The fifth in a series of surveys of computer courses for humanists, this article provides information about past and present courses for those designing such a program. Presents statistics on the numbers of courses offered by departments, the texts used, the types of equipment available, and the programming languages taught. (GEA)

A college educator (trained in composition) encountered some problems when he began teaching an introductory literature course. In the first year of the course, he used a fiction anthology as his textbook. The class examined one story at a time, and attempts to compare readings seemed forced. The teacher realized that anthologies are narrow in…

Faculty members who want a voice in textbook selection but whose schedules are already overburdened with meetings can still participate in textbook selection. A 7-stage process for involving all faculty in the textbook selection process has been used effectively twice in a large communication fundamentals course program at a state university and…

Eight college listening texts were selected and evaluated by the following criteria: organization, supporting material, and readability. Text organization was assessed by preface material, table of contents, index, and references. Text supporting material was evaluated by the use of hard data, soft data, visual aids, and bibliographies. Text…

The concern of this paper is with techniques for improving the understandability of statistics textbooks for novices. Understandability is measured by tests of the reader's performance on creative transfer problems that require using text material in novel situations. The focus is primarily on the instructional objective of conceptual…

The most frequently chosen textbooks for introductory sociology courses are analyzed. The study reveals that sociology texts change through incrementation rather than through innovative thinking or by rational decisions as to the best way to present sociology to students. Sociology students are not considered in textbook selection; rather,…

A study investigated leading mass communication scholars' opinions concerning the most influential works in their development as scholars, what books or journal articles they would recommend for aspiring scholars, and which researchers in the field are doing promising work. Fifty-one scholars identified through previous studies as being the most…

How relevant are some textbooks when professors, even in the same department, teach similar courses in different ways? Are there methods by which textbook companies can receive realistic, substantive feedback concerning the quality of communication textbook offerings? This paper details the methods by which its author/educator became a textbook…

Good citizens need good communication skills, and the task is left to departments of communication to give students the communicative skills they need to take part effectively in a participative democracy. This paper presents a short discussion of the pedagogical issue that is of supreme importance for the citizens of democracies--the issue of how…

A study assessed the status of the undergraduate general communication theory course at small and large colleges. Questionnaires were mailed to 261 programs in the United States listing a communication theory course in their catalogues. A total of 62 questionnaires were returned, for a response rate of 24%. Results indicated: (1) a clear…

Technical writing instructors lack a framework for evaluating pedagogical materials. One framework for classification divides the pedagogical materials into three groups: those locating their heuristics in form, context, and method. Formal pedagogies (the modes, sentence generation) can produce generic writing, separated from audience, purpose,…

Intended for teacher educators in reading, this paper provides criteria for evaluating texts for reading methods courses. The first part of the paper discusses some considerations in choosing a text, including course format, how frequently the text will be used, and whether the text will be a supplemental, companion, or principal resource. The…

Although professors have been criticized for requiring the use of their own published textbooks in the classroom, this practice can be justified if certain ethical standards govern the choice. Granted that the philosophical congruity involved in such a choice guarantees a level of compatibility between the textbook and teacher, the use of text…

In a "College English" article, B. M. Kroll describes the educational and philosophical foundations of three perspectives on the teaching of writing: interventionism, maturationism, and interactionism. These three developmental perspectives offer a useful way of reviewing, evaluating, and classifying textbooks written for basic writers.…

This paper addresses the question of whether introductory students are learning the essential concepts of sociology. A study of 18 introductory sociology textbooks, dated from 1973 through 1977, indicates that these basic concepts are not clearly and intelligibly presented. Although over 1500 concepts were included in 18 glossaries, only one…