How Many Adjuncts Read the Textbook for Courses They Teach

[UptonSinclair]

I am working on a course that uses a textbook that has outlived its useful life with too many revisions. The materials are scattered though the text with references to other chapters making the textbook little more than a reference work.

It got me thinking. How many instructors have actually read the textbook used in their course. I am not talking about reading summaries or publisher provided answers to end of chapter questions. I am talking about actually reading the textbook to understand its contents. Since adjuncts are not paid to spend this extra time in course preparation, I am guessing the number is quite low.

[cookderosa]

I am working on a course that uses a textbook that has outlived its useful life with too many revisions. The materials are scattered though the text with references to other chapters making the textbook little more than a reference work.

It got me thinking. How many instructors have actually read the textbook used in their course. I am not talking about reading summaries or publisher provided answers to end of chapter questions. I am talking about actually reading the textbook to understand its contents. Since adjuncts are not paid to spend this extra time in course preparation, I am guessing the number is quite low.

I had the luxury of picking textbooks for our department, so I picked ones that I knew really well and used as a student back in the day (newer editions obviously!). That said, way way way back in the day as dept chair, I picked the texts for the Course Development Models- these were the bones that were approved as content BEFORE the course could be taught. Textbook titles were required in CDMs, so by the time the adjunct got to the level of teaching, their book was already assigned to them. "The adjuncts come and go, but the text remains consistent" is the idea. Adjuncts didn't really have the ability to modify the text selection unless they were long-time teachers because textbook orders have almost a year lead time, so trying to get a book added to the bookstore 2 months before the semester starts is impossible. (we were required to have every required book in the bookstore so students could use financial aid; they could buy it wherever they wanted, but it had to be available in the bookstore or it could only be "suggested"). So- all that backstory leads me to say that I doubt any adjunct reads the books deeply- maybe they do, but they are probably reading as they go too. As for a full time faculty? I would think they would in butt-in-seat simply because if you've ever stood up there and had a student as for clarity from the text...well, you better know the answer. In a distance learning format you have the luxury of writing your answers to students, thus enough lag time to cya.

Great question btw, I hadn't thought about it before.

[clep3705]

Consider how low the pay is and how tight community college budgets are, there might not be a free copy of the textbook for the adjunct. I don't think many adjuncts would want to spend their own money.