Monday, May 11, 2009

I need more time to buy my books online!

You're sitting in your first class of the semester and your Professor hands out her book list. It includes over $100 worth of reading if you purchase the books at the GW bookstore. You go online and find a book listed in the bookstore as $120 for $45 on Amazon. If you purchase the book on Amazon, you'll have to skip the first few readings while you wait for it to come in the mail and risk looking stupid in your first discussion or flunking a pop-quiz.

How many of you have have lived this experience? I thought so. So what's the solution? Teachers should be required to make their book lists available to students AT LEAST two weeks before the first week of classes.

In order to force such a change, I've started a Facebook group to rally support. If you want to receive your book list before classes start, please sign the petition to let your Professors know!

With access to resources like Blackboard, Wordpress, and hello, email, there's not excuse for the lack of preview. In addition, it would be nice for students who wish to know what they're in for to view the syllabus ahead of time. This way students could drop and pick-up classes without running the risk of missing their first meetings.

So, help make it happen! Join the Facebook group today.

10 comments:

Zalina said...

Book lists are available at least two weeks prior to the beginning of classes via the bookstore website, at gwu.bkstr.com.

Anonymous said...

This is a good idea!! I know students want to not only buy their books early but I would definitely want to know what the class is about. But I don't think a facebook group would help..you need to email the departments or something...find another way

Zahin Hasan said...

Another Facebook group. Great. Well, in my experiences, simply asking the professor to make copies or scan the readings onto blackboard worked fine. But, lucky for me, textbook readings never kick in until two weeks after class starts anyway (but then again, I'm an engineer).

Anonymous said...

........another facebook group. okay.

how about I start a facebook group to get you guys to stop making facebook groups, would that be effective?

Anonymous said...

I know, I will be addressing the issue of yet another facebook group myself. But in regards to the comment regarding availability of book lists via the bookstore, I'm speaking more to Professors who assign books on the first day that are found through the bookstore. This has happened to me before. I'm just asking that they be sent out to the class list along with a syllabus so we know what we are getting ourselves into.

Zahin Hasan said...

You could ask your teachers on an individual basis. "Dear Professor, would it be possible to obtain a list of needed books for the course so I can prepare for the class accordingly? Thank you."

Anonymous said...

I agree with Zalina and Zahin. Take some personal responsibility. Most books are listed on gwu.bkstr.com and if not you can e-mail the prof.

Alexander Laska said...

Zalina, a lot of professors don't post their book lists on the bookstore website until after classes have started. I'm waiting for books to come in and I have readings due next week, hopefully I'll be able to find them in the library while I wait for the shipment...

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