E-textbooks are gaining momentum in the education systems and are used for teaching and learning. Teachers are often reluctant to accept and use these technologies in the classroom, despite the numerous advantages thereof. In environments where the use of e-textbooks are mandatory, such reluctance often manifests as using the software in a…

The fifth in a series of surveys of computer courses for humanists, this article provides information about past and present courses for those designing such a program. Presents statistics on the numbers of courses offered by departments, the texts used, the types of equipment available, and the programming languages taught. (GEA)

The speaker discusses the establishment of a district policy on the selection of books and the procedures that should be followed if a controversy develops. (IRT)

Aims to conceptualize issues of text selection and censorship in different terms from those in which it has been constructed by Australian media. Asks how texts get used in classrooms and about the nature of classrooms as sites for negotiating issues of meaning and value. Argues for a culturally inclusive curriculum that is responsive to students'…

A college educator (trained in composition) encountered some problems when he began teaching an introductory literature course. In the first year of the course, he used a fiction anthology as his textbook. The class examined one story at a time, and attempts to compare readings seemed forced. The teacher realized that anthologies are narrow in…

Although teachers have been encouraged to use tradebooks as part of the science curriculum, not much is known about the factors--including teachers' assumptions--that influence the decisions about the books they choose to use. This paper explores some of these issues by asking groups of elementary school teachers to choose from a large set of…

Faculty members who want a voice in textbook selection but whose schedules are already overburdened with meetings can still participate in textbook selection. A 7-stage process for involving all faculty in the textbook selection process has been used effectively twice in a large communication fundamentals course program at a state university and…

Eight college listening texts were selected and evaluated by the following criteria: organization, supporting material, and readability. Text organization was assessed by preface material, table of contents, index, and references. Text supporting material was evaluated by the use of hard data, soft data, visual aids, and bibliographies. Text…

The first part of this paper discusses the nature and use of high-inference and low-inference criteria for the evaluation of science textbooks. The second part discusses a project entitled Criteria for the Analysis and Selection of Science Textbooks (CASST). Included are results of a state survey which show that very little emphasis is given to…

Textbook censorship cases from Tennessee and Alabama have been brought before the U.S. Supreme Court. In east Tennessee, fundamentalist families objected to a 1983 Holt, Rinehart, and Winston reading series for grades 1-8. Federal District Judge Thomas G. Hull held that Hawkins County Schools had violated the families' First Amendment rights and…

The concern of this paper is with techniques for improving the understandability of statistics textbooks for novices. Understandability is measured by tests of the reader's performance on creative transfer problems that require using text material in novel situations. The focus is primarily on the instructional objective of conceptual…

This paper discusses six factors which can be used to successfully examine, evaluate, and select reading instructional materials; it also examines the appropriate characteristics of an objective evaluation instrument. Evaluation of reading instructional materials should be based on a sound philosophy of reading instruction as practiced in the…

A review of research on writing textbooks suggests that in general, they do not reflect current theories in either content or instructional approach. Examination of some second language writing textbooks reveals three types: (1) those with a traditional approach emphasizing grammar, form, and models; (2) books acknowledging but not integrating new…

The most frequently chosen textbooks for introductory sociology courses are analyzed. The study reveals that sociology texts change through incrementation rather than through innovative thinking or by rational decisions as to the best way to present sociology to students. Sociology students are not considered in textbook selection; rather,…

A study investigated leading mass communication scholars' opinions concerning the most influential works in their development as scholars, what books or journal articles they would recommend for aspiring scholars, and which researchers in the field are doing promising work. Fifty-one scholars identified through previous studies as being the most…