In case you missed it, here\u2019s a recap of what was discussed\nat our recent focus group, which included a group of University of Sussex students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Buying\nTextbooks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First,\nwe discussed the decision-making process and experience of buying textbooks. Above\nall, students were put off buying a textbook if they only required a small\nsection of the book for their course. In this case, students chose instead to\nborrow it from the library, to save money. In addition, some were put off by\nthe newest editions of textbooks because they are more expensive, and were more\nlikely to buy an older edition, if available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Decisions whether to buy a textbook were heavily influenced\nby the reviews of the book and were unlikely to buy it if it received poor\nreviews on Amazon. Students mainly buy textbooks from Amazon rather than a\nphysical bookshop because they are usually cheaper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The main benefit of buying physical textbooks (rather than borrowing\nthem from the library) was seen to be that one can annotate and highlight the\nbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students usually buy textbooks online (usually from Amazon), but will browse the physical book in a bookshop first to see if it\u2019s worth buying and then order online. In addition to Amazon, students usually buy textbooks second hand from other students. In conclusion, price is usually the main factor in deciding where to purchase textbooks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If textbooks weren\u2019t bought at all, students accessed them through online reading list links to library copies, photocopies\/pdfs found online, borrow the book from other students, Google Books, bought older editions instead, or simply don\u2019t access it at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students tended to find out about their course books on the\nonline reading list. The last book one particular student bought was a dictionary\nof human geography (for dissertation topic), because it\u2019s a book that will\nstill be useful to them after degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All in all, print books were favoured by students, as they want\nto feel the physical book and make notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Layout\nand Features of Textbooks<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, the layout and features of textbooks were\ndiscussed. Students\nagreed they don\u2019t want unnecessary jargon. They wanted smaller reference sections\nto be given at the end of each chapter, rather than one big reference section\nat the end of the book. In addition, they wanted more pictures and figures, and\nfewer reams of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional\nLearning Resources <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Other\nthan books themselves, other resources students use to study included Ted Talks,\nonline lectures, YouTube videos and Google, for diagrams and infographics. Students\nusually went online for additional resources. Students found out about these resources\nfrom classmates, the library\u2019s recommended resources list and their lecturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The majority of students use videos in their studies,\nespecially to help them understand a concept they can\u2019t understand, finding it\nhelpful watch a video that breaks it down. In addition, when they can\u2019t face any\nmore academic reading, they would rather watch a more light-hearted video\nrelating to the topic. To search for these videos, some students use keywords\nrelating to the topic, rather than looking up particular user accounts and\nsearching within their content. However, others look up specific accounts and\nsearch their content (an example of an account on YouTube was Crash Course).<\/p>\n\n\n\n General\nDiscussion<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Students\nagreed that they would attend library workshops if they were tailored to their course.\nOne student remarked that they would like to see and attend library workshops\nbecause it feels like \u201cvalue for money\u201d for their degree fees. Students would be\nmore likely to attend workshops that were timetabled into their schedule because\nthey would feel they are more important. Seeing library workshops advertised motivated\nthe students to come in that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, everyone agreed that they wouldn\u2019t sign-up for a\nworkshop more than a week in advance. To find out about workshops, one student\nliked the idea of a text message alert, while another like the idea of tailored\nemail (e.g. workshops only for final year students). Students all agreed that they\nuse Facebook for \u201ccalendar purposes\u201d (e.g. event reminders and notifications) and\nthat they would find it less intimidating attending a workshop if they had seen\non Facebook that their classmates were attending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, students agreed that the Mendeley referencing\ntool is a lifesaver.<\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>