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Why do some professors not recommend any text books for a course?
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I took a semester where a professor was teaching Statistics. He gave out no lecture materials or no name of text books.
When I asked him for a text book name, he gave me a name of a 900+ pages' book.
I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lectures.
Finally, I quit the course.
The same thing happened to my Numerical Analysis course.
Why don't some professors recommend a text book for a course?
lecture-teaching-method
asked 6 hours ago
yahoo.com
398318
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
favorite
I took a semester where a professor was teaching Statistics. He gave out no lecture materials or no name of text books.
When I asked him for a text book name, he gave me a name of a 900+ pages' book.
I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lectures.
Finally, I quit the course.
The same thing happened to my Numerical Analysis course.
Why don't some professors recommend a text book for a course?
lecture-teaching-method
asked 6 hours ago
yahoo.com
398318
2
Could you clarify “I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lecturesâ€Â? If the professor was teaching Statistics, presumably he was lecturing on statistics, and if the text book was on statistics, presumably it also contains statistics. While it is possible (and likely) that the organization and presentation of material is very different (e.g. the professor uses different notation, different order, etc), it would be strange if the actual content has absolutely no overlap (though possibly you need to learn “statisticsâ€Â, say the entire textbook, before realizing it).
– ShreevatsaR
40 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he was solving a number of maths which exactly match Hwei P. Hsu. But, he referred me Douglas C. Montgomery.
– yahoo.com
11 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he had a list of his own maths designed by himself.
– yahoo.com
3 mins ago
Thanks for clarifying; that makes it clearer. At least in the case of the two books, though they are clearly very different in the presentation, their content does have some overlap (even more than I'd have expected): you can see a close match between "Chapter 1. Probability" and "Chapter 2. Probability", similarly Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, or Chapter 7 and Chapter 7. So is the question about why the lectures did not closely match any textbook?
– ShreevatsaR
35 secs ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
favorite
up vote
7
down vote
favorite
I took a semester where a professor was teaching Statistics. He gave out no lecture materials or no name of text books.
When I asked him for a text book name, he gave me a name of a 900+ pages' book.
I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lectures.
Finally, I quit the course.
The same thing happened to my Numerical Analysis course.
Why don't some professors recommend a text book for a course?
lecture-teaching-method
asked 6 hours ago
yahoo.com
398318
I took a semester where a professor was teaching Statistics. He gave out no lecture materials or no name of text books.
When I asked him for a text book name, he gave me a name of a 900+ pages' book.
I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lectures.
Finally, I quit the course.
The same thing happened to my Numerical Analysis course.
Why don't some professors recommend a text book for a course?
lecture-teaching-method
lecture-teaching-method
asked 6 hours ago
yahoo.com
398318
asked 6 hours ago
yahoo.com
398318
edited 10 mins ago
asked 6 hours ago
yahoo.com
398318
asked 6 hours ago
yahoo.com
398318
asked 6 hours ago
yahoo.com
398318
398318
2
Could you clarify “I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lecturesâ€Â? If the professor was teaching Statistics, presumably he was lecturing on statistics, and if the text book was on statistics, presumably it also contains statistics. While it is possible (and likely) that the organization and presentation of material is very different (e.g. the professor uses different notation, different order, etc), it would be strange if the actual content has absolutely no overlap (though possibly you need to learn “statisticsâ€Â, say the entire textbook, before realizing it).
– ShreevatsaR
40 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he was solving a number of maths which exactly match Hwei P. Hsu. But, he referred me Douglas C. Montgomery.
– yahoo.com
11 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he had a list of his own maths designed by himself.
– yahoo.com
3 mins ago
Thanks for clarifying; that makes it clearer. At least in the case of the two books, though they are clearly very different in the presentation, their content does have some overlap (even more than I'd have expected): you can see a close match between "Chapter 1. Probability" and "Chapter 2. Probability", similarly Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, or Chapter 7 and Chapter 7. So is the question about why the lectures did not closely match any textbook?
– ShreevatsaR
35 secs ago
add a comment |Â
2
Could you clarify “I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lecturesâ€Â? If the professor was teaching Statistics, presumably he was lecturing on statistics, and if the text book was on statistics, presumably it also contains statistics. While it is possible (and likely) that the organization and presentation of material is very different (e.g. the professor uses different notation, different order, etc), it would be strange if the actual content has absolutely no overlap (though possibly you need to learn “statisticsâ€Â, say the entire textbook, before realizing it).
– ShreevatsaR
40 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he was solving a number of maths which exactly match Hwei P. Hsu. But, he referred me Douglas C. Montgomery.
– yahoo.com
11 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he had a list of his own maths designed by himself.
– yahoo.com
3 mins ago
Thanks for clarifying; that makes it clearer. At least in the case of the two books, though they are clearly very different in the presentation, their content does have some overlap (even more than I'd have expected): you can see a close match between "Chapter 1. Probability" and "Chapter 2. Probability", similarly Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, or Chapter 7 and Chapter 7. So is the question about why the lectures did not closely match any textbook?
– ShreevatsaR
35 secs ago
2
2
Could you clarify “I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lecturesâ€Â? If the professor was teaching Statistics, presumably he was lecturing on statistics, and if the text book was on statistics, presumably it also contains statistics. While it is possible (and likely) that the organization and presentation of material is very different (e.g. the professor uses different notation, different order, etc), it would be strange if the actual content has absolutely no overlap (though possibly you need to learn “statisticsâ€Â, say the entire textbook, before realizing it).
– ShreevatsaR
40 mins ago
Could you clarify “I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lecturesâ€Â? If the professor was teaching Statistics, presumably he was lecturing on statistics, and if the text book was on statistics, presumably it also contains statistics. While it is possible (and likely) that the organization and presentation of material is very different (e.g. the professor uses different notation, different order, etc), it would be strange if the actual content has absolutely no overlap (though possibly you need to learn “statisticsâ€Â, say the entire textbook, before realizing it).
– ShreevatsaR
40 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he was solving a number of maths which exactly match Hwei P. Hsu. But, he referred me Douglas C. Montgomery.
– yahoo.com
11 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he was solving a number of maths which exactly match Hwei P. Hsu. But, he referred me Douglas C. Montgomery.
– yahoo.com
11 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he had a list of his own maths designed by himself.
– yahoo.com
3 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he had a list of his own maths designed by himself.
– yahoo.com
3 mins ago
Thanks for clarifying; that makes it clearer. At least in the case of the two books, though they are clearly very different in the presentation, their content does have some overlap (even more than I'd have expected): you can see a close match between "Chapter 1. Probability" and "Chapter 2. Probability", similarly Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, or Chapter 7 and Chapter 7. So is the question about why the lectures did not closely match any textbook?
– ShreevatsaR
35 secs ago
Thanks for clarifying; that makes it clearer. At least in the case of the two books, though they are clearly very different in the presentation, their content does have some overlap (even more than I'd have expected): you can see a close match between "Chapter 1. Probability" and "Chapter 2. Probability", similarly Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, or Chapter 7 and Chapter 7. So is the question about why the lectures did not closely match any textbook?
– ShreevatsaR
35 secs ago
add a comment |Â
6 Answers
6
active
oldest
votes
up vote
10
down vote
Reasons why I do not use textbooks:
- Most textbooks in my experience are bad.
- Most students do not read them (probably because they are bad).
- They are expensive.
- They do not align with how I want to teach the course.
- I can provide the relevant subset of content myself.
I can't see a reason to use a textbook in my courses other than for supplemental material (even then, I would much rather point them to some free PDFs/slides from various faculty that are online).
answered 3 hours ago
Austin Henley
14.6k74589
1
I can't speak for everyone, but I think the reason why a lot of students don't read textbooks is because they are just a chore to read. One of my professors once recorded his lectures and gave us the videos. It was very helpful in understanding the material and my personal opinion is that if he just gave everyone a textbook recommendation, people would not have learned nearly as much.
– David Stockinger
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
For individual courses and professors you need to ask the professor. However, there are a number of reasons why someone might want to make no recommendation.
Least likely is that the prof feels that any book is as good as any other.
A bit more likely is that the prof feels that any book is as bad as any other.
Up the scale a bit is the sense (possibly misplaced) that the prof's lectures are all the student will need. If this is the case, the student's are strongly advised to attend every lecture and take lots of notes. For some this is a valid position if the professor also puts extensive materials online or otherwise makes them available. However, it can also be a trap if the professor thinks that lectures deliver the needed information and skills perfectly to every student. That is a serious error of judgement.
Another reason is that the prof wants the students to actually seek out answers to questions online or in the (gasp) library. Some professors don't answer questions with answers but with a strategy for finding the answer. This, of course, disadvantages lazy students.
Still higher on the (my) list is that the course is intended to use active learning and so more passive approaches (reading, watching, listening) are discouraged and the student is expected to do most of his or her learning by doing exercises and projects. For Statistics and Numerical Analysis, this seems to me to be a worthy goal. I find it useful also in much of computer science.
Given that one learns by practice and reinforcement, this last strategy can be very effective. Active learning gives you an operational knowledge of a subject that reading (or even reading and underlining) a book won't.
I have, on occasion, "recommended" a book, not for help on the things in the course, but for things that won't be covered. There was no obligation to buy the book. I've also made such recommendations about a pair of quite different books for the same reason.
answered 5 hours ago
Buffy
17k55193
I totally agree with the "active learning" bit and that is how I work my course (demonstration of method with detail and lots of practise after). plus one from me just for that.
– Solar Mike
3 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
Reasons could be anything, down to personality preference. If you had an advanced statistic course, there might not be a book that covers your materials.
But this is 2018. You have Google, digital library, Amazon... Why can't you do some searching yourself?
answered 4 hours ago
SmallChess
1,5791820
1
The perspective of an expert is valuable in selecting a textbook -- especially when purchasing them online so that you can't easily examine them and get a sense of their quality or how they relate to what you already know.
– Hans Musgrave
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
Regardless of any perceived advantages of textbooks, they usually have many disadvantages for the student. By some decision-making process, your professor has decided that no combination of textbooks has enough advantages to outweigh the disadvantages.
- They're expensive.
- They take a kitchen sink approach to have a wider market.
- They're difficult to read.
- Often lacking explanations, intuitions, and visuals for the complicated concepts they're spouting as obvious and important.
- They take time away from homework, reviewing and consolidating your lecture notes, discussions with peers, attending office hours, and other things that are generally much more beneficial to your learning and career.
- They're outdated in many fields. Parts of statistics and numerical analysis are advancing rapidly and have been for years.
- They're difficult to use correctly when they don't map perfectly to the lectures.
- As a bit of an aside, some of the greatest value from a textbook is gained when they don't map perfectly to lectures. It allows you to supplement the lectures with a completely different perspective.
- They're inflexible. For any given textbook, some students won't learn well from it. A professor can tailor their approach to a degree, but a textbook is fixed. That presents a risk in choosing a book.
answered 1 hour ago
Hans Musgrave
1212
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Hans Musgrave is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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up vote
1
down vote
I took a class in kinematic astronomy where the first thing the professor asked was, "Do any of you read German?" Sometimes a field is so highly specialized that there just isn't a good textbook available that covers everything the professor plans to discuss.
answered 56 mins ago
G. Allen
41723
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up vote
0
down vote
I think it is the idea that they want to design the exact content (topics covered).
I disagree with this stance because I think that many different courses can have benefit and that the biggest issue is not the exact topic list but how well you learn. And I think textbooks are an excellent pedagogical aid (and also helpful for future reference, since you studied THAT book). I think almost all courses would be better off picking a text and sticking closely to it. But obviously some people disagree with me.
answered 3 hours ago
guest
1
New contributor
guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |Â
6 Answers
6
active
oldest
votes
6 Answers
6
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
10
down vote
Reasons why I do not use textbooks:
- Most textbooks in my experience are bad.
- Most students do not read them (probably because they are bad).
- They are expensive.
- They do not align with how I want to teach the course.
- I can provide the relevant subset of content myself.
I can't see a reason to use a textbook in my courses other than for supplemental material (even then, I would much rather point them to some free PDFs/slides from various faculty that are online).
answered 3 hours ago
Austin Henley
14.6k74589
1
I can't speak for everyone, but I think the reason why a lot of students don't read textbooks is because they are just a chore to read. One of my professors once recorded his lectures and gave us the videos. It was very helpful in understanding the material and my personal opinion is that if he just gave everyone a textbook recommendation, people would not have learned nearly as much.
– David Stockinger
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
10
down vote
Reasons why I do not use textbooks:
- Most textbooks in my experience are bad.
- Most students do not read them (probably because they are bad).
- They are expensive.
- They do not align with how I want to teach the course.
- I can provide the relevant subset of content myself.
I can't see a reason to use a textbook in my courses other than for supplemental material (even then, I would much rather point them to some free PDFs/slides from various faculty that are online).
answered 3 hours ago
Austin Henley
14.6k74589
1
I can't speak for everyone, but I think the reason why a lot of students don't read textbooks is because they are just a chore to read. One of my professors once recorded his lectures and gave us the videos. It was very helpful in understanding the material and my personal opinion is that if he just gave everyone a textbook recommendation, people would not have learned nearly as much.
– David Stockinger
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
10
down vote
up vote
10
down vote
Reasons why I do not use textbooks:
- Most textbooks in my experience are bad.
- Most students do not read them (probably because they are bad).
- They are expensive.
- They do not align with how I want to teach the course.
- I can provide the relevant subset of content myself.
I can't see a reason to use a textbook in my courses other than for supplemental material (even then, I would much rather point them to some free PDFs/slides from various faculty that are online).
answered 3 hours ago
Austin Henley
14.6k74589
Reasons why I do not use textbooks:
- Most textbooks in my experience are bad.
- Most students do not read them (probably because they are bad).
- They are expensive.
- They do not align with how I want to teach the course.
- I can provide the relevant subset of content myself.
I can't see a reason to use a textbook in my courses other than for supplemental material (even then, I would much rather point them to some free PDFs/slides from various faculty that are online).
answered 3 hours ago
Austin Henley
14.6k74589
answered 3 hours ago
Austin Henley
14.6k74589
answered 3 hours ago
Austin Henley
14.6k74589
answered 3 hours ago
Austin Henley
14.6k74589
14.6k74589
1
I can't speak for everyone, but I think the reason why a lot of students don't read textbooks is because they are just a chore to read. One of my professors once recorded his lectures and gave us the videos. It was very helpful in understanding the material and my personal opinion is that if he just gave everyone a textbook recommendation, people would not have learned nearly as much.
– David Stockinger
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
1
I can't speak for everyone, but I think the reason why a lot of students don't read textbooks is because they are just a chore to read. One of my professors once recorded his lectures and gave us the videos. It was very helpful in understanding the material and my personal opinion is that if he just gave everyone a textbook recommendation, people would not have learned nearly as much.
– David Stockinger
2 hours ago
1
1
I can't speak for everyone, but I think the reason why a lot of students don't read textbooks is because they are just a chore to read. One of my professors once recorded his lectures and gave us the videos. It was very helpful in understanding the material and my personal opinion is that if he just gave everyone a textbook recommendation, people would not have learned nearly as much.
– David Stockinger
2 hours ago
I can't speak for everyone, but I think the reason why a lot of students don't read textbooks is because they are just a chore to read. One of my professors once recorded his lectures and gave us the videos. It was very helpful in understanding the material and my personal opinion is that if he just gave everyone a textbook recommendation, people would not have learned nearly as much.
– David Stockinger
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
For individual courses and professors you need to ask the professor. However, there are a number of reasons why someone might want to make no recommendation.
Least likely is that the prof feels that any book is as good as any other.
A bit more likely is that the prof feels that any book is as bad as any other.
Up the scale a bit is the sense (possibly misplaced) that the prof's lectures are all the student will need. If this is the case, the student's are strongly advised to attend every lecture and take lots of notes. For some this is a valid position if the professor also puts extensive materials online or otherwise makes them available. However, it can also be a trap if the professor thinks that lectures deliver the needed information and skills perfectly to every student. That is a serious error of judgement.
Another reason is that the prof wants the students to actually seek out answers to questions online or in the (gasp) library. Some professors don't answer questions with answers but with a strategy for finding the answer. This, of course, disadvantages lazy students.
Still higher on the (my) list is that the course is intended to use active learning and so more passive approaches (reading, watching, listening) are discouraged and the student is expected to do most of his or her learning by doing exercises and projects. For Statistics and Numerical Analysis, this seems to me to be a worthy goal. I find it useful also in much of computer science.
Given that one learns by practice and reinforcement, this last strategy can be very effective. Active learning gives you an operational knowledge of a subject that reading (or even reading and underlining) a book won't.
I have, on occasion, "recommended" a book, not for help on the things in the course, but for things that won't be covered. There was no obligation to buy the book. I've also made such recommendations about a pair of quite different books for the same reason.
answered 5 hours ago
Buffy
17k55193
I totally agree with the "active learning" bit and that is how I work my course (demonstration of method with detail and lots of practise after). plus one from me just for that.
– Solar Mike
3 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
For individual courses and professors you need to ask the professor. However, there are a number of reasons why someone might want to make no recommendation.
Least likely is that the prof feels that any book is as good as any other.
A bit more likely is that the prof feels that any book is as bad as any other.
Up the scale a bit is the sense (possibly misplaced) that the prof's lectures are all the student will need. If this is the case, the student's are strongly advised to attend every lecture and take lots of notes. For some this is a valid position if the professor also puts extensive materials online or otherwise makes them available. However, it can also be a trap if the professor thinks that lectures deliver the needed information and skills perfectly to every student. That is a serious error of judgement.
Another reason is that the prof wants the students to actually seek out answers to questions online or in the (gasp) library. Some professors don't answer questions with answers but with a strategy for finding the answer. This, of course, disadvantages lazy students.
Still higher on the (my) list is that the course is intended to use active learning and so more passive approaches (reading, watching, listening) are discouraged and the student is expected to do most of his or her learning by doing exercises and projects. For Statistics and Numerical Analysis, this seems to me to be a worthy goal. I find it useful also in much of computer science.
Given that one learns by practice and reinforcement, this last strategy can be very effective. Active learning gives you an operational knowledge of a subject that reading (or even reading and underlining) a book won't.
I have, on occasion, "recommended" a book, not for help on the things in the course, but for things that won't be covered. There was no obligation to buy the book. I've also made such recommendations about a pair of quite different books for the same reason.
answered 5 hours ago
Buffy
17k55193
I totally agree with the "active learning" bit and that is how I work my course (demonstration of method with detail and lots of practise after). plus one from me just for that.
– Solar Mike
3 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
up vote
7
down vote
For individual courses and professors you need to ask the professor. However, there are a number of reasons why someone might want to make no recommendation.
Least likely is that the prof feels that any book is as good as any other.
A bit more likely is that the prof feels that any book is as bad as any other.
Up the scale a bit is the sense (possibly misplaced) that the prof's lectures are all the student will need. If this is the case, the student's are strongly advised to attend every lecture and take lots of notes. For some this is a valid position if the professor also puts extensive materials online or otherwise makes them available. However, it can also be a trap if the professor thinks that lectures deliver the needed information and skills perfectly to every student. That is a serious error of judgement.
Another reason is that the prof wants the students to actually seek out answers to questions online or in the (gasp) library. Some professors don't answer questions with answers but with a strategy for finding the answer. This, of course, disadvantages lazy students.
Still higher on the (my) list is that the course is intended to use active learning and so more passive approaches (reading, watching, listening) are discouraged and the student is expected to do most of his or her learning by doing exercises and projects. For Statistics and Numerical Analysis, this seems to me to be a worthy goal. I find it useful also in much of computer science.
Given that one learns by practice and reinforcement, this last strategy can be very effective. Active learning gives you an operational knowledge of a subject that reading (or even reading and underlining) a book won't.
I have, on occasion, "recommended" a book, not for help on the things in the course, but for things that won't be covered. There was no obligation to buy the book. I've also made such recommendations about a pair of quite different books for the same reason.
answered 5 hours ago
Buffy
17k55193
For individual courses and professors you need to ask the professor. However, there are a number of reasons why someone might want to make no recommendation.
Least likely is that the prof feels that any book is as good as any other.
A bit more likely is that the prof feels that any book is as bad as any other.
Up the scale a bit is the sense (possibly misplaced) that the prof's lectures are all the student will need. If this is the case, the student's are strongly advised to attend every lecture and take lots of notes. For some this is a valid position if the professor also puts extensive materials online or otherwise makes them available. However, it can also be a trap if the professor thinks that lectures deliver the needed information and skills perfectly to every student. That is a serious error of judgement.
Another reason is that the prof wants the students to actually seek out answers to questions online or in the (gasp) library. Some professors don't answer questions with answers but with a strategy for finding the answer. This, of course, disadvantages lazy students.
Still higher on the (my) list is that the course is intended to use active learning and so more passive approaches (reading, watching, listening) are discouraged and the student is expected to do most of his or her learning by doing exercises and projects. For Statistics and Numerical Analysis, this seems to me to be a worthy goal. I find it useful also in much of computer science.
Given that one learns by practice and reinforcement, this last strategy can be very effective. Active learning gives you an operational knowledge of a subject that reading (or even reading and underlining) a book won't.
I have, on occasion, "recommended" a book, not for help on the things in the course, but for things that won't be covered. There was no obligation to buy the book. I've also made such recommendations about a pair of quite different books for the same reason.
answered 5 hours ago
Buffy
17k55193
edited 4 hours ago
answered 5 hours ago
Buffy
17k55193
answered 5 hours ago
Buffy
17k55193
answered 5 hours ago
Buffy
17k55193
17k55193
I totally agree with the "active learning" bit and that is how I work my course (demonstration of method with detail and lots of practise after). plus one from me just for that.
– Solar Mike
3 hours ago
add a comment |Â
I totally agree with the "active learning" bit and that is how I work my course (demonstration of method with detail and lots of practise after). plus one from me just for that.
– Solar Mike
3 hours ago
I totally agree with the "active learning" bit and that is how I work my course (demonstration of method with detail and lots of practise after). plus one from me just for that.
– Solar Mike
3 hours ago
I totally agree with the "active learning" bit and that is how I work my course (demonstration of method with detail and lots of practise after). plus one from me just for that.
– Solar Mike
3 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
Reasons could be anything, down to personality preference. If you had an advanced statistic course, there might not be a book that covers your materials.
But this is 2018. You have Google, digital library, Amazon... Why can't you do some searching yourself?
answered 4 hours ago
SmallChess
1,5791820
1
The perspective of an expert is valuable in selecting a textbook -- especially when purchasing them online so that you can't easily examine them and get a sense of their quality or how they relate to what you already know.
– Hans Musgrave
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
Reasons could be anything, down to personality preference. If you had an advanced statistic course, there might not be a book that covers your materials.
But this is 2018. You have Google, digital library, Amazon... Why can't you do some searching yourself?
answered 4 hours ago
SmallChess
1,5791820
1
The perspective of an expert is valuable in selecting a textbook -- especially when purchasing them online so that you can't easily examine them and get a sense of their quality or how they relate to what you already know.
– Hans Musgrave
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
Reasons could be anything, down to personality preference. If you had an advanced statistic course, there might not be a book that covers your materials.
But this is 2018. You have Google, digital library, Amazon... Why can't you do some searching yourself?
answered 4 hours ago
SmallChess
1,5791820
Reasons could be anything, down to personality preference. If you had an advanced statistic course, there might not be a book that covers your materials.
But this is 2018. You have Google, digital library, Amazon... Why can't you do some searching yourself?
answered 4 hours ago
SmallChess
1,5791820
answered 4 hours ago
SmallChess
1,5791820
answered 4 hours ago
SmallChess
1,5791820
answered 4 hours ago
SmallChess
1,5791820
1,5791820
1
The perspective of an expert is valuable in selecting a textbook -- especially when purchasing them online so that you can't easily examine them and get a sense of their quality or how they relate to what you already know.
– Hans Musgrave
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
1
The perspective of an expert is valuable in selecting a textbook -- especially when purchasing them online so that you can't easily examine them and get a sense of their quality or how they relate to what you already know.
– Hans Musgrave
2 hours ago
1
1
The perspective of an expert is valuable in selecting a textbook -- especially when purchasing them online so that you can't easily examine them and get a sense of their quality or how they relate to what you already know.
– Hans Musgrave
2 hours ago
The perspective of an expert is valuable in selecting a textbook -- especially when purchasing them online so that you can't easily examine them and get a sense of their quality or how they relate to what you already know.
– Hans Musgrave
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
Regardless of any perceived advantages of textbooks, they usually have many disadvantages for the student. By some decision-making process, your professor has decided that no combination of textbooks has enough advantages to outweigh the disadvantages.
- They're expensive.
- They take a kitchen sink approach to have a wider market.
- They're difficult to read.
- Often lacking explanations, intuitions, and visuals for the complicated concepts they're spouting as obvious and important.
- They take time away from homework, reviewing and consolidating your lecture notes, discussions with peers, attending office hours, and other things that are generally much more beneficial to your learning and career.
- They're outdated in many fields. Parts of statistics and numerical analysis are advancing rapidly and have been for years.
- They're difficult to use correctly when they don't map perfectly to the lectures.
- As a bit of an aside, some of the greatest value from a textbook is gained when they don't map perfectly to lectures. It allows you to supplement the lectures with a completely different perspective.
- They're inflexible. For any given textbook, some students won't learn well from it. A professor can tailor their approach to a degree, but a textbook is fixed. That presents a risk in choosing a book.
answered 1 hour ago
Hans Musgrave
1212
New contributor
Hans Musgrave is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
Regardless of any perceived advantages of textbooks, they usually have many disadvantages for the student. By some decision-making process, your professor has decided that no combination of textbooks has enough advantages to outweigh the disadvantages.
- They're expensive.
- They take a kitchen sink approach to have a wider market.
- They're difficult to read.
- Often lacking explanations, intuitions, and visuals for the complicated concepts they're spouting as obvious and important.
- They take time away from homework, reviewing and consolidating your lecture notes, discussions with peers, attending office hours, and other things that are generally much more beneficial to your learning and career.
- They're outdated in many fields. Parts of statistics and numerical analysis are advancing rapidly and have been for years.
- They're difficult to use correctly when they don't map perfectly to the lectures.
- As a bit of an aside, some of the greatest value from a textbook is gained when they don't map perfectly to lectures. It allows you to supplement the lectures with a completely different perspective.
- They're inflexible. For any given textbook, some students won't learn well from it. A professor can tailor their approach to a degree, but a textbook is fixed. That presents a risk in choosing a book.
answered 1 hour ago
Hans Musgrave
1212
New contributor
Hans Musgrave is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
Regardless of any perceived advantages of textbooks, they usually have many disadvantages for the student. By some decision-making process, your professor has decided that no combination of textbooks has enough advantages to outweigh the disadvantages.
- They're expensive.
- They take a kitchen sink approach to have a wider market.
- They're difficult to read.
- Often lacking explanations, intuitions, and visuals for the complicated concepts they're spouting as obvious and important.
- They take time away from homework, reviewing and consolidating your lecture notes, discussions with peers, attending office hours, and other things that are generally much more beneficial to your learning and career.
- They're outdated in many fields. Parts of statistics and numerical analysis are advancing rapidly and have been for years.
- They're difficult to use correctly when they don't map perfectly to the lectures.
- As a bit of an aside, some of the greatest value from a textbook is gained when they don't map perfectly to lectures. It allows you to supplement the lectures with a completely different perspective.
- They're inflexible. For any given textbook, some students won't learn well from it. A professor can tailor their approach to a degree, but a textbook is fixed. That presents a risk in choosing a book.
answered 1 hour ago
Hans Musgrave
1212
New contributor
Hans Musgrave is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Regardless of any perceived advantages of textbooks, they usually have many disadvantages for the student. By some decision-making process, your professor has decided that no combination of textbooks has enough advantages to outweigh the disadvantages.
- They're expensive.
- They take a kitchen sink approach to have a wider market.
- They're difficult to read.
- Often lacking explanations, intuitions, and visuals for the complicated concepts they're spouting as obvious and important.
- They take time away from homework, reviewing and consolidating your lecture notes, discussions with peers, attending office hours, and other things that are generally much more beneficial to your learning and career.
- They're outdated in many fields. Parts of statistics and numerical analysis are advancing rapidly and have been for years.
- They're difficult to use correctly when they don't map perfectly to the lectures.
- As a bit of an aside, some of the greatest value from a textbook is gained when they don't map perfectly to lectures. It allows you to supplement the lectures with a completely different perspective.
- They're inflexible. For any given textbook, some students won't learn well from it. A professor can tailor their approach to a degree, but a textbook is fixed. That presents a risk in choosing a book.
answered 1 hour ago
Hans Musgrave
1212
New contributor
Hans Musgrave is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 1 hour ago
Hans Musgrave
1212
New contributor
Hans Musgrave is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 1 hour ago
Hans Musgrave
1212
answered 1 hour ago
Hans Musgrave
1212
1212
New contributor
Hans Musgrave is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Hans Musgrave is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Hans Musgrave is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
I took a class in kinematic astronomy where the first thing the professor asked was, "Do any of you read German?" Sometimes a field is so highly specialized that there just isn't a good textbook available that covers everything the professor plans to discuss.
answered 56 mins ago
G. Allen
41723
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
I took a class in kinematic astronomy where the first thing the professor asked was, "Do any of you read German?" Sometimes a field is so highly specialized that there just isn't a good textbook available that covers everything the professor plans to discuss.
answered 56 mins ago
G. Allen
41723
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
I took a class in kinematic astronomy where the first thing the professor asked was, "Do any of you read German?" Sometimes a field is so highly specialized that there just isn't a good textbook available that covers everything the professor plans to discuss.
answered 56 mins ago
G. Allen
41723
I took a class in kinematic astronomy where the first thing the professor asked was, "Do any of you read German?" Sometimes a field is so highly specialized that there just isn't a good textbook available that covers everything the professor plans to discuss.
answered 56 mins ago
G. Allen
41723
answered 56 mins ago
G. Allen
41723
answered 56 mins ago
G. Allen
41723
answered 56 mins ago
G. Allen
41723
41723
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
I think it is the idea that they want to design the exact content (topics covered).
I disagree with this stance because I think that many different courses can have benefit and that the biggest issue is not the exact topic list but how well you learn. And I think textbooks are an excellent pedagogical aid (and also helpful for future reference, since you studied THAT book). I think almost all courses would be better off picking a text and sticking closely to it. But obviously some people disagree with me.
answered 3 hours ago
guest
1
New contributor
guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
I think it is the idea that they want to design the exact content (topics covered).
I disagree with this stance because I think that many different courses can have benefit and that the biggest issue is not the exact topic list but how well you learn. And I think textbooks are an excellent pedagogical aid (and also helpful for future reference, since you studied THAT book). I think almost all courses would be better off picking a text and sticking closely to it. But obviously some people disagree with me.
answered 3 hours ago
guest
1
New contributor
guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
I think it is the idea that they want to design the exact content (topics covered).
I disagree with this stance because I think that many different courses can have benefit and that the biggest issue is not the exact topic list but how well you learn. And I think textbooks are an excellent pedagogical aid (and also helpful for future reference, since you studied THAT book). I think almost all courses would be better off picking a text and sticking closely to it. But obviously some people disagree with me.
answered 3 hours ago
guest
1
New contributor
guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I think it is the idea that they want to design the exact content (topics covered).
I disagree with this stance because I think that many different courses can have benefit and that the biggest issue is not the exact topic list but how well you learn. And I think textbooks are an excellent pedagogical aid (and also helpful for future reference, since you studied THAT book). I think almost all courses would be better off picking a text and sticking closely to it. But obviously some people disagree with me.
answered 3 hours ago
guest
1
New contributor
guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 3 hours ago
guest
1
New contributor
guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 3 hours ago
guest
1
answered 3 hours ago
guest
1
1
New contributor
guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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2
Could you clarify “I could not find anything relevant in the text book which matches his lecturesâ€Â? If the professor was teaching Statistics, presumably he was lecturing on statistics, and if the text book was on statistics, presumably it also contains statistics. While it is possible (and likely) that the organization and presentation of material is very different (e.g. the professor uses different notation, different order, etc), it would be strange if the actual content has absolutely no overlap (though possibly you need to learn “statisticsâ€Â, say the entire textbook, before realizing it).
– ShreevatsaR
40 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he was solving a number of maths which exactly match Hwei P. Hsu. But, he referred me Douglas C. Montgomery.
– yahoo.com
11 mins ago
@ShreevatsaR, he had a list of his own maths designed by himself.
– yahoo.com
3 mins ago
Thanks for clarifying; that makes it clearer. At least in the case of the two books, though they are clearly very different in the presentation, their content does have some overlap (even more than I'd have expected): you can see a close match between "Chapter 1. Probability" and "Chapter 2. Probability", similarly Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, or Chapter 7 and Chapter 7. So is the question about why the lectures did not closely match any textbook?
– ShreevatsaR
35 secs ago