Exploring the use of textbooks with first year students: are they springboards for learning
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Keywords
Textbooks, Student learning, Student engagement, First year students, Use of textbooks, Usefulness of textbooks
Faculty
Faculty of Business and Law
School
School of Marketing, Tourism and Leisure
RAS ID
9528
Abstract
Textbooks have traditionally been a fundamental part of a university course and integral to student learning. This paper presents findings from a study on first year university students' evaluations of a new series of textbooks for first year marketing and management courses. These textbooks offer a shift from the mainstream to a fresh and innovative approach in terms of format, writing style and content. The aim in designing these textbooks was to engage students by ways that they are comfortable with - using media and social savvy communication tools. Focus groups and a survey of students were carried out during the first semester of using the textbooks. Student reactions were summarized under three major themes; magazine format, emotional connection and usage of the text. Findings indicate that a shift away from traditional approaches to a product that meets the unique and different needs of a new generation of students can be attained by relatively simple solutions. First year students' demands for immediate, concise content coupled with integration using a multimedia approach might more fully satisfy the learning needs of the so-called new Gen Y learners.
Comments
Ryan, M. M., & Marchioro, G. (2009). Exploring the use of textbooks with first year students: are they springboards for learning. In International Conference of Teaching and Learning. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of Teaching and Learning (ICTL). Malaysia: INTI University College.