Today when I happened to glance over at my stack of schoolbooks, I came to a realization - most college professors are insensible to the fact that their students might be taking classes other than their own. Its one of those things that I'm sure has crossed my mind before but, in the six or so years that I was away from academia, I seem to have forgotten. Is one textbook per class not sufficient? If a professor needs THREE books just to teach his or her class, either they are trying to teach too much in a given course or they need to find a more thorough textbook. Maybe I'm being unreasonable, but it seems like eight books for five classes is a bit ridiculous. If I allow myself to be paranoid, I guess I could accuse universities and colleges of brokering certain unscrupulous deals with textbook publishers...but that's just silly...right?
Sunday, August 12, 2007
A not so shocking realization.
Today when I happened to glance over at my stack of schoolbooks, I came to a realization - most college professors are insensible to the fact that their students might be taking classes other than their own. Its one of those things that I'm sure has crossed my mind before but, in the six or so years that I was away from academia, I seem to have forgotten. Is one textbook per class not sufficient? If a professor needs THREE books just to teach his or her class, either they are trying to teach too much in a given course or they need to find a more thorough textbook. Maybe I'm being unreasonable, but it seems like eight books for five classes is a bit ridiculous. If I allow myself to be paranoid, I guess I could accuse universities and colleges of brokering certain unscrupulous deals with textbook publishers...but that's just silly...right?
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1 comment:
Professors require multiple books because they can.
Seriously though, some books don't cover everything needed. That is no excuse for requiring books that cost a lot of money while not being used much. Conscientious professors order a text that covers "just about everything" and then supplement it with low cost items, if necessary.
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