Student-authored texts make sense

The first person who wanted to burn books must have been a
student, correction ““ a college student. And what sparked
that desire must not have been Jane Austin or William Faulkner
(okay, maybe Faulkner). The odious thing fantasized as kindling
must have been a textbook.

Sometimes confusing and always dull, are textbooks not the bane
of your existence? It doesn’t have to be this way.

If a student were to write a textbook, more relevant examples
and an up-to-date vernacular would make things more interesting.
Student-written textbooks have the potential to change the way we
think about textbooks, and even learning itself.

Just recently, the Undergraduate Student Initiated Education
program was approved, thus allowing undergraduates to develop and
teach their own seminars.

In a Daily Bruin article from last November, Polly Pagenhart,
who coordinated a similar program at UC Berkeley, was quoted as
saying that the program’s purpose is “to inspire peers
to work together (to create) a space in which students take
responsibility for their own learning process.”

Pagenhart is advocating collaborative learning, which is a
method of instruction in which students of all levels work together
in groups. In a study done by Anuradha A. Gokhale, an associate
professor at Western Illinois University, college students who
participated in collaborative learning scored better on critical
thinking tests than students who had studied alone.

Of course, student-written textbooks would not facilitate
collaborative learning as directly as student seminars. However,
they would still promote the same principles that make
collaborative learning successful. Namely, student-written
textbooks would encourage students to take responsibility for their
own learning as well as share their knowledge with others.

The best thing about a student-written textbook is that the
author is not an expert. No, that wasn’t a typo. College
textbooks are written by top-notch professors who are the leading
researchers in their fields. Take a look at the first few pages of
any textbook and you’ll see a page that’s dedicated to
touting the expertise of the author. Whether it’s awards or
publications, there’s no doubt the authors know what
they’re talking about. How can a student compete with
that?

But ironically, the weakness of the student author is also a
strength. Being newer to the subject, a student’s status as a
novice actually comes in handy. Someone who is well-versed in a
subject may underestimate the difficulty of beginners’
topics, and may even gloss over them. But a student would not make
that mistake, having learned the material recently enough to
remember all the important things that need to be explained to a
novice.

But a student-written textbook can’t replace one written
by a professional either, nor should it. However, there’s no
reason why the best of both worlds can’t exist in a
classroom. Student textbooks would make great supplemental material
to the required readings.

When fourth-year electrical engineering student Derek Fong began
writing his textbook on circuits, he hoped it could someday become
a supplemental manual for the relevant courses, possibly made
available online.

Fong said that in one class, neither the professor nor the
textbook explained that in order to use one particular formula, it
had to first be manipulated in a certain way. Without this simple
but critical information, most students were stumped.

Fong said, “The material is so basic and second nature to
experts that they often forget to explain the details. That’s
why it’s helpful to learn from a student as well as an
expert.”

But of course, student authors can’t be too green either.
For example, after only a day of tutoring chemistry in high school,
both my tutee and supervisor decided it was morally wrong for me to
continue. I didn’t have the in-depth knowledge or experience
to convey the information effectively.

Luckily, some students have a good enough grasp on the material
to teach, and not only that, they can put it down on paper too.
Fourth-year electrical engineering student Andrew Zhang recently
teamed up with Fong to be a co-author. Zhang said, “We want
to offer students another avenue through which they can learn the
material.”

Fong and Zhang have already shown their baby, which presently
has 50 pages, to some of their classmates. They’ve received
quite a bit of positive feedback.

Fourth-year computer science and engineering student Robin
Chandra said, “I learned everything about circuits from that
manual.”

Who knows, student-written supplemental textbooks may really
catch on. After all, who knows how to reach students better than
students themselves?

Moreover, beyond the words, formulas and theories, something
else is being expressed. It’s the initiative to take
education into one’s own hands, an inspiration that can be
the best learning enhancer of all.

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