Online Course Peer Review

A few years back I realized that I needed to address the seemingly growing number of students who werepurchasing the wrong textbook, the wrong edition, or failing to buy one at all (”you mean we need to buy a textbook for an online course?”). Iroutinely provided the correct textbook information on the syllabus and course homepage, but it obviously wasn’t getting the job done. It suddenly occurred to me one day that I should include a photo of the cover of the textbook on the course homepage—right at the top of the news area so that it could not be missed. Under the photo (which I find in the instructor’s materials provided by the publisher) I type “required textbook”, so that there is absolutely no doubt that the book shown is a class necessity. This simple move has virtually eliminated student questions about which textbook to purchase. Gotta love that!