3 ms·

I studied law for a few years in Denmark and I remember the insane amount of money required to purchase all the books on the curriculum Most of them were writt

I studied law for a few years in Denmark and I remember the insane amount of money required to purchase all the books on the curriculum Most of them were written by the professors who taught the course and every year or two, they'd reshuffle the contents of the book to make it harder for students to follow the course by purchasing used copies from the previous year Most of the time only a small part of the books were actually part of the curriculum. It wasn't unusual to spend $100-$200 for a 700 page book only to later realise only 50 pages from it would actually be part of the curriculum. It seemed to me the page count had only been boosted to inflate the sticker price I can understand why students turn to pirated copies when they realise they're just viewed as cash cows by the teaching staff

the_only_law 3y ago
The recent strategy I’ve heard of is to release new version of books with special online codes needed to access other content. That way, the students can’t even purchase used books.
- shigawire 3y ago
  That's how it works for many courses now. A strategy I thought was fair at my school was - the main text is free, but you can pay for extra practice problems written by the professor for like $50. That seemed fair to me since I know these adjunct professors aren't making anything for the amount of time they spend.
  - hgsgm 3y ago
    What subject is this that doesn't have thousands of practice problems available for free online or in a $10 used book?
AYBABTME 3y ago
I quit a mandatory econ course, in my engineering track, because the teacher insisted that we buy their 200$ textbook. I switched class to his competitor.
marcosdumay 3y ago
In Brazil the university libraries are expected to make available every book that is necessary for a course. That makes for a lot of very interesting behaviors, like compiling "exercise equivalence tables" between different editions of a book, and students having a culture of self-organizing around the library sharing availability. I believe if I had to buy all the books I used, the cost would be similar to rent.
- pradn 3y ago
  I've never seen "exercise equivalence tables" in the US - that's a great idea! I suppose if pirated PDFs are accessible, this isn't necessary any more.

the_only_law 3y ago

The recent strategy I’ve heard of is to release new version of books with special online codes needed to access other content. That way, the students can’t even purchase used books.

shigawire 3y ago
That's how it works for many courses now. A strategy I thought was fair at my school was - the main text is free, but you can pay for extra practice problems written by the professor for like $50. That seemed fair to me since I know these adjunct professors aren't making anything for the amount of time they spend.
- hgsgm 3y ago
  What subject is this that doesn't have thousands of practice problems available for free online or in a $10 used book?

AYBABTME 3y ago

I quit a mandatory econ course, in my engineering track, because the teacher insisted that we buy their 200$ textbook. I switched class to his competitor.

marcosdumay 3y ago

In Brazil the university libraries are expected to make available every book that is necessary for a course. That makes for a lot of very interesting behaviors, like compiling "exercise equivalence tables" between different editions of a book, and students having a culture of self-organizing around the library sharing availability. I believe if I had to buy all the books I used, the cost would be similar to rent.

pradn 3y ago
I've never seen "exercise equivalence tables" in the US - that's a great idea! I suppose if pirated PDFs are accessible, this isn't necessary any more.