That's 12 bucks, and as far as art books go, that is one cheap book. College of Liberal Arts sophomore Doug Brinkman said that he did not mind buying his professor's textbook for the biology class he took. Carissa Ryan, a CLA sophomore, said she initially felt apprehensive taking a class from a textbook author. The parallel between the text and the lecture turned out to be a plus. If I had to miss a lecture, all her ideas were in the book.
Many authors employ techniques to make material readable and student-friendly.
Leppert's book improves on previous texts by discussing a wider range of representations of gender, race and class. Fristedt's formula for a hit math text is to offer a variety of problems and to center chapters around the most difficult ones. His book includes definitions printed in the margins, outlines at the end of every chapter and photographs. It's practically unheard of. Textbook writers don't necessarily win more points with tenure promotion or review committees, Gillmor said.