You are poised to undertake a project, and the enthusiasm you have kindled begins to fizzle as you are confronted with the inevitable set of incomprehensible directions and obscure illustrations. The Strategy Students also deal with textbook frustrations by throwing in the towel after their struggles. Some read their assignments only in a cursory way, trying to piece together answers to questions by skimming for details. Others bypass the book entirely, depending on the teacher and class interactions for their information. And some just give up, assuming that they are incapable of learning the material.
Students tend to view textbooks as anonymous authorities, repositories of unassailable truth.
It does not occur to most students that textbooks are written by actual people, who may not have been entirely successful in communicating their ideas. Introduce the topic of authorship of text materials to students. Next select a passage from the textbook and have the students examine it. And although authors are very knowledgeable about the material, sometimes they may have trouble expressing their ideas in ways that students can understand. Next, preview a section of the textbook that will be assigned for reading.