As teachers and authors, we are often faced with the challenging task of conveying information that, although second nature to us, is completely foreign to the students learning the material. Several experienced textbook authors share their best practices for explaining complex ideas in a simple way, including the use of metaphors, visuals, procedures/processes, and hands-on multisensory activities to improve learning success.
Member Spotlight: Sasha Vodnik
TAA member Sasha Vodnik is Lead Instructor at General Assembly San Francisco, an author with Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning, and a textbook author in the computer science discipline.
He is the author of seven textbooks, including most recently, HTML5 and CSS3 Illustrated Complete (2e).
The most useful textbook & academic posts of the week: January 26, 2018
Jeremiah Laabs reminds us that “If writing didn’t require thinking then we’d all be doing it.” This week we have a number of articles to get you thinking. For textbook authors, you may be thinking about the disruptive opportunities within the market seeking to solve the problem of high prices, you may be considering options for digital textbooks, or maybe you’re thinking about OER. Both textbook and academic authors with blogs may be thinking about how to repurpose blog articles into a book.
Academic authors may also be thinking about choosing the right dissertation topic, new opportunities in journal publishing, research impact factors, quantity vs. quality concerns in publishing, and roadblocks to accessibility. Whatever you’re thinking about, we hope it leads to better, more productive writing this week, and that these articles may help you think clearer.
#AcWriChat TweetChat: Not on Twitter? Watch live here on 1/26 at 11 a.m. ET
Join TAA on Twitter on Friday, January 26 at 11 a.m. ET using the hashtag #AcWriChat for our latest TweetChat…
4 ways to use your academic writing for social good
In their TAA webinar, “Academic Writing for Social Good”, Janet Salmons, Methods Guru for SAGE Methodspace and an independent researcher, writer and consultant with Vision2Lead, Inc., and Lynn Wilson, contributing faculty in the PhD in Walden University Public Policy and Administration Program, shared insight into how academic writing can be used to influence the greater social good.
Salmons and Wilson define social good as “writing that supports change to improve well-being of people in our communities or around the world”, and shared how research and academic writing can be used to inform, organize, advocate, and propose solutions contributing to social good.
The most useful textbook & academic posts of the week: January 19, 2018
This week’s collection of textbook and academic posts from around the web begins with predictions and strategies for the coming year. It provides resources for jumpstarting book reviews, improving your writing, understanding research ethics, and protecting and expanding the public domain. Finally, it explores the impact of new initiatives like RA21: Resource Access for the 21st Century, a new open access megajournal from UCL Press, Digital Science’s new citation database – Dimensions, and the Open Access Journal Finder (OAJF) from Enago.
With so many changes in sight, it’s anyones guess where 2018 will take us, but as we explore the potential ahead, keep in mind the words of M. Kirin. “Writing is an adventure. There is no way to know where it will take you, and what you will find. You could find success. You could find fans. Or, best of all, you could find yourself.” Wishing you many great discoveries in the week ahead. Happy writing!