4 ms·
Why don't more young professors release free textbooks online as a way of raising their profile in the field? Seems to me that should be a great way to advance
by sqs 17y ago
Why don't more young professors release free textbooks online as a way of raising their profile in the field? Seems to me that should be a great way to advance on the tenure track, but is it actually? Certainly it's not the same as publishing original research, but it ought to at least help out in showing an interest in pedagogy.
- neilc 17y agoPublishing a full textbook would probably take too much time away from focusing on research, which is the real currency you need to make your tenure case on. Online publication of a cleaned-up course notes and the like would probably make sense, though.
- JimmyL 17y agoIt takes a hell of a lot of effort to release a textbook - time to (conceptually) design it, write it, edit it, have other professors edit it, etc. In the time it takes to do that, they could have banged out a few interesting papers to present at a conference. As for advancing in tenure-track, I doubt it. As illogical as it is, tenure-track positioning is generally related to research skill, as opposed to pedagogical interest and/or ability. Most large universities would prefer to have great researchers (who publish works with the schools' name on them) who teach as needed and without passion, as opposed to the other way around.