In order to satisfy most faculty, the te xtbook must include a wider range of topics. I've heard that this percent went from less than 5 to more than 30 during the past five years. When I mention this to faculty members, I am often greeted with exclamations of relief. Many faculty members have assumed that this trend was a local problem reflecting some shortcoming in their own teaching or a change in the composition of their own student body. However, I rarely hear faculty claim that the pattern doesn't exist.
Some faculty explain the pattern as a result of students' growing aversion to reading.
Some students explain the pattern as a result of tests and exams that focus primarily on material covered in class. We keep many of those books carefully packed in cardboard cartons and move them from house to house without ever opening the cartons. We unquestioningly purchased every one of those books that any professor ever required, and now we passionate ly resist any suggestion that we abandon them. Many modern students have no idea of assembling a personal library. Those that are selected for posting are reviewed and may be edited for clarity.