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109-512: A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbooks and other books used in schools. Today, many textbooks are published in both print and digital formats. The history of textbooks dates back to ancient civilizations. For example, Ancient Greeks wrote educational texts. The modern textbook has its roots in

218-461: A Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. CK-12 FlexBooks are free to use online and offer formats suitable for use on portable personal reading devices and computers – both online and offline. Formats for both iPad and Kindle are offered. School districts may select a title as is or customize the open textbook to meet local instructional standards. The file may be then accessed electronically or printed using any print on demand service without paying

327-440: A tree structure . Spider diagrams: Using spider diagrams or mind maps can be an effective way of linking concepts together. They can be useful for planning essays and essay responses in exams. These tools can give a visual summary of a topic that preserves its logical structure, with lines used to show how different parts link together. Some memory techniques make use of visual memory. One popular memory enhancing technique

436-671: A Latin translation from the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament . Gutenberg's invention made mass production of texts possible for the first time. Although the Gutenberg Bible itself was expensive, printed books began to spread widely over European trade routes during the next 50 years, and by the 16th century, printed books had become more widely accessible and less costly. While many textbooks were already in use, compulsory education and

545-822: A Pomodoro) is composed of a 25-minute study or work period and a 5-minute rest period. And it is recommended that every 4 Pomodoro's, should be followed with a 15-30-minute break. Though this technique has increased in popularity, it hadn't been empirically studied until more recently. A software engineering corporation found that employees using the Pomodoro Method saw a decrease in their work flow interruptions and an increase in their satisfaction. by being mindful of wasted time during study, students can increase their learning productivity. Journaling can help students increase their academic performance principally through reducing stress and anxiety. Much of students’ difficulty or aversion to analytic subjects such as math or science,

654-506: A compass. The Black-Red-Green method (developed through the Royal Literary Fund) helps the student to ensure that every aspect of the question posed has been considered, both in exams and essays. The student underlines relevant parts of the question using three separate colors (or some equivalent). BLA ck denotes ' BLA tant instructions', i.e. something that clearly must be done; a directive or obvious instruction. RE d

763-542: A cut of student activity fees. The Fund For the Public Interest has been subject to lawsuits and accusations of unfair and exploitative labor practices, and it has resisted unionization efforts by its canvassers. In 2016, U.S. PIRG joined conservative groups in opposing the Obama Administration 's rules that expanded worker overtime pay, which resulted in criticism against the organization in

872-584: A degree program and tuition and fees are lower, the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time, full-time student was $ 886 in academic year 2003–2004, representing almost three-quarters of the cost of tuition and fees. According to the 2nd edition of a study by the United States Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG) published in February 2005: "Textbook prices are increasing at more than four times

981-454: A faculty order for the book at the end of the term and the edition is still current, they may offer students the wholesale price of the book, which could range from 5 to 35 percent of the new retail price, according to the GAO report. When students resell their textbooks during campus "buyback" periods, these textbooks are often sold into the national used textbook distribution chain. If a textbook

1090-434: A familiar room, building or set of landmarks as a way of coding and recalling sequenced facts). Some mnemonics use a simple phrase or fact as a trigger for a longer list of information. For example, the cardinal points of the compass can be recalled in the correct order with the phrase " N ever E at S hredded W heat". Starting with North , the first letter of each word relates to a compass point in clockwise order round

1199-461: A highly effective way to increase the efficiency of coding and long-term memory. Popular uses of analogies are often forming visual images that represent subject matter, linking words or information to one's self, and either imagining or creating diagrams that display the relationship between elements of complex concepts. A 1970 study done by Bower and Winzez found that as participants created analogies that had sentimentality or relevance to themselves as

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1308-408: A kiosk and ordering books online with a third party facilitator or renting directly from the store's inventory. Some stores use a hybrid of both methods, opting for in-store selections of the most popular books and the online option for more obscure titles or books they consider too risky to put in the rental system. Rented items can be used for a set duration of time, then are required to be returned to

1417-466: A large scale by ordering textbooks for entire courses at lower prices from international distribution channels. While the 1998 Supreme Court decision Quality King v. L'anza protects the reimportation of copyrighted materials under the first-sale doctrine , textbook publishers have still attempted to prevent the U.S. sale of international editions by enforcing contracts which forbid foreign wholesalers from selling to American distributors. Concerned about

1526-537: A letter to political leaders urging them to shut down the country and start over with strategies to contain the surging coronavirus pandemic. U.S. PIRG and individual state PIRGs have taken positions against highway expansion or new construction projects as wastefully expensive and unneeded, helping to stop projects such as the Illiana Expressway in Illinois. U.S. PIRG actively lobbied for passage of

1635-414: A loophole through this definition in state bills. Given that the problem of high textbook prices is linked to the "broken" economics of the market, requiring publishers to disclose textbook prices to faculty is a solution pursued by a number of legislatures. By inserting price into sales interactions, this regulation will supposedly make the economic forces operate more normally. No data suggests that this

1744-524: A loss of sales for U.S. retailers. Additionally, the availability of lower-priced textbooks through these channels has heightened distrust and frustration among students regarding textbook prices, and college stores find it difficult to explain why their textbook prices are higher, according to the National Association of College Stores. Retailers and publishers have also been concerned that some U.S. retailers may have engaged in reimportation on

1853-473: A new edition costs 12% more than a new copy of the previous edition (not surprising if the old version is obsolete), and 58% more than a used copy of the previous edition. Textbook publishers maintain these new editions are driven by demand from teachers. That study found that 76% of teachers said new editions were justified "half of the time or less" and 40% said they were justified "rarely" or "never". The PIRG study has been criticized by publishers, who argue that

1962-624: A number of textbooks already exist, and are being used at schools such as MIT and Harvard. A 2010 study published found that open textbooks offer a viable and attractive means to meet faculty and student needs while offering savings of approximately 80% compared to traditional textbook options. Although the largest question seems to be who is going to pay to write them, several state policies suggest that public investment in open textbooks might make sense. To offer another perspective, any jurisdiction might find itself challenged to find sufficient numbers of credible academics who would be willing to undertake

2071-425: A person were to study two things once, at different times, the one studied most recently will be easier to recall. Blocking is studying one topic at a time. Interleaving is another technique used to enhance learning and memory; it involves practicing and learning multiple related skills or topics. For example, when training three skills A, B and C: blocking uses the pattern of AAA-BBB-CCC while interleaving uses

2180-444: A portion of student activity fees in the form of a labor checkoff or in the form of automatically enrolled dues to the association. Students may elect at some institutions to have the fees refunded to them or opt-out, although many students are unaware that this is the case. At some institutions, opting out of the fee only lasts one academic term, requiring students who do not wish to be members and pay dues to have to opt-out. In 1982,

2289-399: A price quote or offer. These online book buyers often offer "free shipping" (which in actuality is built into the offer for the book), and allow students to sell multiple books to the same source. Because online book buyers are buying books for resale, the prices they offer may be lower than students can get on online marketplaces. However, their prices are competitive, and they tend to focus on

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2398-475: A researcher and head of a university reading clinic that tutored teenagers and young adults. In 1986, when Dr. Gary Gruber’s Essential Guide to Test Taking for Kids was first published, the author had written 22 books on taking standardized tests. A work in two volumes, one for upper elementary grades and the other for middle school, the Guide has methods for taking tests and completing schoolwork. Memorization

2507-412: A result of this, those who journaled immediately before these tests reported a lower amount of anxiety, and a better test result. Studying can also be more effective if one changes their environment while studying. For example: the first time studying the material, one can study in a bedroom, the second time one can study outside, and the final time one can study in a coffee shop. The thinking behind this

2616-627: A royalty, saving 80% or more when compared to traditional textbook options. An example print on demand open textbook title, "College Algebra" by Stitz & Zeager through Lulu is 608 pages, royalty free, and costs about $ 20 ordered one at a time (March 2011). (Any print on demand service could be used – this is just an example. School districts could easily negotiate even lower prices for bulk purchases to be printed in their own communities.) Teacher's editions are available for educators and parents. Titles have been authored by various individuals and organizations and are vetted for quality prior to inclusion in

2725-409: A selection of books that have been approved by the state Department of Education. Teachers receive the books to give to the students for each subject. Teachers are usually not required to use textbooks, however, and many prefer to use other materials instead. Study skills Study skills or study strategies are approaches applied to learning . Study skills are an array of skills which tackle

2834-442: A small commission only after the sale is completed. According to textbook author Henry L. Roediger (and Wadsworth Publishing Company senior editor Vicki Knight), the used textbook market is illegitimate, and entirely to blame for the rising costs of textbooks. As methods of "dealing with this problem", he recommends making previous editions of textbooks obsolete, binding the textbook with other materials, and passing laws to prevent

2943-427: A student receives. If a professor chooses to use the same book the following semester, even if it is a custom text, designed specifically for an individual instructor, bookstores often buy the book back. The GAO report found that, generally, if a book is in good condition and will be used on the campus again the next term, bookstores will pay students 50 percent of the original price paid. If the bookstore has not received

3052-532: A tendency for students to record lectures verbatim, instead of writing the points of a lecture in their own words. Speed reading, while trainable, results in lower accuracy, comprehension, and understanding. Flashcards are visual cues on cards. These have numerous uses in teaching and learning but can be used for revision. Students often make their own flashcards , or more detailed index cards – cards designed for filing, often A5 size, on which short summaries are written. Being discrete and separate, they have

3161-465: A textbook. Supplemental items range from CD-ROMs and workbooks to online passcodes and bonus material. Students often cannot buy these things separately, and often the one-time-use supplements destroy the resale value of the textbook. According to the Student PIRGs, the typical bundled textbook costs 10%–50% more than an unbundled textbook, and 65% of professors said they "rarely" or "never" use

3270-512: A unique individual, they were better able to store information as well as recall what had been studied. This is referred to as the Self-reference Effect. Adding to this phenomenon, examples that are more familiar an individual or that are more vivid or detailed are even more easily remembered. However, analogies that are logically flawed and/or are not clearly described can create misleading or superficial models in learners. There

3379-551: Is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . The market for textbooks does not reflect classic supply and demand because of agency problems . Some students save money by buying used copies of textbooks, which tend to be less expensive, and are available from many college bookstores in the US, who buy them back from students at the end of a term. Books that are not being re-used at the school are often purchased by an off-campus wholesaler for 0–30% of

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3488-402: Is a RE ference Point or RE quired input of some kind, usually to do with definitions, terms, cited authors, theory, etc. (either explicitly referred to or strongly implied). GRE en denotes GRE mlins, which are subtle signals one might easily miss, or a ‘ GRE EN Light’ that gives a hint on how to proceed, or where to place the emphasis in answers. Another popular method while studying is to use

3597-557: Is consistent with current memory consolidation models that student tasks requiring analysis and application are better suited toward the morning and midday while learning new information and memorizing are better suited to evenings. The Pomodoro Method is another effective way of increasing the productivity a set amount of time, by limiting interruptions. Invented in the 1980s, the Pomodoro Technique segments blocks of time into 30-minute sections. Each 30-minute section (called

3706-439: Is due to a lack of confidence or belief that learning is reasonably within their abilities. Therefore, reducing the stress of learning new and/or complex material is paramount to helping them succeed. Students without access to an outside source of support can use journaling to simulate a similar environment and effect. For example, Frattaroli, et al., studied students that were preparing to take graduate study entrance exams, such as

3815-402: Is especially useful for retaining and recalling new material. The theory of spacing allows students to split that a single long session to a few shorter sessions in a day, if not days apart, instead of cramming all study materials into one long study session that lasts for hours. Studying will not last longer than it would have originally, and one is not working harder but this tool gives the user

3924-437: Is important; getting adequate rest improves memorisation. Students are generally more productive in the morning than the afternoon. In addition to time management and sleep, emotional state of mind can matter when a student is studying. If an individual is calm or nervous in class; replicating that emotion can assist in studying. With replicating the emotion, an individual is more likely to recall more information if they are in

4033-473: Is in fact true. However, The Student PIRGs have found that publishers actively withhold pricing information from faculty, making it difficult to obtain. Their most recent study found that 77% of faculty say publisher sales representatives do not volunteer prices, and only 40% got an answer when they directly asked. Furthermore, the study found that 23% of faculty rated publisher websites as "informative and easy to use" and less than half said they typically listed

4142-764: Is not as effective as cues that learners create themselves. Self-testing is another effective practice, when preparing for exams or other standardized memory recall situations. Many students prepare for exams by simply rereading textbook passages or materials. However, it's likely that this can create a false sense of understanding because of the increased familiarity that students have with passages that they have reviewed recently or frequently. Instead, in 2006, Roediger and Karpicke studied eighth-grade students’ performance on history exams. Their results showed that students who tested themselves on material they had learned, rather than simply reviewing or rereading subjects had both better and longer lasting retention. The term Testing Effect

4251-412: Is not going to be used on campus for the next semester of courses then many times the college bookstore will sell that book to a national used book company. The used book company then resells the book to another college bookstore. Finally, that book is sold as used to a student at another college at a price that is typically 75% of the new book price. At each step, a markup is applied to the book to enable

4360-433: Is some support for the efficacy of concept mapping as a learning tool. Public Interest Research Group The PIRGs emerged in the early 1970s on U.S. college campuses. The PIRG model was proposed in the book Action for a Change by Ralph Nader and Donald Ross , in which they encourage students on campuses across a state to pool their resources to hire full-time professional lobbyists and researchers to lobby for

4469-513: Is that as when an individual changes their environment the brain associates different aspects of the learning and gives a stronger hold and additional brain pathways with which to access the information. In this context environment can mean many things; from location, to sounds, to smells, to other stimuli including foods. When discussing environment in regards to its effect on studying and retention Carey says “a simple change in venue improved retrieval strength (memory) by 40 percent.” Another change in

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4578-399: Is the method of loci , a system of visualizing key information in real physical locations e.g. around a room. Diagrams are often underrated tools. They can be used to bring all the information together and provide practice reorganizing what has been learned in order to produce something practical and useful. They can also aid the recall of information learned very quickly, particularly if

4687-434: Is the process of committing something to memory, often by rote. The act of memorization is often a deliberate mental process undertaken in order to store information in one's memory for later recall. This information can be experiences, names, appointments, addresses, telephone numbers, lists, stories, poems, pictures, maps, diagrams, facts, music or other visual, auditory, or tactical information. Memorization may also refer to

4796-401: Is used to describe this increase in memory performance. Taking notes by using a computer can also deter impactful learning, even when students are using computers solely for the purpose note-taking and are not attempting to multitask, during lectures or study sessions. This is likely due to shallower processing from students using computers to take notes. Taking notes on a computer often ushers

4905-516: Is useful during the first interaction with the subject of study is REAP method . This method helps students to improve their understanding of the text and bridge the idea with that of the author's. REAP is an acronym for R ead, E ncode, A nnotate and P onder. Annotating and Encoding helps reprocess content into concise and coherent knowledge which adds to a meaningful symbolic fund of knowledge. Precise annotation, Organizing question annotation, Intentional annotation, and Probe annotation are some of

5014-769: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , an independent U.S. government agency which was founded as a result of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act after the Great Recession and the financial crisis of 2007–2008 . U.S. PIRG helped win passage of the Credit CARD Act of 2009 , protecting consumers from certain predatory practices by credit card companies. Product safety work includes warning consumers about potentially unsafe products in

5123-542: The 2007 edition of the College Board's Trend in College Pricing Report published October 2007: "College costs continue to rise and federal student aid has shown slower growth when adjusted for inflation, while textbooks, as a percentage of total college costs, have remained steady at about 5 percent." In most U.S. K-12 public schools, a local school board votes on which textbooks to purchase from

5232-456: The Amazon kindle, e-textbooks are not an innovation, but have been "gaining momentum". According to the article " Are textbooks obsolete?", publishers and editorials are concerned about the issue of expensive textbooks. "The expense of textbooks is a concern for students, and e-textbooks, address the face of the issue, Williams says " As publishers we understand the high cost of these materials, and

5341-526: The CK-12 catalog. An effort is underway to map state educational standards correlations. Stanford University provided a number of titles in use. Curriki is another modular K-12 content non-profit "empowering educators to deliver and share curricula." Selected Curriki materials are also correlated to U.S. state educational standards. Some Curriki content has been collected into open textbooks and some may be used for modular lessons or special topics. Similar to

5450-556: The College Cost Reduction and Access Act in 2007, which reduced interest rates on student loans and increased funding for Pell Grants . It supported the expansion of open educational resources on campus and of campus food banks . Some PIRGs are members of a larger network of non-profit organizations called the Public Interest Network. While part of the same organization and often staffed by

5559-693: The Flat World financial model sustainable. However, in January 2013 Flat World Knowledge announced their financial model could no longer sustain their free-to-read options for students. Flat World Knowledge intends to have open textbooks available for the 125 highest-enrolled courses on college campuses within the next few years. CK-12 Flexbooks are the open textbooks designed for United States K-12 courses. CK-12 FlexBooks are designed to facilitate conformance to national and United States and individual state textbook standards. CK-12 FlexBooks are licensed under

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5668-478: The GRE, LSAT, and MCAT. They found that students’ journal entries recorded immediately before taking these historically stress-inducing tests followed a similar logical flow; where during the beginning of writing, participants would express fear or concern toward the test. However, through the course of writing their experiences down, participants would encourage themselves and ultimately cultivate hope in upcoming exams. As

5777-625: The ISBN or title, author and edition, most textbooks can be located through online used booksellers or retailers. Most leading textbook companies publish a new edition every 3 or 4 years, more frequently in math and science. Harvard economics chair James K. Stock has stated that new editions are often not about significant improvements to the content. "New editions are to a considerable extent simply another tool used by publishers and textbook authors to maintain their revenue stream, that is, to keep up prices." A study conducted by The Student PIRGs found that

5886-589: The PEE method; Point, evidence and explain, reason being, this helps the student break down exam questions allowing them to maximize their marks/grade during the exam. Many Schools will encourage practicing the P.E. BEing method prior to an exam. Spacing , also called distributed learning by some; helps individuals remember at least as much if not more information for a longer period of time than using only one study skill. Using spacing in addition to other study methods can improve retention and performance on tests. Spacing

5995-636: The PIRGs established the Fund for the Public Interest (commonly referred to as "the Fund") as its fundraising and canvassing arm. The student fee system of PIRG funding has been met with controversy and with a number of legal challenges. In 2014, students at Macalester College in Minnesota voted to end their relationship with MPIRG due to the group's revenue structure, which relied on MPIRG automatically receiving

6104-414: The U.S PIRG Education Fund is rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator , with an overall score of 92%. Charity Navigator defines a four-star review, as "Exceeds or meets best practices and industry standards across almost all areas. Likely to be a highly effective charity ." U.S. PIRG's consumer protection work includes financial and product safety reforms. U.S. PIRG lobbied for the creation of

6213-401: The ability to remember and recall things for a longer time period. Spacing effect is not only beneficial for memorization, but spaced repetition can also potentially improve classroom learning. The science behind this; according to Jost's Law from 1897 “If two associations are of equal strength but of different age, a new repetition has a greater value for the older one”. This means that if

6322-444: The actual price the publisher would get for the book. Once a textbook is purchased from a retailer for the first time, there are several ways a student can sell his/her textbooks back at the end of the semester or later. Students can sell to 1) the college/university bookstore; 2) fellow students; 3) numerous online websites; or 4) a student swap service. As for buyback on a specific campus, faculty decisions largely determine how much

6431-472: The advantage of allowing students to re-order them, pick a selection to read over, or choose randomly for self-testing. Software equivalents can be used. Summary methods vary depending on the topic, but most involve condensing the large amount of information from a course or book into shorter notes. Often, these notes are then condensed further into key facts. Organized summaries: Such as outlines showing keywords and definitions and relations, usually in

6540-482: The aim of reselling them for a profit. Like online marketplaces, online book buyers operate year-round, giving students the opportunity to sell their books even when campus "buyback" periods are not in effect. Online book buyers, who are often online book sellers as well, will sometimes disclaim whether or not a book can be sold back prior to purchase. Students enter the ISBN numbers of the books they wish to sell and receive

6649-598: The annotation methods used. A method used to focus on key information when studying from books uncritically is the PQRST method . This method prioritizes the information in a way that relates directly to how they will be asked to use that information in an exam. PQRST is an acronym for P review, Q uestion, R ead, S ummary, T est. There are a variety of studies from different colleges nationwide that show peer-communication can help increase better study habits tremendously. One study shows that an average of 73% score increase

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6758-603: The bundled items in their courses. A 2005 Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report in the United States found that the production of these supplemental items was the primary cause of rapidly increasing prices: While publishers, retailers, and wholesalers all play a role in textbook pricing, the primary factor contributing to increases in the price of textbooks has been the increased investment publishers have made in new products to enhance instruction and learning...While wholesalers, retailers, and others do not question

6867-464: The charges for returned books from bookstores. According to the National Association of College Stores, the entire cost of the book is justified by expenses, with typically 11.7% of the price of a new book going to the author's royalties (or a committee of editors at the publishing house), 22.7% going to the store, and 64.6% going to the publisher. The store and publisher amounts are slightly higher for Canada. Bookstores and used-book vendors profit from

6976-443: The convenience of their service. Some even claim that buying used textbooks online and selling them to online book buyers has a lower total cost than even textbook rental services. In response to escalating textbook prices, limited competition, and to provide a more efficient system to connect buyers and sellers together, online textbook exchanges were developed. Most of today's sites handle buyer and seller payments, and usually deduct

7085-473: The copies of the textbook. Legislation at state and federal levels seeks to limit the practice of bundling, by requiring publishers to offer all components separately. Publishers have testified in favor of bills including this provision, but only in the case that the provision exempts the loosely defined category of "integrated textbooks". The Federal bill only exempts 3rd party materials in integrated textbooks, however publisher lobbyists have attempted to create

7194-442: The cost of textbooks and supplies for degree-seeking students as a percentage of tuition and fees varies by the type of institution attended. For example, the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time, full-time student for academic year 2003–2004 was $ 898 at 4-year public institutions, or about 26 percent of the cost of tuition and fees. At 2-year public institutions, where low-income students are more likely to pursue

7303-513: The dynamics and personal resistances to learning new techniques. Study skills are generally critical to success in school, considered essential for acquiring good grades, and useful for learning throughout one's life . While often left up to the student and their support network, study skills are increasingly taught at the high school and university level. The term study skills is used for general approaches to learning, skills for specific courses of study. There are many theoretical works on

7412-421: The effectiveness of study may be achieved through changes to things unrelated to the study material itself, such as time-management , boosting motivation and avoiding procrastination , and in improvements to sleep and diet . Time management in study sessions aims to ensure that activities that achieve the greatest benefit are given the greatest focus. A traffic lights system is a simple way of identifying

7521-480: The effects of differential pricing on college stores, the National Association of College Stores has called on publishers to stop the practice of selling textbooks at lower prices outside the United States. For example, some U.S. booksellers arrange for drop-shipments in foreign countries which are then re-shipped to America where the books can be sold online at used prices (for a "new" unopened book). The authors often getting half-royalties instead of full-royalties, minus

7630-414: The effort of creating an open textbook without realistic compensation, to make such a proposal work. Currently, some open textbooks have been funded with non-profit investment. The other challenge involves the reality of publishing, which is that textbooks with good sales and profitability subsidize the creation and publication of low demand but believed to be necessary textbooks. Subsidies skew markets and

7739-406: The electronic format permit us diminish the general expense of our content to the market". E-textbook applications facilitate similar experiences to physical textbooks by allowing the user to highlight and take notes in-page. These applications also extend textbook learning by providing quick definitions, reading the text aloud, and search functionality. In-store rentals are processed by either using

7848-545: The elimination of subsidies is disruptive; in the case of low demand textbooks the possibilities following subsidy removal include any or all of the following: higher retail prices, a switch to open textbooks, a reduction of the number of titles published. On the other hand, independent open textbook authoring and publishing models are developing. Most notably, the startup publisher Flat World Knowledge already has dozens of college-level open textbooks that are used by more than 900 institutions in 44 countries. Their business model

7957-411: The environment can be background music; if people study with music playing and they are able to play the same music during test time they will recall more of the information they studied. According to Carey “background music weaves itself subconsciously into the fabric of stored memory.” This “distraction” in the background helps to create more vivid memories with the studied material. Analogies can be

8066-399: The field of books came with the 15th-century invention of printing with changeable type. The invention is attributed to German metalsmith Johannes Gutenberg, who cast type in molds using a melted metal alloy and constructed a wooden-screw printing press to transfer the image onto paper. Gutenberg's first and only large-scale printing effort was the now iconic Gutenberg Bible in the 1450s –

8175-555: The importance of information, highlighting or underlining information in colours: This reminds students to start with the things which will provide the quickest benefit, while 'red' topics are only dealt with if time allows. The concept is similar to the ABC analysis , commonly used by workers to help prioritize. Also, some websites (such as FlashNotes ) can be used for additional study materials and may help improve time management and increase motivation. In addition to time management, sleep

8284-452: The inflation rate for all finished goods, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index. The wholesale prices charged by textbook publishers have jumped 62 percent since 1994, while prices charged for all finished goods increased only 14 percent. Similarly, the prices charged by publishers for general books increased just 19 percent during the same time period." According to

8393-569: The invention of the Greek alphabet 2,500 years ago, knowledge and stories were recited aloud, much like Homer 's epic poems. The new technology of writing meant stories no longer needed to be memorized, a development Socrates feared would weaken the Greeks' mental capacities for memorizing and retelling. (Ironically, we know about Socrates' concerns only because they were written down by his student Plato in his famous Dialogues.) The next revolution in

8502-442: The issue of reimportation of pharmaceuticals into the U.S. market, the GAO report also highlights a similar phenomenon in textbook distribution. Retailers and publishers have expressed concern about the re-importation of lower-priced textbooks from international locations. Specifically, they cited the ability students have to purchase books from online distribution channels outside the United States at lower prices, which may result in

8611-470: The late 1990s, there were PIRGs in 22 states with chapters on more than 100 college campuses. U.S. PIRG reported 1 million members by 2000. The state PIRGs created U.S. PIRG in 1984 to have a national lobbying presence in Washington, D.C. In their first two decades, PIRGs worked on a variety of issues: PIRGs on college campuses have historically been funded through the use of automatic billing with

8720-473: The marketplace, such as recalled baby products and food. U.S. PIRG has called on major restaurant chains including McDonald's and KFC to end the use of meat raised with antibiotics, a practice that contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in people. During the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. PIRG organized medical experts to speak about the U.S.'s response to the COVID-19 pandemic . The group of 150 sent

8829-421: The mass production made possible by the printing press. Johannes Gutenberg himself may have printed editions of Ars Minor , a schoolbook on Latin grammar by Aelius Donatus . Early textbooks were used by tutors and teachers (e.g. alphabet books), as well as by individuals who taught themselves. The Greek philosopher Socrates lamented the loss of knowledge because the media of transmission were changing. Before

8938-451: The new cost, for distribution to other bookstores. Some textbook companies have countered this by encouraging teachers to assign homework that must be done on the publisher's website. Students with a new textbook can use the pass code in the book to register on the site; otherwise they must pay the publisher to access the website and complete assigned homework. Students who look beyond the campus bookstore can typically find lower prices. With

9047-664: The number of providers has declined in recent years (there are just a handful of major textbook companies in the United States). Also, elasticity of demand is fairly low. The term "broken market" appeared in the economist James Koch's analysis of the market commissioned by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. In the United States, the largest textbook publishers are Pearson Education , Cengage , McGraw-Hill Education , and Wiley . Together they control 90% of market revenue. Another textbook publisher

9156-512: The passage of legislation which addresses social topics of interest to students. Ross helped students across the country set up the first PIRG chapters, then became the director of the New York Public Interest Research Group in 1973. The Minnesota Public Interest Research Group , founded in 1971, was the first state PIRG to incorporate. It was followed by Oregon (OSPIRG) and Massachusetts ( MASSPIRG ). By

9265-451: The pattern of ABC-ABC-ABC. Research has found that interleaving is superior to blocking in learning skills and studying. One of the most efficient methods of learning is trying to retrieve learned information and skills. This could be achieved by leveraging the testing effect including: testing , quizzing , self-testing, problem-solving , active recall , flashcards, practicing the skills, and other. Often, improvements to

9374-452: The physical store or shipped back to the third party facilitator by the rental due date. Writing and highlighting is sometimes allowed in rented items, although excessive markup which makes the item unrentable is discouraged. Overdue items are often charged a fee up to the retail price of the rented item. Rented items typically do not include supplemental materials such as access codes, CDs, or loose-leafs. Using textbook sharing, students share

9483-428: The physical textbook with other students, and the cost of the book is divided among the users of the textbook. Over the life of the textbook, if 4 students use the textbook, the cost of the textbook for each student will be 25% of the total cost of the book. The latest trend in textbooks is "open textbooks". An open textbook is a free, openly licensed textbook offered online by the copyright holders. According to PIRG,

9592-546: The popular press. In 2022, the PIRG campus affiliate was shut down at the University of Connecticut after an effort by the local chapter to separate itself from the state and national organization failed to meet legal requirements. In 2023, Student PIRGs successfully used a ballot initiative at the University of Oregon to double their student automatic billing of dues at the expense of other student activities. As of 2024,

9701-462: The price. The US Congress passed a law in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act that would require price disclosure. Legislation requiring price disclosure has passed in Connecticut, Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Publishers are currently supporting price disclosure mandates, though they insist that the "suggested retail price" should be disclosed, rather than

9810-504: The process of organizing and taking in new information , retaining information, or dealing with assessments . They are discrete techniques that can be learned, usually in a short time, and applied to all or most fields of study. More broadly, any skill which boosts a person's ability to study, retain and recall information which assists in and passing exams can be termed a study skill, and this could include time management and motivational techniques. Some examples are mnemonics , which aid

9919-550: The process of storing particular data into the memory of a device. One of the most basic approaches to learning any information is simply to repeat it by rote. Typically this will include reading over notes or a textbook and re-writing notes. The weakness of rote learning is that it implies a passive reading and listening style. Educators such as John Dewey have argued that students need to learn critical thinking – questioning and weighing up evidence as they learn. This can be done during lectures or when reading books. A method that

10028-432: The quality of these materials, they have expressed concern that the publishers' practice of packaging supplements with a textbook to sell as one unit limits the opportunity students have to purchase less expensive used books....If publishers continue to increase these investments, particularly in technology, the cost to produce a textbook is likely to continue to increase in the future. Bundling has also been used to segment

10137-440: The report contains factual inaccuracies regarding the annual average cost of textbooks per student. The Student PIRGs also point out that recent emphasis on e-textbooks does not always save students money. Even though the book costs less up-front, the student will not recover any of the cost through resale. Another publishing industry practice that has been highly criticized is "bundling", or shrink-wrapping supplemental items into

10246-888: The resale of textbooks on the used market, with publishers only earning profits on sales of new textbooks. According to the GAO study published July 2005: Following closely behind annual increases in tuition and fees at postsecondary institutions, college textbook and supply prices have risen at twice the rate of annual inflation over the last two decades. Rising at an average of 6 percent each year since academic year 1987–1988, compared with overall average price increases of 3 percent per year, college textbook and supply prices trailed tuition and fee increases, which averaged 7 percent per year. Since December 1986, textbook and supply prices have nearly tripled, increasing by 186 percent, while tuition and fees increased by 240 percent and overall prices grew by 72 percent. While increases in textbook and supply prices have followed increases in tuition and fees,

10355-424: The respective companies to continue to operate. Students can also sell or trade textbooks among themselves. After completing a course, sellers will often seek out members of the next enrolling class, people who are likely to be interested in purchasing the required books. This may be done by posting flyers to advertise the sale of the books or simply soliciting individuals who are shopping in the college bookstore for

10464-589: The resulting growth of schooling in Europe led to the printing of many more textbooks for children. Textbooks have been the primary teaching instrument for most children since the 19th century. Two textbooks of historical significance in United States schooling were the 18th century New England Primer and the 19th century McGuffey Readers . Recent technological advances have changed the way people interact with textbooks. Online and digital materials are making it increasingly easy for students to access materials other than

10573-523: The retention of lists of information; effective reading; concentration techniques; and efficient note taking. Due to the generic nature of study skills, they must, therefore, be distinguished from strategies that are specific to a particular field of study (e.g. music or technology), and from abilities inherent in the student, such as aspects of intelligence or personality . It is crucial in this, however, for students to gain initial insight into their habitual approaches to study, so they may better understand

10682-418: The sale of used books , and would make that entire industry illegal. Another alternative to save money and obtaining the materials you are required are e-textbooks. The article "E books rewrite the rules of education" states that, alternately to spending a lot of money on textbooks, you can purchase an e-textbook at a small amount of the cost. With the growth of digital applications for iPhone, and gadgets like

10791-418: The sale of used books. The concept is not unlike the limited licensing approach for computer software, which places rigid restrictions on resale and reproduction. The intent is to make users understand that the content of any textbook is the intellectual property of the author and/or the publisher, and that as such, subject to copyright. Obviously, this idea is completely opposed to the millennia-old tradition of

10900-628: The same individuals, these affiliates are often presented in publications to imply they are different. In the past, they have also helped to launch a number of other independent public interest non-profits, including: Twenty-five U.S. states have a statewide PIRG that is directly affiliated with the Public Interest Network/U.S. PIRG. Other state PIRGs that are not part of the network include the New York, Vermont, Alaska, and Minnesota PIRGs. The state PIRGs are: Not affiliated with

11009-410: The same state of mind when in class. This also goes the other direction; if one is upset but normally calm in class it's much better to wait until they are feeling calmer to study. At the time of the test or class they will remember more. While productivity is greater earlier in the day, current research suggests that material studied in the afternoon or evening is better consolidated and retained. This

11118-510: The same titles. Many larger schools have independent websites set up for the purpose of facilitating such trade. These often operate much like digital classified ads, enabling students to list their items for sale and browse for those they wish to acquire. Also, at the US Air Force Academy , it is possible to e-mail entire specific classes, allowing for an extensive network of textbook sales to exist. Online marketplaces are one of

11227-648: The student made the diagram while studying the information. Pictures can then be transferred to flashcards that are very effective last-minute revision tools rather than rereading any written material. A mnemonic is a method of organizing and memorizing information. There are four main types of mnemonic: (1) Narrative (relying on a story of some kind, or a sequence of real or imagined events); (2) Sonic/Textual (using rhythm or repeated sound, such as rhyme, or memorable textual patterns such as acronyms); (3) Visual (diagrams, mind maps, graphs, images, etc.); (4) 'Topical' (meaning ‘place-dependent’, for instance, using features of

11336-478: The subject, including a vast number of popular books and websites. Manuals for students have been published since the 1940s. In the 1950s and 1960s, college instructors in the fields of psychology and the study of education used to research, theory, and experience with their own students in writing manuals. Marvin Cohn based the advice for parents in his 1978 book Helping Your Teen-Age Student on his experience as

11445-407: The traditional print textbook. Students now have access to electronic books ("e-books"), online tutoring systems and video lectures. An example of an e-book is Principles of Biology from Nature Publishing . Most notably, an increasing number of authors are avoiding commercial publishers and instead offering their textbooks under a creative commons or other open license. As in many industries,

11554-648: The two major types of online websites students can use to sell used textbooks. Online marketplaces may have an online auction format or may allow the student to list their books for a fixed price. In either case, the student must create the listing for each book themselves and wait for a buyer to order, making the use of marketplaces a more passive way of selling used textbooks. Unlike campus buyback and online book, students are unlikely to sell all their books to one buyer using online marketplaces, and will likely have to send out multiple books individually. Online book buyers buy textbooks, and sometimes other types of books, with

11663-403: The used book market. Each combination of a textbook and supplemental items receives a separate ISBN. A single textbook could therefore have dozens of ISBNs that denote different combinations of supplements packaged with that particular book. When a bookstore attempts to track down used copies of textbooks, they will search for the ISBN the course instructor orders, which will locate only a subset of

11772-465: Was recorded by those who were enrolled in the classes surveyed. In order to make reading or reviewing material more engaging and active, learners can create cues that will stimulate recall later on. A cue can be a word, short phrase, or song that helps the learner access a memory that was encoded intentionally with this prompt in mind. The use of cues to aid memory has been popular for many years, however, research suggests that adopting cues made by others

11881-400: Was to offer the open textbook free online, and then sell ancillary products that students are likely to buy if prices are reasonable – print copies, study guides, ePub , .Mobi ( Kindle ), PDF download, etc. Flat World Knowledge compensates its authors with royalties on these sales. With the generated revenue Flat World Knowledge funded high-quality publishing activities with a goal of making

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