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133 votes
16 answers
28k views

Is it ethical to profit by having my students buy my textbook?

This question was suggested to me by How can I sell my text book to my students in e-book format? which asked about the practicalities but attracted many comments about the ethics. So this question is ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
93 votes
22 answers
39k views

What is the point of a lecture when you have a textbook?

I never really understood the point of having a course with lectures when the course has a textbook. Sometimes the subject is so high-level or specialized or so modern that the contents are changing ...
math_lover's user avatar
  • 1,211
42 votes
12 answers
6k views

What is the benefit of writing lecture notes for an introductory course vs using a textbook?

Background: I am a junior university staff member, and I will teach an introductory course in linear algebra for the first time in a few months. I see that many teachers devote time to writing ...
Federico Poloni's user avatar
41 votes
12 answers
12k views

Is it ethical to ask students to proofread a textbook?

I will have a draft of a new textbook ready for the fall semester. It is an engineering class. I very much want feedback from the students concerning the quality and usefulness of the material. What ...
Astor Florida's user avatar
27 votes
13 answers
10k views

How can I encourage students to ask questions in class

In my field (as in many others), students are assigned articles or textbook chapters to be read as preparation for classes (i.e. the whole class has to read the same set of texts). I encourage my ...
Robert's user avatar
  • 1,676
14 votes
3 answers
1k views

How do you choose a textbook for a new class

I am teaching a new class next term and I need to choose a text book (or create a reading list) for it. The class is a hands on introduction to programming with MATLAB. A quick search of my library's ...
StrongBad's user avatar
  • 104k
12 votes
4 answers
2k views

How can I sell my text book to my students in e-book format?

I would like to be able to sell my text book to my students in e-book format. I know there is the kindle store that takes 65% of the sales price, which is in my eyes too much. Are there any e-book ...
tellingmachine's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
620 views

Are there situations where taking an honorarium for trying a textbook on a class is acceptable behavior?

A publisher for an e-textbook is offering me an honorarium if I try it with a class. My own ethical take on this is that I would not entertain this regardless of the size of the honorarium (which I ...
Scott Seidman's user avatar