
How the Textbook Industry Tries to Hook Professors - ademarre
http://www.wired.com/2016/05/textbook-industry-tries-hook-prof/
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iak8god
This fails to mentions some of the best "hooks" they've got: tools to reduce
lecture prep time, assignment prep, and grading.

I've seen textbooks whose online content for instructors include a full deck
of (extremely uninspired) powerpoint slides. And I've seen lazy profs use
them.

Web-based assignments with automated grading are also powerful hooks. Like the
prepared slides, they discourage instructors from engaging with the material,
providing any unique insights from their own experience, or actually working
with students to achieve understanding.

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tetraodonpuffer
if you are paid an adjunct salary and have basically no time to prep for
classes because you have to teach several just to put bread on the table, you
might not have a choice but to use these "uninspired" slides.

I would be wary of calling a teacher "lazy" in these post-tenure days. Not
saying lazy teachers don't exist but these days I would definitely give them
more the benefit of the doubt.

~~~
iak8god
I've done the adjunct thing, and I'm sympathetic to your point. The current
state of post-tenure higher ed is just not sustainable. What exactly is the
point of having an overworked person (pulling 60 hours weeks at below minimum
wage, as some adjuncts I know do) stand up in front of a group of students and
read slides to them that just summarize the textbook chapter that they've all
supposedly just read? Luckily for the administrators who've created this
situation, most students care so little about actually getting an education
that they fail to notice how badly they're being ripped off.

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iamcreasy
I once asked a professor - why you don't tell the students that they can get
older version of the text book that's 90% cheaper, and the content is
essentially the same - to which he replied, he isn't allowed to say it in the
class because of the deal their school has with the university book store and
the publisher.

But he also said, he drops hints about it in the first class. On the syllabus
it says 'X book or other versions'. It's up-to the student to figure our what
it means.

It's especially heartbreaking when you find someone struggling to buy $200
book just to get the online access code, or he will fail the course. He didn't
even pay that much to sign up for the class.

That's why initiatives like openstax(by Bill and Melinda gates foundation) and
wiki books makes me so happy.

~~~
blahedo
I actually told my bookstore that students this fall could use either the 2nd
or 3rd edition of a book (Sipser, which for the record is _breathtakingly_
expensive, but the 3rd edition is nearly identical to the 2nd, right down to
the typesetting), not really expecting them to follow through. To my surprise,
they did---the bookstore website lists both editions and says either is
acceptable.

...but if you buy or rent them at the college bookstore, they cost about the
same. D'oh. On the open market, used copies of the 2nd edition go for less
than a third the price of used copies of the 3rd.

(So I sent my students an email apprising them of the situation and suggesting
they get their orders in before the thousands of other CS students buying
their fall textbooks. :)

~~~
iamcreasy
Thank you Sir. You are my hero.

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toolz
I think this touches on a core problem. When you add a middleman between the
product and the consumer you get a painful market. The consumer doesn't get to
choose his product thus the product gets to market to the middleman and
gradually increase it's cost to the consumer because the middleman won't
notice a dollar here and a dollar there, whereas the consumer absolutely
would.

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ivan_ah
Our startup is working to fix the mainstream textbook problem. Specifically, I
think the biggest ripoffs are the textbooks for first-year students; they're
totally full of bullshit, so our mission is to replace them with more concise,
and more affordable books.

So far we have two titles: one on precalc+mech+calc (3 in 1 for the win), and
a second on linear algebra (see my profile for links). We're currently looking
for authors to write the _No bullshit guide to biology_ , and _No bullshit
guide to chemistry_. If you have teaching or tutoring experience with these
subjects, please get in touch.

Between the excellent OER books that available, and independent publishers
like us, I think we can fix the textbook cartels. I give them 2-3 more years,
then they're history.

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jasonjei
I had a really good survey of automata professor tell us that we could buy the
textbook if we wanted, but if we read the slides and/or reviewed taped
lectures, the textbook would be completely optional.

I think the sign of a good educator is when the teacher provides materials
that are decoupled from the textbook. I like the idea of making the textbook
optional. Of course, this means more work for the instructor (need to develop
homework, lectures, supplemental reading/slides). And a lot of instructors in
university didn't care to do this work.

