Re:It’s time for a new, progressive supply-side economics
by mywittyname on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @11:43AM
(#26003188)
> Why do colleges/universities/professors keep going along with generating profit for the publishing industry? It makes no sense.
My higher-level college professors were really mindful of textbook prices and generally eschewed or at least minimized dependency on textbooks unless absolutely required.
I think professors teaching lower-level courses have no say in textbook selection. The books are sold to department chairs, who require the book for all the courses. Then the professors get the carrot of having some software or other material that helps them teach the course.
If I were an Adjunct making $3000 to teach a calculus class to 30 students, I'd feel bad that they are paying $180 for a text book, but I'd also appreciate having standardized test/homework materials with answer keys.
I do think the future is college students all using some Khan Academy-like program with standardized tests, homework, lectures, and reading materials.
My higher-level college professors were really mindful of textbook prices and generally eschewed or at least minimized dependency on textbooks unless absolutely required.
I think professors teaching lower-level courses have no say in textbook selection. The books are sold to department chairs, who require the book for all the courses. Then the professors get the carrot of having some software or other material that helps them teach the course.
If I were an Adjunct making $3000 to teach a calculus class to 30 students, I'd feel bad that they are paying $180 for a text book, but I'd also appreciate having standardized test/homework materials with answer keys.
I do think the future is college students all using some Khan Academy-like program with standardized tests, homework, lectures, and reading materials.