“Wow. I didn’t know our
textbook was THAT expensive!”
Have
you ever heard that “rude awakening” comment on the first day of class --
students lamenting the price of their book at the bookstore?
That’s
the thing about textbook publishers. As
faculty, we are pitched every day -- in phone calls, emails, postcards inviting
us to adopt their latest and greatest editions…
Publishers
pitch us on the content -- as well they should -- but never mention price. Nor
is it typically mentioned on their web sites, when we read sample chapters and
peruse ancillary material. Sure we can search on sites like Amazon and can
deduce the price based on the used market…but figuring out the new book +
required CD/DVD “package” can be a challenging endeavor.
Perhaps
publishers have the best luck with “newbies” -- those new to teaching, who are
starting fresh and have the freedom to adopt their book of choice.
Seasoned
faculty can get a bit set in our ways though. We do the initial exhaustive search and
find a book that works for us. We tailor our lectures, assignments, quizzes and
Blackboard shells to it. So it takes effort -- sometimes a little, sometimes a
lot -- to persuade us to choose another text.
A
few years back, I took the bait and actually made the switch -- even talked
about it in a Faculty Showcase…
I
was lured in by an open source publisher, offering free access to their texts
for SOC 101, PSY 101 and Social Psychology. I eagerly adopted all three texts…
went through all of the time-consuming changes to update the course sites and
PowerPoints and quizzes and assignments for each class… Only to have the open
source publisher come back last spring and begin charging students a fee to
access the material online…and a bigger fee for a hard-copy text.
This
fall, there was an even more dramatic change: no hard copy texts -- only a card
to purchase an access code at the bookstore. Talk about a nightmare. We didn’t
learn that there would be no physical text -- just cards -- until the first
week of August. The ol’ bait and switch.
So…looks
like I’m ready to begin the selection process again. The open source content
was great when it was free… but not what I would choose now that we have to
pay.
To
those of you who build your classes without a required text, wow. I salute you.
Not so easy with a 101 in the social sciences though. I’ve mused about writing
a book for my 101s, but which one to start with, PSY 101 or SOC 101? And eesh,
after writing a book for my communication class (which needs updating), I’m not
so sure I want to take this on again…
I
wonder…is there another alternative? We need a text as a baseline… is there a
way that we as a class can collaborate on content? I tried this successfully
with my own communication text in last summer… (More on that next week…) What
do you think… is there “open source” content out there that will work?
Suggestions, please. I welcome any ideas you have…
When I first taught Soc 101, I adopted the two selections you (Karly) were using at the time. In doing so, I offered my students the choice of purchasing the Henslin's beautiful hardback textbook (at a cost of about $145), or using the free-at-the-time Flatworld online text by Steve Barkan. It was a lot of work for me to configure a class around two different textbooks, and it turned out the free Flatworld text was so popular among students I wound up dropping Henslin entirely the next time I taught the class.
ReplyDeleteSeveral months later, I took over another section of Soc 101 which already had the Henslin text assigned. I couldn't change the text, so I decided to look into offering students the choice of the free Flatworld text as I had done when I first taught the class. I also found what you're describing here: Flatworld had pulled the 'ol bait and switch, and the text was no longer free.
The clear and singular advantage of Barkan's text was that it was free. I was willing to fill in the holes in order to save students money. The Henslin text was more comprehensive, more balanced, and felt better researched. But it cost $145 more per student, which works out to a total of about $3600 if the entire class purchased a new copy! Small wonder textbook marketing is so relentless - the other day I actually received an e-mail from a publisher offering me an honorarium if I would try out their book by assigning it to a class. Paying an instructor to assign your book?! I sort of felt like a member of Congress.
I digress. The point is, I feel like many courses - and in particular, online courses - DO require a textbook. I don't use a textbook in the 1-credit class I teach, but I do use one in my other classes. There are several reasons for this, perhaps most importantly that a textbook offers more (and complimentary) material than I can offer alone in 16 weeks, and also I feel it's good for students to read different takes on the course material.
I've mitigated the problems of textbook costs over the years by not using the included CDs and by allowing students to purchase up to two textbook editions prior. Last semester I had a student brag he'd scored a 9th edition version of the Henslin text for twelve bucks, plus shipping - a steal by any measure.
All told, I continue to struggle with the same issues. A new copy of the Henslin text runs students about 65% of the cost of the course itself. That's just unacceptable.
If you find another great open source site for textbooks, keep me posted. :)
Hi Erin, thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Sounds like we've been through the same process, with very similar conclusions. For the past few semesters, I've been experimenting with ways to allow students to collaborate on content, as especially in our field, they can find such great examples to illustrate course concepts -- even on YouTube. (See my next blog post for my trials and tribulations with that as well ;-) As for a basic text, I still find that FlatWorld is the least expensive option -- wish they hadn't done away with the hard copies, though!
DeleteOK, so this makes me glad I don't teach Humanities! Really. I have encouraged eBooks and renting them, but that comes with challenges too. I've made course packs for some classes, but, again, some challenges there.
ReplyDeleteI have received calls, emails, and even letters wanting me to adopt this or that. In the world of technology, this means things change every day - not just by semester. OK, there's a lot of $$$ in it or they would not be recruiting you so fervently. I get so mad when I see minor changes to the text for another $50 or $100! It's like the student has endless sources of money.
I also agree with Erin that sometimes the text contains supplementary materials and/or information beyond what I can give them in 8 weeks or 16 weeks.
Actually, I NEVER use Humanities textbooks. Not only are the prices outrageous, but I hold some faint hope that my students will be captivated by the topic and want to continue to learn after they leave my class. And no one ever, ever, ever picks up a textbook to read for fun. So if I want to spark interest in the topic that outlasts the semester, I can't see using a book that might be comprehensive but doesn't model the way people learn outside the classroom. In humanities classes, I'm a fan of assigning primary sources and letting the students thrash out the meaning in discussion, rather than giving them the predigested explanations. In my Native Religion class this semester, I used articles from the many encyclopedias our library has online, and that's working very well. And maybe, just maybe, a student will remember that there is this great resource for finding out about unfamiliar ideas and think to use a library database again!
DeleteWow, I so appreciate your perspectives on this, Chris and Sukey -- and I love your idea, Sukey, of "assigning primary sources and letting the students thrash out the meaning in discussion..." I would love to talk more with you about what that looks like in your classes, online and in-person...and the depth of insights/critical thinking that you see...? And yes, Chris, the textbook publishing industry is quite the machine... one facet of publishing that still remains highly profitable... (as long as we continue to assign texts...and bookstores will only stock latest editions, etc., etc. ;-)
DeleteKarly,
ReplyDeleteA constant struggle... I wish I had answers for you. How do we provide QUALITY material for our students at an AFFORDABLE price? And what IS affordable?
Just an observation... while I am NOT a fan of $100+ textbooks, I do find when students do make at least SOME investment in their learning through the purchase of (reasonably priced) textbooks, they seem to take it more seriously. I had the opportunity last year to "pilot" a new "electronic" textbook for free in PSY 101. I learned that "free" didn't necessarily mean "good" for the students.
I'm looking forward to your future articles!
Mark
Interesting, Mark... I'd love to learn more about the electronic text that you tried for free for PSY 101 (particularly how that worked for you and your students?) I take it that you're not doing it again... ;-))
DeleteThis just came up in the Humanities ATF meeting I attended last week. Some of the folks there have had luck in getting custom copies of an expensive text. Cheap paper, no pictures, no CD, sometimes no cover or binding, but at half the price of the standard textbook. Maybe an option for sociology as well?
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's basically what the hard copy of FlatWorld looked like... only they're not giving that as an option anymore. A bit traumatic for those students who want it "old school" -- an actual, tangible text ;-)
Delete