Revisiting Textbooks

I’m annoyed. At textbooks.

 

Thanks to the supposed arms race of textbook prices and the resale market, my university bookstore is haranguing me about informing them what textbook I will be adopting (if I do so) for next semester. Yes, this now starts in early March for the semester that begins in September.

 

I haven’t submitted the requisite information for my quantum class, because this might be the semester where I decide not to use the textbook and switch to worksheets. I’ve been doing this for over a decade in my statistical thermodynamics because I don’t like any of the textbooks out there. There is a quantum textbook I do like that I’ve assigned for years. But the price has gone up significantly over the years, and I’ve been thinking of incorporating new aspects into the class such as a more extensive focus on chemical bonding. Also, I think something more liberal-arts-ish as complementary reading such as The Quantum Astrologer’s Handbook might be an interesting pairing. And I’m not going to ask students to purchase two books. I could see my students later in life choosing to re-read the Handbook for fun. On the other hand, they’d try to sell their textbook as soon as possible if not going to graduate school in P-Chem.

 

To textbook or not to textbook? That is a question I’ve mused about. And my conclusions (or lack thereof) haven’t changed these last several years.

 

I’m also annoyed at the G-Chem textbook we’re using. While I was on sabbatical last year, far away and not participating in the discussion, the group teaching this class voted to switch textbooks starting this academic year. The primary reason, I surmise, was unhappiness with the less-developed and possibly clunkier online homework system, because it comes from a much smaller publisher rather than the Pearson juggernaut. We’ve used the Pearson juggernaut in the past for quite a while so most of us are used to its online homework system, Mastering Chemistry. And professors generally like what they’re used to – there’s an activation barrier to learn a new system. My opinion is that from the student perspective, there’s not much difference between one system and another. (See here for the limitations of such online homework.)

 

Last semester in G-Chem 1, the drawbacks of the present textbook (which, to be fair, is like most of the popular G-Chem textbooks in the market) were not as marked. In my opinion, it was marginally inferior in terms of arrangement of material, quality of figures in doing their job of visually highlighting the key features of otherwise challenging concepts, and the types of conceptual questions available. It wasn’t as big a deal. But this semester in G-Chem 2, I’m noticing these drawbacks to a greater extent – significant enough to irritate me beyond the occasional gnat. This, I think, is poorer for the students. But here’s the rub: While I might be significantly bothered by some of these aspects, my fellow instructors might consider these occasional gnats, and much prefer the online homework system that all of us are more used to.

 

We won’t be switching G-Chem textbooks next academic year because it’s a group decision (and I’m just one vote from a dozen instructors) and because I think one should always give a book at least two years before switching. So I’ve requested the group revisit the discussion next year for possibly adopting a different text for the following year. I’m not optimistic I will prevail in a change back to the textbook we used the prior two years that I think was much better for the students even if instructors didn’t like the homework system as much. I’m painting this picture in broad brushstrokes to more starkly emphasize the differences, but the actual discussion will be more nuanced and subtle when the time comes to air our differences of opinion. There are good reasons for us as a group to agree on a single textbook for both semesters of G-Chem and not go our own rogue ways, and I’m sure we’ll revisit these arguments when we meet next year.

 

Since G-Chem and P-Chem are what I’m teaching next semester, and the G-Chem textbook is already decided, I just need to figure out what to do for Quantum. Should I finally abandon the textbook and restructure my class using worksheets? It will be a lot of work on my part, but I think it might be worth it. But would the students be at a significant disadvantage without a textbook? Some students think so. In my Thermo class, some students will write in their evaluations that it would have helped them to have a textbook. This is balanced by those who write positively about the worksheets and not having a textbook. I expect the same to be true (from the student perspective) if I do the same in Quantum. But there are some significant conceptual and mathematical challenges in Quantum that may make the class “harder” for the students. I can imagine what these might be, but I think there are ways to overcome this. I won’t know until I try and they try with me.

 

Now that I’ve written this post, I feel less annoyed. Maybe that’s another role for writing my blog. Besides being a Pensieve-like storehouse for my thoughts, it’s cathartic.