Get Your Students Hired
What is better--having the curriculum committee select textbooks for each course, or letting instructors select their own text?
Hi Glenn,
That is a good question. Often schools have standardized curriculum as well and this establishes the goals and objectives for the courses. If that is not the case then an instructor should talk with the administration and determine who sets the goals and objectives. Could get sticky otherwise. In my situation I use my advisory committee to help me set goals and objectives that are consistent with business/industry standards so I am supported by them with the goals and objectives I set.
Gary
I definitely agree that textbooks should be departmental and used consistently in the same course. The method of evaluation and determination is where I am a bit contentious. I do not believe the course level, departmental level and school level objectives are well integrated and in fact are often disconnected. Which objectives override and who makes that determination.
Hi Ron,
You make a good point about consensus needing to be reached in making decisions like this. This helps to keep the sections consistent with the overall goal of the college in relation to these courses.
Gary
I have found that if a course is part of a sequence of courses, that is to say, one course is a prerequisite for another, or, if a course has multiple sections taught simultaneously by several different instructors, there must be a group consenses. In this case, an individual instructor's preference should used as input to the decision, and not the decision.
Hi Melanie,
My preference is to select my own textbooks and I get to. I feel I can do a better job of identifying the textbooks that best fit the needs of my students. Many instructors don't have that option and they have work hard at personalizing the textbook to their course. This would be the same for a standardized curriculum. The key is how you make it fit your teaching style.
Gary
Melanie,
For consisitency sake, I believe it would have to be up to a committee, otherwise you could not assure instructors who will have these students in seucceeding courses, that they have learned what you have been lead to believe to begin the next course.