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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?"
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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
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. 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>.