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Who is guiding your business, So to speak? My professors taught mostly from the textbook. I assumed (back then) they chose the texts. Chemistry. Biology. Math.

Who is guiding your business, So to speak? My professors taught mostly from the textbook. I assumed (back then) they chose the texts. Chemistry. Biology. Math. Even computer science (funny that was an IBM manual and some profs college printed and stapled pages of machine instructions), physical geography (strahler & strahler), humanities, etc. But each prof referred to text to cover on our own. So now who choses what text? And doesn't that drive why you print what you print? What happens if prof doesn't like chapter 10, say?

dougmccune 10y ago
The professors still choose the textbook. They dictate what the student needs to buy (or rent or acquire through other means). That part of the equation hasn't changed in decades, as far as I am aware. But they're entirely disconnected from the financial burden that they place on their students. There are certainly some teachers who will care more about the financial cost than the "ease of use" (for lack of a better phrase). But often if you can offer an easier package, meaning pre-made content for use in lectures, etc. then they'll pick the more expensive book if it makes their life easier. So I could offer a simple book that retails for $50, but the prof will choose the one that costs 3x that if they don't have to make their own tests and handouts. Regarding your question about what happens if a prof doesn't like a chapter, we're starting to see decent growth in customized books. So for instance, for one class they might only want 3 chapters from one book and 4 from another. This is similar to course packs that have been around forever, but created by the publisher. Publishers love it because it means the "book" is custom for the course and you can't easily just buy/rent a used version. These are often sold much cheaper because the publisher is guaranteed 100% sell-through for a course.
- sliverstorm 10y ago
  Of course a professor who has more time might be valuable to you- more office hours, for example, or better prepared lectures.
- tamana 10y ago
  OK that's not bad. But in that case, how about I just buy the book (with all the aids and guides) and drop the worthless tuition payment to the school?
jccalhoun 10y ago
From my experience there are a handful of publishers and when it comes time to pick a book we look at the relevant book from the publishers and pick whichever we want. That being said, we don't have any control over them releasing a new version. I've had the book store tell me I had to order a new version because they couldn't get the previous one. (and of course the only difference was one or two paragraphs per chapter...) As far as the scenario of "what happens if prof doesn't like chapter 10," more and more publishers are pushing "customized texts" which we can decide what chapters we want and they will publish it on demand. My last year at my phd program they switched to a book which was combined from readings and chapters from a variety of books. The reason publishers love this is, of course, that students have to buy the book from them because the book we use at Any Town State is unique and can't be bought used from Amazon or something. So instead of being a benefit to the student it is just another scam to squeeze more money out of students.

dougmccune 10y ago

The professors still choose the textbook. They dictate what the student needs to buy (or rent or acquire through other means). That part of the equation hasn't changed in decades, as far as I am aware. But they're entirely disconnected from the financial burden that they place on their students. There are certainly some teachers who will care more about the financial cost than the "ease of use" (for lack of a better phrase). But often if you can offer an easier package, meaning pre-made content for use in lectures, etc. then they'll pick the more expensive book if it makes their life easier. So I could offer a simple book that retails for $50, but the prof will choose the one that costs 3x that if they don't have to make their own tests and handouts. Regarding your question about what happens if a prof doesn't like a chapter, we're starting to see decent growth in customized books. So for instance, for one class they might only want 3 chapters from one book and 4 from another. This is similar to course packs that have been around forever, but created by the publisher. Publishers love it because it means the "book" is custom for the course and you can't easily just buy/rent a used version. These are often sold much cheaper because the publisher is guaranteed 100% sell-through for a course.

sliverstorm 10y ago
Of course a professor who has more time might be valuable to you- more office hours, for example, or better prepared lectures.
tamana 10y ago
OK that's not bad. But in that case, how about I just buy the book (with all the aids and guides) and drop the worthless tuition payment to the school?

jccalhoun 10y ago

From my experience there are a handful of publishers and when it comes time to pick a book we look at the relevant book from the publishers and pick whichever we want. That being said, we don't have any control over them releasing a new version. I've had the book store tell me I had to order a new version because they couldn't get the previous one. (and of course the only difference was one or two paragraphs per chapter...) As far as the scenario of "what happens if prof doesn't like chapter 10," more and more publishers are pushing "customized texts" which we can decide what chapters we want and they will publish it on demand. My last year at my phd program they switched to a book which was combined from readings and chapters from a variety of books. The reason publishers love this is, of course, that students have to buy the book from them because the book we use at Any Town State is unique and can't be bought used from Amazon or something. So instead of being a benefit to the student it is just another scam to squeeze more money out of students.