A number of years ago we experimented by replacing an adopted textbook
with a "lending library" of our new and recent textbooks. Homework
assignments were written by the faculty, sometimes using textbook
problems, but often generating "context rich" problem statements. We
thought we were doing them a favor by not requiring the purchase of a
$100+ tome.
Students were encouraged to figure out where we were in their borrowed
book by paying attention to the subjects we were working on. If unsure,
they were encouraged to ask.
They didn't use the books, except perhaps as paperweights. We've gone
back to an adopted textbook.
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"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than
sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Dr. George Spagna
Chair, Physics Department
Randolph-Macon College
P.O. Box 5005
Ashland, VA 23005-5505