In response to Max, there is a professor in the math department at my alma mater who has written his own free, online textbook. The following is some of what he has to say on the subject (see http://linear.ups.edu/):
"This textbook has more freedom than most... First, there is no cost to acquire this text, and you are under no obligation whatsoever to compensate or donate to the author or publisher. So in this most basic sense, it is a free textbook. Therefore you can also make as many copies as you like, ensuring that the book will never go out-of-print. You may modify copies of the book for your own use - for example, you may wish to change to a preferred notation for certain objects or add a few new sections. I have applied a copyright to the book, and subsequently licensed it with a GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). It is this combination that allows me to give you greater freedoms in how you use the text, thus liberating it from some of the antiquated notions of copyright that apply to books in physical form. The main caveat is that if you make modifications and then distribute a modified version, you are required to again apply the GFDL license to the result so that others may benefit from your modifications...It is hoped that by this arrangement, others will help improve the book through rapid correction of errors and contributions of exercises and new material." Sound like this sort of textbook could be useful in any discipline. Is anyone aware of such a textbook in the field of ecology? Ann On 11/18/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I am another individual who doesn?t use textbooks in my classes. Instead, > I cobble together a reading list from professional primary and secondary > literature, portions of textbooks (we pay the appropriate fees to the > publishers), encyclopedia entries, IPCC reports, etc. Even then, I > frequently find that I can?t find appropriate readings. Many times review > papers are too advanced for my students, or focus on the recent literature > to the exclusion of fundamental information that was obtained decades ago. > Often, I think the latter is what undergraduates need the most. > > I have often thought of filling the gap by writing my own materials. These > would be like stand-alone textbook chapters, or like review papers written > for an undergraduate audience. A good example would be the chapters in the > Crawley Plant Ecology book (ISBN-10: 0632036397). > > The principal reason that I haven?t written any such chapters is that it > would take a LOT of work to write one, and that work wouldn?t be > recognized/rewarded by my University unless it was published. Since I don?t > know of any places to publish papers of this kind, the need to publish makes > me spend time on other sorts of projects instead. > > I am wondering if there are others like me who feel that if appropriate > peer-reviewed venues existed for publication of textbook chapters that they > would write them? I could imagine a sizable body of such becoming available > for use on the internet, much as with TIEE. These could be used in a modular > fashion to construct courses tailored to individual needs. Are there others > out there who would be interested in this model of writing and course > preparation? > > Max Taub > > > Quoting Andrew Park <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > Hi Ecologgers, > > > > Responses are invited to the following thoughts, especially from > > experienced teachers: > > > > I teach a 2nd year course in basic Ecology at an undergraduate > > university. After four years of teaching this course, I am being > > drawn to the following conclusions: > > > > [1] ? The textbook is awful. Not only that, but all the textbooks I > have > > looked at that are aimed at teaching an overview of Ecology seem > to be > > chronically faulted: > > * There is simply too much stuff in them. My course is one semester > > long, but > > even if it were a full year course, I could probably cover less than > 50% of > > this book. > > > > ** The books are grossly overpriced. Some students are unable to afford > them, > > and since the publisher is constantly coming out with slightly > > altered ?new? > > editions, the resale price is low. > > > > *** The material they cover and their overall emphasis, appears to be > poorly > > selected and framed given the tenor of current public discourse on > ecology > > and environment. > > > > **** Finally, I believe that I can do this stuff better myself. > > Although there > > are commonalities among all universities, the sociocultural > > backgrounds of > > students and the bioregional contexts in which we work differ > greatly. > > How can a mass-produced textbook ever hope to capture that? > > > > [2] ? Students today are different. Numerous research studies and even > more > > anecdotal evidence suggest that numerical skills, basic literacy, > the > > ability to organize information into coherent arguments, and > engagement > > with the natural world are all worse than they were (even) a > decade ago. > > And yet textbooks speak to students as though they know how to > read a > > graph, as though they are sophisticated reasoners, and perhaps > most > > importantly, as though they already understand the difference > between > > salamanders and lizards, spiders and insects. NEWSFLASH ? THEY > DON?T. > > > > [3] Because of [1] and [2], I conclude that I need to take a radically > > different approach to teaching this basic course: > > > > * The course needs to be longer, probably split into ?Basic? and > ?Advanced? > > Semesters > > > > ** A module on the basic variety of life needs to be built into the > course. > > > > *** The course has to contain materials relevant to modern environmental > > discourse. For example, discussions of energy transfer and primary > > productivity cannot really be taught without reference to the human > > appropriation of primary productivity. > > > > **** At the same time, the traditional technical basis for teaching > ecology > > cannot be abandoned. the question is, how to make it as > > engaging as some > > of the more sexy, issue-based stuff. > > > > ***** Finally I believe that I may throw away the textbook, along > > with most of > > the powerpoints, the WEB-CT site and a lot of the other > technological > > paraphernalia that often seems to distract as much as it > informs. > > > > I WOULD LIKE TO GET SOME RESPONSE TO THESE THOUGHTS FROM > TEACHERS. IN > > PARTICULAR: > > > > * Have any of you decided to chuck the required text and simply use > handouts > > and readings? > > > > ** Have you changed the ways that you teach, either to reflect our > current > > environmental crisis, or to reflect the preparedness of students. > > > > *** What, in your opinion, are the ESSENTIAL things that we have to > teach in > > basic Ecology courses. > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Andy Park (Biology Department, University of Winnipeg) > > >
