Are textbooks (printed or digital) not used any more? How do students revise?

[ParentOfOne]

We are looking into secondary schools and are a bit shocked at what seems to be the trend of getting rid of textbooks in the UK.

This has been a bit of problem in primary school, when our child asks for help, we explain something, she says the teacher explained it differently, but doesn't know how... because there is no textbook!!

At primary school it's not been anything over which to lose sleep, but in secondary it might be different.

• Is this really a trend all over the country?
• Across both private and public (we're not considering private, just curious)?
• I don't care whether the material is printed or online, but are students expected to revise based on the notes they take in class? Taking notes for a detailed history class might be harder than for a maths class. But how about subjects like biology, which require all kinds of graphs and images?
• What are your thoughts?
• Have you bought textbooks? How do your children revise?
• Getting rid of textbooks might be a way to cut on costs, but I suppose there is plenty of free material online to explain fractions logarithms WW1 etc

I know many people who are university lecturers, and they all tend to think this trend is a catastrophe, because by the time they start university students are not used to the concept of studying a textbook, they expect that anything can and should be summarised into a few bullet points on a slide.

We teach the skills of reading widely from accredited sources - e.g. Google Scholar as opposed to normal Google, journals, open source information etc. - evaluating those sources as to their provenance, bias and utility, and drawing together the information they contain before reaching a conclusion. Universities seem to really like this and many including RG institutions lower offers if students achieve A star or A grades.

This sounds interesting. How is it taught?

So offers are actually lowered ( even RG OMG ) if pupils can demonstrate a modicum of analysis and critical thinking?

Universities really like it? That says it all ! This is surely basic stuff, or should be, but clearly isn't !

Desperate times.

@Words the EPQ is taught via something like 30 hours of teaching and 120 hours of individual work. We take 4 terms over it, but that's unusual and many institutions do it in 2.5 to 3 terms. Students choose a title, plan their work, research it, write the essay or produce the artefact then present their findings. Last year I had titles as varied as "Why is the continent of Africa so rich in natural resources but economically poor?" and "To what extent is cricket corrupt?". They also keep a log of their work, set aims and objectives, make a plan to meet those objectives, analyse their sources and present their findings, as well as write a 5000 word dissertation, or produce an artefact with a 1500 word report. Dissertations and reports should be referenced correctly using an approved style.

In lessons we cover things such as how to research (Google Scholar as opposed to Google or Wikipedia), how to read abstracts, how to analyse sources, how to reference, how to write aims and objectives and what a presentation needs to include. I meet them individually on a half termly basis if not more frequently depending on their needs and learning style.

Last year, a student had a standard offer of AAA for a course at Exeter, reduced to ABB if they achieved an A star or A in EPQ. Several students did not make their firm offers in the summer, but the EPQ was enough to get them onto their chosen course. I am obviously a fan but there is information out there from Southampton University on the benefits where they compare students' achievements at the end of their 1st year with those who have studied the EPQ outperforming those who have not in every faculty.

I took GCSEs/ A levels 20+ years ago and don’t recall having textbooks in the main. Had a poetry anthology for GCSE English and I think there was a French textbook at some point, and I definitely had some York notes type books (bought myself) for English literature set texts. then again neither did I revise from my notes - I think majority were sample test questions only.

i did have textbooks as a university student but revision was from lecture notes and all exams were open book…

@Malbecfan - thank you for replying in such detail. Now - that study programme sounds very impressive!

What counts as an ´artefact ´ ? Do most pupils go for that in order to reduce the effort on the essay? The difference on the word count is substantial !

It's just the sort of thing I would have absolutely loved at school. And much more useful than the " general studies" fifth A level we all did, which was multiple choice (!) No one ever failed, and you had to be seriously underwhelming academically not to do well. Some of the options were laugh out loud funny!

"The belief that good teachers produce their own original resources seems to have become a pervasive one and, in some schools, almost a de facto Teacher Standard. Comments on a Twitter poll I ran suggested lots and lots of teachers would feel nervous using a textbook in an observed lesson for this reason. This has resulted in a proliferation of amateur educational publishers, and, for every teacher capable of resourcing originally and well, there are many spending hours making material no better or even inferior to that made commercially by experts. It is unfair and unrealistic to expect teachers to be as skilled at writing resource material as those whose job it is to do it. This is not to say, of course, that everything on the market is of a high standard, but before reinventing wheels we should at least consider the possibility we might not need to."

bennewmark.wordpress.com/2017/12/08/where-did-textbooks-go/

@Words in my school artefacts comprise around 5 % of the total entry. Artefacts do take ages to produce.

A couple of years ago I had 2 wonderful students who each wanted to produce a recipe book. Student A had a sibling with CF so researched the food groups sibling could eat safely and devised different recipes. She hand drew everything in it. Student B wanted to produce a book for people cooking for the first time, She did an online food photography course and her book was simply stunning. Student A saw student B's work and had a wobble. I told student A that they were aimed at different markets - student B's work was a "going to uni" present in Waterstones whereas her work was the hug that a CF diagnosis in the family needed. Both ended up on related courses. Student A should graduate this year in diatetics. Student B should graduate with a Business Marketing degree.

In my current y13 group I have 3 artefacts. One is looking to study fashion design and is making an outfit from recycled materials. Another wanted to study Art but couldn't fit it into her timetable so has tied it in with her psychology studies to design and paint a triptych of 3 different psychological conditions. The third wants to study something to do with climate change so is making a model of the effect of rising sea levels on the local area.

To be honest, an essay is so much more straightforward. I have read and supported some amazing work over the last 5 years. A couple of students have been quite strategic in choosing subjects/titles which relate to the academic interests of admission tutors of specific courses, and been successful in getting interviews/offers.

I supervised an EPQ on the architecture and interior design of memory units. Student did brilliantly, went off to study architecture and is now working in the sector. When students choose something they're interested in it can be absolutely fascinating for staff as well as students, and certainly teaches skills that most don't develop until 1st year at university.

I do get the impression that some people on this thread are very surprised at how much goes on in schools, and some seem wedded to the textbook no matter what! Really pleased that some are interested in what is happening in the classroom though.

But I think even back in the '80s, most teachers didn't follow text books religiously. At least, mine didn't. We used them, but not necessarily in order, and we also got handouts and stuff. So I wouldn't expect only to use text books, even before the wealth of other media there is today.

We were asked to pay for GCSE English texts thay they can annotate and keep. . I've no idea what happens if you don't. I assume they have some old copies they give out to those who don't pay.
They also had school-owned textbooks for some subjects eg science which were collected in on GCSE exam day and parents got charged if you failed to return them.

Schools cannot afford textbooks. Online textbooks are cheaper but still cost money for the subscriptions.