Senate
urged to review textbooks
By
Gerry Wachovsky
On-line Forty-Niner
David
McKay, a mathematics professor at Cal State
Long Beach, urged the A.S. Senate last Wednesday
to consider a textbook and syllabi review
that he said he believes would make it easier
for students to excel in their classes.
"I
just feel that the math textbooks being
used today are too large, are too expensive,
and cover too much," McKay said in
his presentation to the Senate on course
curriculum policies. "The real problem
is that students don't know how to study
from textbooks."
McKay
continued with analytical examples where
he measured different math books from prior
years against the texts of today and found
some interesting differences. The math text
used in 1968, for example, "covered
52,500 square inches, while the math book
today is over 105,000 square inches."
Later
in his presentation, McKay introduced another
factor contributing to the problem, course
syllabi. According to McKay, "syllabi
are a 'junior-partner' to the textbook industry,"
and at times, have been deciding factors
when the department chairman or woman evaluates
the professor.
Tenure-track
professors undergo what is called an RTP,
or retention tenure and promotion assessment,
which is similar to the one students fill
out at the end of the semester grading their
teachers. The RTP evaluation, however, is
much more in-depth and decides if teachers
get to keep their jobs.
McKay
said that previous math department chairmen
and women have told him personally that
they "gave better evaluations to instructors
that had calendars [outlining when subjects
would be covered] in their syllabi,"
because, according to the chairs, "it
shows that there is planning."
McKay
said that the syllabus is not supposed to
be the sole document used for evaluation
and noted that the true meaning of the syllabus
is "so the university is not sued by
the students."
McKay's
presentation was met with mixed feelings
from the Senate. Dr. Harvey Morley disagreed
with McKay, saying that he finds it to be
"completely appropriate" as a
source of evaluation. When McKay asked Morley
to elaborate, however, Morley responded
by saying, "this is something I would
prefer to not discuss in this forum."
Sen.
Morgan Wheeler also disagreed with McKay.
"In
this day and age," Wheeler said, "many
students have a busy life and schedule,
and I don't think [changing syllabi] should
be encroached upon." He said that the
syllabus provides an overview of the course
and many students find that helpful.
McKay
clarified that he was not urging the abolishment
of syllabi, but rather the defeat of the
"unspoken rule that if you want to
teach here, you have to do it this way."
McKay also believes that cheaper and smaller
textbooks, along with syllabi review, would
improve students' learning experiences.
He urged creating a student/faculty organization
that lobbies for "thinner and less
expensive books."
Art
Wayman, mathematics and statistics department
chairman, said, "I would like to see
review of the courses at least in math,
to provide students with a core knowledge
that they can retain." Syllabi, he
said he believes, should include grading
policies and a "macro overview"
of the course. He also made it clear that
he does not review a professor solely on
syllabi and does not believe in the practice
of doing so.
Unfortunately
for McKay and Wayman, they believe that
syllabi review and the advocating of thinner
textbooks is an uphill battle. It remains
uncertain if the Senate plans on voting
on this issue.
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