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Share Sell-Through Concerns with Faculty
06/21/02
College stores would like to achieve 100% sell-through on the textbooks on their shelves, but all too often students have other things on their mind besides purchasing books. Even texts that professors list as required are passed up in the store if a student hears from friends that it's not necessary to buy the book in order to receive a decent grade.Frequently, professors don't make enough use of the course materials to justify the student paying a hefty sum for the materials. This could be because some faculty are unaware of the costs to the students, or the hassles unsold texts create for the bookstore. And some supplements to textbooks go unused because the professor is unsure how to implement them into the classwork and lectures.
But at the same time, professors often complain that students reach their classes unprepared and that they end up "dumbing down" their lessons. This can result in too much class time being spent to learn basic concepts and facts at the expense of exercises that foster critical thinking.
In the June 21 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Brad Thompson, an assistant professor of communications at Pennsylvania State University at University Park, writes about how he gets students to show up for class prepared to learn. His answer is simple: daily quizzes that are drawn straight out of their course materials.
Thompson writes that he began giving the quizzes because of the number of students showing up for his classes who were unable to participate in discussions because they didn't read their assignments. The quizzes aren't brain-busters; he often uses true-false statements about key concepts that are taken verbatim from the textbook and study guide.
The short daily quizzes have been an effective way for Thompson to get his students to at least crack their books and review the information inside—and the reaction he has received from many students has been positive, as well.
Since the quizzes are worth 20% of the students' final grade, they are less likely to skip class and miss out on the quizzes. He writes that he has also noticed a correlation between the students' attendance and grades on their exams.
College stores can help professors understand the relationship between returns fees being paid for unsold books and students' lackluster classroom performances. Alert faculty members whenever a substantial number of their required textbooks are sitting unsold on your shelves. If you have a good relationship with the faculty member, you might want to fill him or her in on what students are saying about the course materials and why they aren't buying.
In addition to appearing in the print edition, Thompson's article is online at http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i41/41b00501.htm but it can only be accessed by Chronicle subscribers.
Related Links:
- "New Advocacy Initiative Focuses on Text Sales" (CM Bulletin, 4/30/02)
- "Reducing Returns with Communication" (CM Bulletin, 1/4/02)
- College Store Sell-Through Kit
This kit, located in the Member Resource Center, contains resources to help you work successfully with faculty to sell course materials.
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