make content as accessible as possible, without fully knowing the effects this would have down the line. This data clearly shows that there is great promise in higher education institutions making the most of their online learning offering. We are thrilled to see the positive correlation between using BibliU and improved academic performance at Coventry University.”

Mike Kelly, Independent Researcher, Green Shoots Market Intelligence, says:

“With the accelerated shift to online learning over the past two years, it is fantastic to see pioneering edtech companies such as BibliU stepping up to support learners to achieve the best possible outcomes. BibliU’s determination to measure the impact that their resources are having is testimony to their commitment to improving learner outcomes, and we are delighted that we could support them in this work.”