I’m bothered by how much I spent on textbooks this semester. I don’t have much of a problem with the prices at the Bookstore; I know that the Union has been doing a lot to bring those prices down to where they’re barely making a profit on them. I’m more concerned with how much I’m paying relative to the use I get out of them.
Before I get into it, I should point out that it’s not a universal problem. I’ve heard from at least some other majors that books are generally very essential. The number of classes I have this year that require multiple expensive and useless books is also relatively high even for my computer and systems engineering major.
Nonetheless, I have four courses this semester where the book is completely useless except for the homework problems and maybe a few reference tables. In these classes, the professors seem to like handing out photocopies with all the information we’ll be going over for a class. I will never open the book to study because I have everything I need in a file folder that I’ve filled with handouts.
Some of these classes also require (or request) that you read ahead. I never do that. I mean no disrespect, but at this school, lectures almost always cover the same material that is in the book. Usually, the lectures require less effort to understand, too.
In both these cases, the book could be made optional if professors would cover in class the few extra points that you pick up from the reading and make the homework available through some other means.
However, what I would prefer to see is more extensive use of the books. If reading requirements were more strictly enforced, professors could use lecture to extend what was read and learned, rather than just reiterate it.
Instead, it seems to me that RPI students—who are supposed to be among the brightest in the world—are coddled through their classes. Aren’t we supposed to be held to a higher standard? Shouldn’t we go the extra mile to make RPI graduates better than the average B.S.?
Or, should we just be teaching from the book?
