Speaking as a former high school teacher and current environmental science graduate student, I'd like to comment on instructors tossing the textbook from their courses. I appreciate _supplements_ to the textbook, such as selected websites, journal articles, etc. I have always had a problem, however, with instructors whose only "reading material" is something that they wrote themselves (whether it was a coursepack or something more formal). Every student learns differently, and not all students will relate well to any particular instructor's teaching style. If the course follows a decent textbook (even if assigned readings are not required), then a motivated student has a fall-back instructional method if lectures are not working (read the book!). If the only reading available is something that the instructor wrote, it is usually "more of the same" that the student heard in lecture. An instructor-written textbook rarely sheds new light on the subject or teaches with a different explanation of the concept. So...course readers and other supplemental materials are good, but be very careful that students have the opportunity to hear from a variety of instructional voices, not just one. Thanks for listening,
Jeff Jewett Montana State University
