Can colleges go textbookless?

David McGrath, professor emeritus, College of DuPage, currently teaching at Edison State College in Fort Myers offers his opinion based on experience of how colleges can save students money and offer a better more relevant education at the same time.

He notes that the material in the $72 volume required by his department is little changed from principles he has been teaching for two decades using $20 college handbooks. Throw in some essays from recent periodicals available and already paid for in their college library eResources and any professor worth his chalk can present skills and concepts directly and more interestingly at great savings to their students.

Perhaps it’s time universities go “textbookless,” to free our students from the expensive tyranny of Bedford, Pearson, Prentice Hall, and Houghton Mifflin. David McGrath