Macmillan Learning’s Susan Winslow to Give Inaugural Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook and Academic Authoring

Susan Winslow, from Macmillan Learning, has been selected to give the inaugural Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring as Opening Keynote at the 2024 TAA Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring in Nashville, TN June 21-22. Her presentation, “The Very Human Experience of Learning,” will dig deep into the moments that make learning special: the emotions, the bonds we form, the aha! moments, and those big motivations that stick with us for life.

As AI becomes a bigger part of education, we can’t forget that at its core, learning is a human thing. It’s all about finding the right mix of tech and touch. The session will help us to understand the different ways to blend modern tech with the timeless human side of learning to help engage and inspire students.

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TAA Announces Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring

The Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring honors the life and work of mathematics textbook author Michael Sullivan, a long-time TAA member who has authored or co-authored more than 120 mathematics textbooks, many of which have been published in multiple editions.

The Lecture series provides a forum for textbook and academic authors to learn from veteran textbook and academic authors and other academic and textbook authoring and publishing experts. It will feature an invited lecturer whose textbook or academic authoring accomplishments are prolific, award-winning, and highly engaging and inspiring, or whose experience in the textbook or academic authoring or publishing industry qualifies them as an expert. The lectureship was established in 2023 by a generous gift from Michael Sullivan.

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ChatGPT and Me: Adapting to Teaching and Writing in the Age of AI

In my first year as a Department Chair in 1992, I was in a meeting with the other chairs in my school when one of them informed me that he had sent me an email. “Email!” I replied. “What on Earth is an email?” (Those may not have been my exact words, but I did say something to that effect.) I left the meeting thinking I was busy enough and did not need yet another imposition on my time, which something called email seemed like it promised to be. While I was proven right, I think, that email has certainly come to occupy a fair portion of our time (those of a younger generation than mine are wondering, I am sure, what we ever did without it), I was definitely wrong in thinking that I could somehow avoid it and simply refuse to use it (though I know one of my colleagues who took exactly that approach until she sadly passed away a few years ago)

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Textbook, Academic Authors Report Very Little Communication with Publishers Regarding AI

Eighty percent of respondents to the Textbook & Academic Authors Association’s latest survey, “Generative AI, Your Publisher & You,” said they have not had conversations with their publishers about their position on AI, their use of AI in their work(s), and/or contract clauses related to AI. The purpose of the survey, conducted between December 12, 2023, and January 8, 2024, was to help members advocate for themselves in conversations with their publisher(s) about generative Al (like ChatGPT) in contracts, policies, and statements.

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Navigating Writing with ChatGPT

Utilising ChatGPT as a supporting technological tool for writing can increase productivity. Here, I will share my personal experience with the model; how it assisted my writing practice, and the issues writers must be aware of.

ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI. It generates human-like responses to questions and performs other language-related tasks based on training data, mainly from the Internet. Its ability to use language, process data and arrive at conclusions has made it one of the top technological developments in 2023 globally. Here are four ways to utilize ChatGPT in your writing process:

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How ChatGPT Improved Textbook Author’s Amazon Book Description

Dr. Margaret Reece, author of Physiology: Custom-Designed Chemistry, recently used AI tool ChatGPT to revise her book’s description on Amazon. The following illustrates how the process worked, including a before and after description and the prompt she used. “I did some minor editing of the AI response, but I think it is much better than the original,” she said.

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