Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: [Phys-l] Physics Education Research



If you reply to this long (13 kB) post please don't hit the reply button unless you prune the copy of this post that may appear in your reply down to a few relevant lines, otherwise the entire already archived post may be needlessly resent to subscribers.

*******************************************
ABSTRACT: High school teacher Ed Eckel complained in a PhysLrnR post about the $149 price of the 2008 hard copy edition of Calvin Kalman's book "Successful Science and Engineering Teaching. . . ." Kalman responded that the 2007 paperback edition is only $30. A recent PhySoc post by Art Hobson indicates a possible way to lower textbook prices - authors can follow his example and complain to the publisher - but the results of Art's complaint do not seem to have had an effect on prices quoted online for Hobson's book "Physics: Concepts & Connections." Joe Redish has outdone Hobson in lowering book prices by placing "Teaching Physics With the Physics Suite" [Redish (2003)] online and FREE to all! Paraphrasing Redish "Will web documents with interactivity lead to textbooks just withering away, despite their apparent current vitality?"
*******************************************
Calvin Kalman (2008a), in his PhysLrnR post of 2 Apr 2008 titled "Physics Education Research" wrote [bracketed by lines "KKKKK. . . . ."; my insert at . . . .[insert]. . . ."]:

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
Many people have been asking about the research behind my book "Successful Science and Engineering Teaching in Colleges and Universities". . . .[Kalman (2007)]. . . published about a year ago and which had excellent reviews such as that found in found in "Journal of Chemical Education" Oct. 2007. . .[Stanitski (2007)]. . . .

That research along with many other items including work of Dewey Dykstra, Igal Galili and others appears in a new book . . . .[Kalman (2008b)]. . . . that will soon be published by Springer. Sample pages, table of contents, etc. are now on the Amazon.com website <http://tinyurl.com/2j5bn3>.
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

To which Ed Eckel (2008) replied:

"As a high school teacher struggling to teach physics more effectively, I make an effort to keep up with the work done by correspondents to this list. And I understand that members of this list are concerned that HS teachers become aware of the implications of the work being done in science education. But, at $150, the book Dr. Kalman speaks of will never make it into the hands of most teachers currently inservice!"

Calvin Kalman (2008c) responded:

The book. . .[Kalman (2008b)]. . . will eventually be available in paperback. In the mean time, the earlier book "Successful Science and Engineering Teaching in Colleges and Universities" . . . [Kalman (2007)]. . . is available in paperback at Amazon.com for $30.30.

In a recent PHYSOC post "Authors can reduce textbook prices," Art Hobson (2008) suggested that authors might reduce prices by complaining to their publishers. Hobson wrote:

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
There have been numerous well-justified complaints about the high price of university textbooks. I have recently learned that textbook authors can help reduce these prices.

Partly to hold the price down, I have always strived to keep my own textbook (Physics: Concepts & Connections, now in its 4th edition) short and low-tech (one color, paper cover). . . . .[Hobson (2006)]. . . . . Nevertheless, the bookstore price has always turned out to be about as high as the competing longer and higher-tech books. So I asked my publisher why my book was so expensive. The answer was that the publisher "levels" the wholesale price of textbook offerings within a given field such as the physical sciences. "Leveling" means that all textbooks in
that field are priced about the same, regardless of the production and other costs of each book. So my book was getting no price advantage over other textbooks, despite my efforts to hold the price down! My guess is that most publishers level their prices.

When I complained about this policy, my publisher was very sympathetic. A few months later they took my advice and reduced the price to reflect my book's true publication costs. The reduction was huge: From $85 (retail price ~$110) to $50 (retail price ~$62) -- a huge saving for students. . . . [BUT WHERE IS HOBSON (2006) AVAILABLE FOR $62?. . , I'm delighted, and I'm eager to tell people about it because I'd like all textbook authors to reduce their book's price, and I'd like to encourage textbook price competition.

Authors who do this need to be aware that it will reduce their overall royalty payments unless the reduced price results in a corresponding increase in sales. Hopefully, most authors are more interested in getting their book into students' hands and less interested in royalties.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I note that Joe Redish has outdone Hobson in lowering book prices. Joe has placed his entire book "Teaching Physics With the Physics Suite" [Redish (2003)] online and FREE to all! I shall forego my usual curmudgeonly carping [Hake (2007)] regarding Redish's book.
In the abstract of "Whither/Wither The Physics Textbook In An Active/Interactive Era?" Redish (2006) wrote [my CAPS]:

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
The textbook still seems to be the core element in the large introductory university physics course, determining the content, pace, notation, and orientation taken by the instructor and students. Yet a number of trends seem to portend deep change in how the textbook is conceived and used. Few instructors are satisfied with the textbook: "It covers too many topics, it does them in the wrong order, it doesn't do things in the way I like." FEW STUDENTS ACTUALLY READ THE TEXTBOOK. Research has increasingly demonstrated that "active learning" is much more effective for students than the "transmissionist telling" that seems to be the model for most textbooks. And finally, an upcoming generation of students seems much more comfortable with obtaining their information on-line, often with active game-like components and video. In this paper, I explore some ways text can be adapted to the current university physics learning environment that is increasingly incorporating more active learning elements. I THEN CONSIDER THE FUTURE AND WHETHER WEB DOCUMENTS WITH INTERACTIVITY WILL LEAD TO THE TEXTBOOK'S JUST "WITHERING AWAY" DESPITE ITS APPARENT CURRENT VITALITY.
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR


Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>

REFERENCES
Eckel, E. 2008. "Re: physics education research." PhysLrnR post of 3 Apr 2008 03:03:03-0700; online at <http://tinyurl.com/3x47e3>.

Hake, R.R. 2007. "Re: soliciting suggestions" PhysLrnR post of 3 Dec 2007 16:57:56-0800; online at <http://tinyurl.com/2ctscc>.

Hobson, A. 2008. "Authors can reduce textbook prices," PhysSoc post of 2 Apr 2008 12:20:59-0500; online at <http://tinyurl.com/2sxa8f>.

Hobson, A. 2006. "Physics: Concepts & Connections," Benjamin Cummings (4 edition, paperback). Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/2xsero>. Note the "Look Inside" feature. Amazon gives the price as $99.60, not $62 as indicated by Hobson. Barnes & Noble information at <http://tinyurl.com/2zvtc3>. Barnes & Noble gives the "online price" as $110.67 and the member price as $99.60 [the same as Amazon, membership costs $25]. The publisher, Benjamin Cummings is evidently represented in the U.S. by Pearson and Addison Wesley <http://www.mypearsonstore.com/index.asp?partner_select=49>. They advertise Hobson's book at <http://tinyurl.com/26mhgx> with a "list price" of (you guessed it) "$110.67 and the member price of $99.60.

Kalman, C.S. 2007. "Successful Science and Engineering Teaching in Colleges and Universities," Anker Publishing (paperback $30.30). Amazon.com information <http://tinyurl.com/36ha8j>.

Kalman, C.S. 2008a. "Physics Education Research," PhysLrnR post of 2 Apr 2008 15:14:33-0400; online at <http://tinyurl.com/3ywaf2>. To access the archives of PhysLnR one needs to subscribe, but that takes only a few minutes by clicking on <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/physlrnr.html> and then clicking on "Join or leave the list (or change settings)." If you're busy, then subscribe using the "NOMAIL" option under "Miscellaneous." Then, as a subscriber, you may access the archives and/or post messages at any time, while receiving NO MAIL from the list!

Kalman, C.S. 2008b. "Successful Science and Engineering Teaching: Theoretical and Learning Perspectives." Springer (hardcover). Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/2j5bn3>. Amazon gives the price as $149.00. Note the "Search Inside" feature. Amazon states "This title has not yet been released."

Kalman, C.S. 2008c. "Re: Physics Education Research," PhysLrnR post of 3 Apr 2008 10:01:28 -0400; online at <http://tinyurl.com/yqz4b3>.

Redish, E.F. 2003. "Teaching Physics With the Physics Suite" (TPWPS), John Wiley. Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/2t4mx6>. Amazon give the price as $38.95 but TPWPS is also online for FREE at <http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~redish/Book/>.

Redish, E.F. 2006. "Whither/Wither The Physics Textbook In An Active/Interactive Era?" Based on a poster presented at the conference, "Reconsidering the Textbook: A Workshop," Washington, DC May 24-26; online at
<http://www.physics.umd.edu/perg/papers/redish/RedishWither.pdf> (876 kB).

Stanitski, C. 2007. Review of Kalman (2007), J. Chem. Educ. 84(10): 1609; online at <http://tinyurl.com/2rt7tj>.