{"id":564,"date":"2015-11-15T17:53:55","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T17:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/sagestudents\/?p=564"},"modified":"2015-11-15T17:53:55","modified_gmt":"2015-11-15T17:53:55","slug":"a-perfect-textbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/sagestudents\/2015\/11\/15\/a-perfect-textbook\/","title":{"rendered":"A perfect textbook?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have not yet come across the perfect Geographical textbook during my time at university. Often my tutors won\u2019t mention a relevant textbook at all, instead recommending various academic books or articles which are available through the uni library online. Only one course in my first year was taught from a textbook (read what I thought of it here: http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/sagestudents\/2014\/05\/17\/revision-time\/<\/span><\/a>) but I have now sold that book to a first year geography student! <\/span><\/p>\n

So, as I didn\u2019t have much experience of textbooks, I decided to ask other students from various disciplines what they think a perfect textbook would look like. Some gave idealistic answers such as: everything on the syllabus, <\/i>whilst others look for something which gives them a good general overview of the module they are taking. A history student likes general textbooks which have a narrative running throughout, although he has found that he now needs to use books with much more detail <\/i>for his dissertation. He also remarked that a clear bibliography at the end of each chapter<\/i> is useful too. I always find this useful in books I use for essays to write down references as I go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Talking to two fellow geography students I found that they disagreed on whether the text-boxes in textbooks were useless or not. One rarely read them as they felt they were patronising and pointless <\/i>but the other viewed them as a way of not having to read the whole text. <\/i>I like text-boxes when they offer a key fact or definition that adds something to the main body of text. <\/span><\/p>\n

Students I asked commented that they liked textbooks to present information in a concise way. A psychology student said that simple diagrams to explain the facts helps a lot <\/i>and a physical geography student agreed. The physical geography student mentioned The Very Short Introductions series (Oxford University Press) as a great way of beginning to understand more complex themes (I\u2019ve used these books too during my studies to get a grasp on economics and certain philosophies). She said that she was willing to buy books which she could actually understand and helped with the course <\/i>but had not bought textbooks in third year as she needed more detailed readings on specific topics. <\/span><\/p>\n

All students I talked to wanted more visual and simplified textbooks as they found them much easier to understand and also more engaging. Some also mentioned that they like a level of interactivity such as lots of sample questions <\/i>to recap on what they had just read. Students (including myself) seemed to use textbooks more if they had exams to prepare for as a general reference guide and less for a more detailed piece of coursework or their dissertation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately only 1 out of 19 modules I have taken so far has been taught from a textbook. <\/strong>The majority of my degree has been spent\u00a0searching for my own resources and books relevant to each course or simply using those recommended by tutors. I have however, learnt a great deal through this process and read a variety of books, geographical theories and styles of writing. Thus I do not believe one book can be perfect or contain everything you need, it can only be used as a starting point of knowledge to build upon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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