Have you looked at a college text book recently? There seems to be no such thing as linear thought any more. Every page of text is interrupted at 3-5 times with pictures, sidebars, end notes, and other information inserted into the text. Today’s text books seem to be designed for readers that have the attention span of a flea.
So, the normal reader tries to read and absorb the text, but some sidebar, or other interruption, is constantly vying for the reader’s attention. And, heaven help the student if he doesn’t read it all — it could show up on his final.
My grandchildren don’t even buy their books any more — they rent them! So, as they get farther along in their majors, there is no hope of referring back to a favorite text.
I want back to college about 12 years ago to finish a degree and couldn’t believe it. I also couldn’t believe how frequently “group” projects were assigned and “group” grades given. As an older student, particular about my work, I always ended up carrying much of the burden of the group. I always did the typing because none of the other cared about proper footnoting and hadn’t learned the rules, despite my university making it really easy to find the answer to sticky questions. (There was a nun in the library who devoted her life to understanding the APA system and passing that info along to any student willing to ask.)
I had been an English Major in my previous life as an undergrad at UC Berkeley, so I am good with grammar, syntax, etc. I wouldn’t re-write, but I did correct glaring errors. One of my group members Gave me her part of the paper to type in its final presentation and the wording sounded awfully familiar. I checked the text and found that she had COPIED the entire first chapter. I called her, and she said, “Oh, that’s a “block quote”. I pointed out that she cannot quote an entire chapter as her contribution to the paper because the grades of 4 people depended on the whole. She didn’t care, so I re-wrote.
She was the niece of the Milwaukee Superintendent of Schools!
LOL! College text books are the USA TODAY of books. I went back and got my MBA about 13 years ago and only bought one book because the profs don’t teach to them. They all just lectured and expected you to take notes, which was convenient but wrong. A friend’s mother worked in a college library and she said the book sales are a scam. The book companies want to sell new books every year so they allow professors to write a chapter in the new book. In exchange, the professors deem the previous year’s book obsolete.
Physics don’t really change much from year to year.
I hope my grammar is okay on this thread or I’ll hear about it!