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It's been a while since I've looked at textbooks -- so much else is going on -- so I decided to mine the results of 

a survey I did of professors and their views on textbooks

 and what could be done to lower their cost to students.

Faculty seem fairly split. Many support the ideas without giving much comment, or support one but not the other.

In any case control of the teaching material -- or academic freedom and personal style -- are of great importance to a number of professors who responded. Some had the message: We'll consider it. but don't force anything on us.

Here are just a few highlights from the dozens of responses:

 German instructor Deb Kellogg agreed with both proposals:

 humanities instructor Jody Ondich agreed on the first point:

 philosophy professor Lisa Heldke, however, disagreed with that for her field:

 linguistics professor Jill Jepson was blunt:

anthropology professor William O. Beeman warned:





Professor Roopali Phadke of environmental studies at 

 supported the first idea, but not the second:

 communication studies professor Ascan Koerner wrote:

 music professor Scott Miller said the proposals would be OK only if they were for a course that was part of a department's core curriculum for majors:

 history professor Jeffrey Kolnick, like many of the faculty surveyed, seemed to chafe at the thought of a mandate:

Yet Dale Wolf, who teaches courses in juvenile justice and child-abuse protection at the 

, says the proposals don't have to constrict professors:

physics professor Marvin Marshak, along with professors from 

College of St. Benedict / St. John's University

, said his department already follows one or both proposals.

 political science professor Ken Foster said the proposal to allow switching of texts every two years:

And would the proposals make any difference, anyway? Mark Friedman, a faculty member in economics at both 

Education News

On Campus Blog

Alex Friedrich

Author

It’s been a while since I’ve looked at textbooks — so much else is going on — so I decided to mine the results of a survey I did of professors and their views on textbooks and what could be done to lower their cost to students. Two suggestions have been raised by a state…

Should Minnesota colleges restrict professors' choice of textbooks?

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