Dear Professor Temple,
My course textbook appears defective. Page 44 begins in the middle of a
paragraph. But page 43 ends on a full
paragraph about a completely different subject.
Can you tell me if there’s something wrong with my book? I think it may be missing some pages.
Sincerely,
Illiterate Irene
[+]
Dear Irene,
Hunny.
I don’t want to blow your mind or anything, but pages 42 and
43 comprise a two-page inset. That’s why
those two pages have a fancy border and a different font from the rest of the
chapter. And why that section is called “A
Closer Look at Hamster Art.” And why
those two pages are, you know, an entirely different color than the rest of the
chapter.
Strap in, sister. This semester’s gonna be a wild ride.
I had this today.
ReplyDeleteI got the e version of the text and it say "copyright protected" all over the place.
My response: You need to buy it. You're looking at the free preview.
It used to be the case that students thought the insets were simply sections of the text that were different, and therefore not important to read. That's actually an astute assumption since, in my experience as a professor and student, those topics don't appear on the exams.
ReplyDeleteNow, this takes that assumption and both turns it on its head and simultaneously takes it to a whole new level. (It turns in on a whole new head level? I think that still needs some work.) To NOT see the difference between the inset and the regular text is simply extraordinary. This could be a quantum leap for evolution, though would hesitate to mention the direction of that leap within earshot of the student.
I suppose telling them it's like a 'link' in their book to something else would have just confused such an individual. Wow, illiterate! One student marveled that I knew what page to look something up on. I introduced him to the index and he was simply floored. 'It's like google, only better," he enthused. Personally, I don't see how an index is anything like google, but...
ReplyDeleteI had some students like that in a service course I taught about a dozen years ago. While working on a course project I assigned, they asked me how to do something and I told them to look up information in the library. It didn't take them long to come back to me during a lecture and say that they didn't know how to do that. (Weren't there any librarians there to help them? Did those students bother to ask?)
DeleteAfter the lecture ended, I dragged them to the library, which just happened to be on the way back to my office. I introduced them to the concept of the index, and they looked completely baffled, giving me a you-mean-you-can-do-that-sort-of-thing look.
Later, in another lecture, I mentioned a reference book that I suggested that each of them add to their personal libraries once they graduated and started working. One of them responded by asking if it was interactive.
I went back to my office shaking my head, convinced that humanity was doomed.
You mean, "convinced that no young whipper snapper would take your job."
DeleteI was once informed by an indignant student that if I expected them to read the captions and side-bar material, I should list it on the syllabus. CC, I had a similar exchange with a student about that magical thing that tells what the big words mean, the glossary.
ReplyDeleteOh my head.
The magic TOC always makes their eyes bug, too!
Delete"It's a Book" by Lane Smith is worth a look if you have time to check amazon.
Deletehttp://www.amazon.com/Its-Book-Lane-Smith/dp/1596436069/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1358222097&sr=8-3&keywords=It%27s+a+book
I once had a student email me about some practice questions in the textbook. I asked them to complete Chapter 1, Questions 1-10. The student asked me, "Sir, I can't find questions 1-10, the book just has questions starting at 11."
ReplyDeleteThe book numbers the question CHAPTER.QUESTION; i.e. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.
*sigh*
The OP and the comments here are simply amazing. I feel lucky not to have a rejoinder here. Last fall, one of the ways I discovered that I had the Best Class Ever was that they actually talked about how much they liked the parts of the book that I didn't assign: the "case studies" at the end of each chapter, which I also like but don't assign because they aren't usually based on culturally relevant examples for them (i.e. pop culture that isn't readily available, etc.).
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised they didn't need a spatula to scrape me off the floor after I heard that.
Tells you something about how many books they read, doesn't it? This is one reason my book has as little to no parallel text aside from figure captions, which never exceed one paragraph, usually consisting of three or fewer sentences at 7th-to-9th grade level. I dare not use Roman numerals, ever: they can't understand them.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Roman Numerals, I had a student email me once saying he couldn't find the "II" key on his keyboard to type "WWII."
DeleteHow did he type the email?
Delete"Speaking of Roman Numerals, I had a student email me once saying he couldn't find the "II" key on his keyboard to type "WWII." "
Delete[forehead slap]
FWIW, I love to ask test questions based on those inserts and sidebars. heh heh
ReplyDeleteAt least Irene is attempting to read the assigned reading, even if she is having trouble with it. (Trying to find a positive here...)
ReplyDeleteThe horror of this post is that the comments prove it's not an isolated example.
ReplyDeleteWhat are they doing for the twelve years before university to not know about an index or a glossary?
Playing with themselves in the corner.
DeleteIs my laborcamp project sounding sensible yet?
Watching sports and reality shows on TV.
DeleteI know, it's horrifying, but you did ask.
Yes, but EVERY FREAKING DAY?
DeleteWhy do you think they're always so red and sore?
DeleteBAMlag will cure that....
DeleteMy students can't even find the damn course website that tells them where in the textbook they should be reading. An email from a student, and my response:
ReplyDeleteHello professor, I'm not clear as to what we are supposed to read for lectures this week.
Hello, readings are in the "Readings" section of the course website.
[Sheesh.]
My spousal unit is a high school English teacher. He has every kid in his school for two years in a row. He berates them about plagiarism, how to take notes, MLA, reading textbooks, spelling and grammar checking, etc. He tells them that they must carry this precious cargo of learning with them to college. They nod their fluffy lil' heads.
ReplyDeleteI know other teachers of high school creatures who do the same thing. And it all falls out of their brains on their way to freshman orientation.
I think we need to make a demonstrated understanding of these things necessary in order for them to get a driver's license. I honestly believe that's the only way it will be taken seriously.
I wish that could be done, but the parent flakes would have a fit. They now look forward to the day when they can get their precious spawn a car and won't have to schlep them hither and yon.
DeleteBefore I graduated college I had to pass a Regents' Test. It was a test of writing skills. If only we could expand that to include simple math (without a calculator figure cost per ounce/pound/fluid ounce, making change, miles per gallon) along with writing and reading comprehension for high school "graduates," the world might be a better place, at least for proffies.
But once again, parents would scream. My spousal proffie said they would plotz.
I actually hate the proliferation of sidebars, called-out quotations, etc., etc. in textbooks (and other reading material) today. As a reader, I find the clutter distracting (and as a writer, I think it's either important enough to work into the flow of the text, or should be left out). But at least I know how to read it (and I have to admit that I haven't encountered any students who are flummoxed by such additions, though that may just be because so few of them do the reading at all).
ReplyDelete