Higher Education Textbooks Research Articles

The Contribution of Integrative Physics Textbooks in Higher Education and Their Impact on Islamic Education Goals

This study examines the dominance of the modern scientific perspective in university science education, which often separates natural sciences from faith-based values. To bridge this gap, developing Physics textbooks that integrate a faith-based approach is crucial. The research explores how Physics textbooks can contribute to achieving Islamic educational goals in universities, employing a qualitative method including literature reviews and textbook analysis. The findings reveal that integrative Physics textbooks can significantly contribute to linking Physics concepts with Islamic values, creating a holistic learning approach. This study proposes a concept for integrative Physics teaching materials, incorporating the history of science and the philosophy of science, preparing students to master Physics and develop strong faith.

Pathways for Innovation Development of Digital Textbooks in Higher Education in China

Pathways for Innovation Development of Digital Textbooks in Higher Education in China

It takes a village

Digital textbooks now incorporate various technological enhancements, and offer many opportunities for learning and teaching in higher education. Despite some enthusiasm for this medium, lecturers tend not to integrate the extra activities into their courses preferring instead to simply have them available as optional extra activities for students. One reason for this barrier to use is the time and effort required to integrate technology into the curriculum in a meaningful way, and lecturers may feel they lack the necessary knowledge to do this effectively. Despite the existence of institutional support to assist educators with technology enhanced learning, the services don’t always align with what faculty want or need. As a result, there have been calls to improve staff training and professional development. This paper presents a theorised inquiry into educators’ reflections on the integration of digital textbooks using Mishra & Koehler’s TPACK framework as an underpinning theory. The findings suggest the need for training and support that is individualised to instructors’ specific needs, and allows for increased collaboration between various stakeholders. It is concluded that professional development that focusses on the development of TPACK, and operates within a collaborative and context-specific learning community could support the increased uptake of digital textbooks in higher education.

A historical and conceptual analysis of Archimedes’ Principle in higher education textbooks and its relevance for teachers

We analyze how Archimedes’ Principle has been presented in higher education textbooks. We consider the historical point of view and reflect on specific conceptual aspects: the presentation of a limit of validity for the Principle, which emerges from the Hydrostatic Paradox studied by Galileo, and the consideration of effects arising from the surface tension of liquids. Our investigation reveals that virtually all the analyzed textbooks include conceptual and historical incongruities. Considering this scenario, we present elements that can be discussed in the classroom, in conjunction with the teaching of Archimedes’ Principle.

“To discipline my writing process”: How newcomers to open textbook development moderate affective states and sustain momentum while writing

Despite the burgeoning presence of open textbooks in higher education and their influences on courses, learners, and teachers, few studies have tracked their production as it unfolds, and none have addressed authors' affective states and associated actions during open textbook construction. Open textbooks are freely available for use, and the length of the textbook genre and pressure to craft quality content may trigger emotional responses from authors during their creation, but without detailed accounts of open coursebook development from which to draw guidance, writers may resort to trial and error to sustain progress during their projects. To address the research gap and uncover insights that could be of practical use, this paper's authors utilized concurrent verbalization and interviews to document the creation of their first textbook, an open corequisite volume that stresses the growth of effective study skills in tandem with workplace and academic writing skills, designed for first-year university students. Corequisites combine remedial and credit-bearing coursework to offer underprepared learners in the United States scaffolded supports as they work toward university graduation. Qualitative content analysis of data collected during the open textbook project revealed the authors employed conceptual and spatial organizational strategies as precursors for writing efforts; considered the facilitative effects of writing times on their emotional conditions and capacity to craft textbook material; recognized the benefits and drawbacks of operating in prolonged flow states; and engaged in incubation and physical activity to sustain writing momentum. This study addresses how novice textbook authors manage the rigors of deliberate practice during coursebook construction, frames open textbook writing as an experiential learning opportunity for educators, and offers implications for materials development training and research. Its findings may be of interest to educators, textbook authors, and those who study materials development, writing, or expertise, regardless of national context.

Scientist, enlightener, innovator... (to the 100th anniversary of the birth of N. M. Shansky)

The paper concerns the centenary of M. N. Shansky’s birth and provides a brief overview of those aspects of the scholar’s scientific and creative activity which he was involved in as an initiator of traditions and an innovator. For instance, he authored the first higher education textbook "Phraseology of Modern Russian". Moreover, the structure and content of the textbook "Lexicology of Modern Russian" became models for the authors of other vocabulary textbooks for many decades. The popular science genre of "history of words" targeted at teachers and schoolchildren was developed in N. M. Shansky’s papers and books. The popularisation of the genre in the pages of the "Russian Language at School" journal (N. M. Shansky was its editor-in-chief for over 40 years) made the "history of words" an integral part of the Russian language teaching process. N. M. Shansky played a significant role in the development of Russian phraseology and phraseography. He not only created an expanded, in comparison with V. V. Vinogradov’s, typology of phraseological units of the Russian language, but also authored and co-authored many phraseological dictionaries, including the first etymological dictionary of Russian phraseological units. N. M. Shansky also occupied a special place in the history of Russian lexicography: he authored and co-authored a host of Russian language dictionaries, including the multi-volume "Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language", and several typologically new dictionaries. Moreover, as the author of the lexicography section in a textbook on lexicology, he laid the foundations for the tradition of typologic al characterisation of Russian dictionaries. The content of his essays about dictionaries is also valuable. I prove this thesis in more detail using N. M. Shansky’s essay on the "Shakhmatov’s" academic dictionary of the Russian language. This paper attempts not only to comprehensively characterise the legacy of N. M. Shansky as a lexicologist, phraseologist, lexicographer, and methodologist, but also to emphasise his innovation and the invaluable contribution he made to the development of national science and education.

Inclusive Access and OER are Increasing Affordability of Textbooks in Higher Education

Inclusive Access and OER are Increasing Affordability of Textbooks in Higher Education

Meanings of management in the post-socialist higher education: the case of Lithuania

PurposeThe study examines prevailing understandings and meanings of management represented in Lithuanian higher management education as a selected East European post-socialist country. While concentrating on the notion of management as an institution, the study draws upon the concept of “travel of ideas” by Czarniawska (2008). The study aims at analysing what reasons led to the development of specific management meanings in Lithuanian higher education by considering local historical and socio-political processes of transformation.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical analysis is based on a qualitative content analysis of 23 relevant textbooks on general management in Lithuania, written by local authors.FindingsThe results show that the reception and translation of management concepts in Lithuania is mainly focused on rationalistic Anglo-Saxon concepts. Dominating meanings are informed by Taylorism, with alternative or critical management approaches remaining absent. The study additionally reveals the effect of “imprinting”, referring to the fact that local management pioneers have a considerable and sustainable impact on how and which management models and theories are adopted in management education.Research limitations/implicationsSince the analysis is limited to local textbooks in higher education of only one post-socialist country, there is a need for further research, especially for the inclusion of the remaining Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Additionally, other factors that may influence management meanings in higher education in post-socialist countries need to be considered by analysing translated books, management programmes or guest lecturers from other countries.Practical implicationsOne of the central implications of the research into management in higher education is the call for a stronger inclusion of management ideas that go beyond Taylorist approaches. These could be team-based management or participative management, as these potentially better align with work-oriented expectations by prospective, especially young, employees.Originality/valueThe study shows the relevance of historic roots regarding managerial thought. The study identifies an “imprinting” by local pioneers in the field of management that establishes initial and enduring meanings of management in a considered country. The mechanism of “imprinting” serves as a selective filter and indicates a local general receptivity towards certain ideas and could, thus, enable or impede travelling of ideas. In the case of Lithuanian higher management education, the study shows that “imprinting” has led to a narrow meaning of management with a higher receptivity towards concepts and approaches that align with Taylor's scientific management theory.

Analysis of the constitutionality of the implementation of unified textbooks in higher education

This paper analyzes the constitutionality of the implementation of the unified textbook in higher education institutions with the help of Professor Zhang Xiang's classical trilogy analysis, namely, the framework of "scope of protection-restriction-justification of constitutionality of restriction" of fundamental rights. Firstly, we analyze the scope of the fundamental right of academic freedom and the subject matter of the right to unified textbooks. Second, we analyze whether the implementation of the unified textbook constitutes a restriction on the nature of the right to academic freedom. Finally, we analyze the constitutionality of the implementation of unified textbooks in higher education.

Empowering digital learning with open textbooks.

This paper is in response to the article entitled “Open educational resources and college textbook choices: a review of research on efficacy and perceptions” (Hilton, 2016). In the article, Hilton synthesized the results of 16 studies, and proposed a statement that the decision to employ and adopt open textbooks in higher education has appeared to have financial benefits to students without decrease in their learning outcomes. This finding would strengthen credibility of open textbooks use and encourage faculty to utilize high-quality open textbooks in a post-pandemic world. However, only if teachers are willing to develop and use open textbooks can millions be saved for students and higher performance be achieved by students. Furthermore, from integrative model of behavior prediction, future research needs to probe a variety of issues relating to how teachers could be intentionally and effectively use open textbooks to empower the digital learning in the 21st century.

PRACTICAL EXPERTISE IN METHODOLOGY OF EDUCATIONAL LITERATURE OF SPECIALTIES

In this article, the problems of assessing the quality of modern educational literature in higher education are investigated. Also, there has been developed scientific solutions, a methodology for practical examinations of textbooks in higher education and ideas for their implementation into the educational process.

Disentangling teachers’ enactment of materials: a case study of two language teachers in higher education in China

ABSTRACT This case study examines an under-explored domain of teaching, namely, teachers’ use of curriculum materials to enact instructions. It focuses on English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers’ enactment of instructions through utilising prescribed textbooks in Higher Education (HE) in China. Drawing on interviews and lesson observations from two Chinese EFL teachers in two successive years in one university, four interactive processes of teachers’ materials use in classroom settings were identified. Deploying Keller and Keller’s ‘cognition in tool use’ and Vygotsky’s ‘mediation theory’, teachers’ cognitive processes were unpacked and the mediated relations among teachers, students and other stakeholders that underpinned the processes of materials use were disentangled. Findings revealed that teachers’ enactments of materials at the classroom level was situated, dynamic and complex. Recommendations for professional development, materials development, and future research are also provided.

Науково-теоретичне осучаснення концепції синтаксису української мови в підручниках для вищої школи

The article deals with long overdue, topical issues of modern scientific and theoretical coverage of syntax of the Ukrainian language in higher education textbooks, in connection with signifi-cant new processes of scientific understanding of the system-structural organization of lan-guage, in particular its syntax, its hierarchically interconnected links. The objective of the article is to identify the real state and direction of the scientific and theoretical modernization of the concept, and, accordingly, the syntax course of the Ukrainian language in higher education textbooks in relation to the current development of science in the field of syntax. In the last decade of the twentieth century the textbooks related to syntax of the Ukrainian language with certain innovative content began to appear. In order to investigate their peculiarities, the direc-tion of updating was applied, first of all, by the following methods: analysis, synthesis, descrip-tive method – for separation, comparison, generalization of new syntactic aspects, units, terms revealed. The methods of system analysis, induction, deduction have been used to find out the conformity of transformations to the principles of systematicity as a basic feature of the structure of a syn-tactic system. Supporting innovative processes of updating the editions related to syntax of the Ukrainian language, the authors considered it necessary to use the system-structural and communication-functional approaches to the study of text, its units, patterns of text-making, and also from these positions to provide an assessment of achievements, and in some cases disadvantages of the updated educational literature. The result of the first frontal analysis of textbooks related to syntax of the Ukrainian language, which replaced the traditional ones, was first of all the conclusion that the performed research showed departure from the so-called «pretextual grammar» in them and going beyond the sentence to find out the essence of syntactic categories, structure of units and, finally, the whole structure of syntactic system in a multifaceted array of text-making as the final one for communication purposes, but unconventionally – at the sentence level, and at the text level – respectively with the modern scientific perspectives.

Children from Marginalised Roma Communities at the School Gates: The Disconnect Between Majority Discourses and Minority Voices

Some children, especially those living in poverty and from ethnic minority backgrounds, have difficulty accessing preschool education. This is despite the fact that preschooling is considered to provide the foundations to a successful education and social inclusion. In Slovakia this issue primarily affects Roma children (Roma are also referred to as Travellers or Gypsies), specifically those from marginalised Roma communities (MRC). The aim of the article is to explore how the issue of schooling for this group of children relates to the political discourse and education policy, and consider whether this stems from the academic discourse on which higher education textbooks and teacher training are based. In the empirical analysis we found opinions and attitudes expressed by Roma parents from MRC that are not heard in the public discourse, and we compare these to the content of academic writing.

Grammatical Intricacy in EFL Textbooks

Grammatical intricacy is an important concept in charactering complexity of language (Halliday, 2008). However, this concept has not yet been fully investigated in the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language (TEFL), particular in English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks in higher education. This paper aims to examine grammatical intricacy across textbook levels in a book series used in tertiary education in the Vietnamese context. This is part of a larger research project looking at linguistic complexity of English textbooks in the TEFL setting. The research employed Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as the main theoretical framework and Halliday’s method as a measure of grammatical intricacy to look at how this language feature was used in reading comprehension texts in four textbooks at different levels including elementary, pre-intermediate, inter-mediate and upper-intermediate. The findings revealed that grammatical intricacy increased in accordance with the book levels. Particularly, the mean scores of grammatical intricacy showed a gradual increase from the elementary to the intermediate book level; though they were not different significantly and the upper-intermediate textbook did not show the topmost grammatical complexity. These findings suggest that the use of grammatical intricacy in the investigated textbooks was appropriate for EFL learners across levels; however, the use of other linguistic features such as lexical density and nominalisation may potentially impact the use of simple clauses in the textbooks at a higher level. Thus, further investigations are recommended to fully explore the complexity of textbook language.

Maintaining Momentum Toward Graduation: OER and the Course Throughput Rate

<p class="3"><em>Open Educational Resources</em> (OER) have the potential to replace traditional textbooks in higher education. Previous studies indicate that use of OER results in high student and faculty satisfaction, lower costs, and similar or better educational outcomes. In this case study, we compared students using traditional textbooks with those using OER at Tidewater Community College to compare their performance on what we call course throughput rates, which is an aggregate of three variables – drop rates, withdrawal rates, and C or better rates. Two self-selecting cohorts were compared over four semesters, with statistically significant results. The study found that, subject to the limitations discussed, students who use OER perform significantly better on the course throughput rate than their peers who use traditional textbooks, in both face-to-face and online courses that use OER. This suggests that OER are a promising avenue for reducing the costs of higher education while increasing academic success.</p>

Naissance et mutations d’un marché éditorial : les manuels du supérieur

Si le manuel destine a l’enseignement superieur a fini par s’imposer en France apres 1960, il ne possede pas cette epaisseur historique des Companions britanniques, apparus un siecle plus tot. Certes, la tradition de la pecia remonte au Moyen Âge et precede l’imprimerie mais elle ne concernait que les clercs, non un public d’etudiants post-baccalaureat estime a plus de deux millions d’individus aujourd’hui. De plus en plus proche dans sa forme du manuel du secondaire qui, lui-meme, a emprunte les voies du manuel a l’usage du primaire, le manuel du superieur actuel a ete precede par des collections du type « Que sais-je ? », « Kiosque » ou « 10-18 » avant de s’imposer avec « U » puis « Cursus » et « Carre H » et de proliferer chez de multiples editeurs specialises. Cet article tente de faire l’archeologie du phenomene, d’en analyser les developpements et les mutations d’un siecle a l’autre et esquisse des comparaisons, avec la Grande-Bretagne, l’Allemagne et les Etats-Unis pour mieux souligner les specificites du manuel a la francaise.

Partnering With Oxford University Press

This past spring, APTA's Board of Directors decided that APTA will enter into a partnership with Oxford University Press (OUP) to co-publish PTJ , starting in January 2017. As editor in chief of PTJ , I am very excited about the Board's decision to partner with OUP. I believe that Oxford University Press will be a great fit for PTJ . As the world's largest university press with the widest global presence, OUP publishes more than 6,000 titles a year worldwide, including journals, dictionaries, English-language teaching materials, scholarly monographs, printed music, higher education textbooks, children's books, and schoolbooks. Oxford University Press has more than 350 journal titles that receive an impact factor, with about 22% of its journals ranked in the top 10% of at least 1 subject category, reflecting OUP's position as a trusted gateway to high-quality scholarly research and resources. Oxford University Press will offer PTJ a publishing platform powered by Silverchair Information Systems. The new website will allow both seamless delivery of journal content and integration with other online resources for PTJ readers. Our aim is state-of-the-art dissemination and display of scholarly work, and the new website will be a key component in the next phase of PTJ 's development. Partnering with OUP also will expand …

Teachers’ use of textbooks in the digital age

AbstractThis paper explores teachers’ use of textbooks in the digital age. After discussing student expectancies and needs, textbook use and the affordances of modern technology, the paper reports the results of a small-scale pilot study involving eight higher education teachers in Australia who discuss the use of textbooks in higher education in the digital age. The results indicate that textbooks are generally viewed as reliable tools which provide creditable information that supports and enhances students’ understanding of critical concepts, and that they present bite-size chunks of information to cement student learning.

Electronic textbooks advantages and challenges for the Hellenic higher education and publishing community

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study advantages and challenges of electronic academic textbook (e-textbook) for the Hellenic higher education and the publishing community. In the higher education domain, the shift to e-textbook adoption entails numerous benefits. However, reluctance is noted in students as well as in publishers, impeding the faster realisation of this change. Decision-makers (such as the Ministry of Education and university administrations) need actual survey data to plan and perform the best strategy plan for the transition to the e-textbook era. Design/methodology/approach – Two different surveys took place among higher education students and academic textbook publishers in Greece. More specifically, the purpose of these surveys was twofold: first, to identify both students’ and local publishers’ views towards the e-textbooks as the near-future successor of printed books. Second, the results of the in-depth study will enable the proposal of certain solutions for the Hellenic higher education textbook system, which has reached an economic and functional deadlock. Our findings will also be easily adopted by other similar educational system across Europe. Findings – Our findings reflect a situation where e-textbooks will replace the printed books, but not in the near future, as both technology providers and publishers have to overcome many technical obstacles. Students are expecting the transition to occur soon, but still remain very reluctant about the inconvenience which might be caused to their reading habits. Originality/value – The results are unique and in alignment with similar surveys in other educational systems.