My professor told us a previous version of our textbook would be okay, but has now decided that it isn't?

Question

I currently have a class in which at the beginning of the semester, our entire class was told it would be okay to obtain a previous version of the textbook which I did because it was significantly cheaper. However, now that we are further on in the semester, the previous version is leaving out information that the new version contains. Each week, we complete a guided inquiry for this class in which we answer questions about the chapters. The guided inquiry now frequently has questions that answers cannot be found for in the previous edition. Our professor, however, only has the new edition of the text and doesn’t know which questions cannot be found in the previous edition. She decided that a good means of dealing with this would be to give us two attempts on the guided inquiry so that after we complete it the first time, we can reach out to our peers and get the information not found in the textbook.

I personally don’t think that this is fair to either the people with the new edition or the people with the old edition. The people with the old edition will have to rely on others for them to get a good grade, and the people with the new edition will have to devote time to finding the information that their peer needs and sending it to them. Because college students tend to be very busy, I don’t think that either of these is an ideal situation to be in.

However, I am not sure if this is just me being upset over the fact that I now have to spend extra time emailing someone else and waiting and hoping I get the information, or if it is a justifiable argument and I should send her an email to discuss the matter. I also don’t want to seem disrespectful, because I am sure she is just trying to do what she thinks is best as an educator so that we have all the information we need to become successful teachers. I am just not sure how an email from me would be received.

Edit to add: This is an online class so in order to get the pages from someone else, I would have to email and ask them to send me either pictures of their text or pictures of their answer. We only have three chapters left, so I was going to ask if maybe she could just scan those chapters for those of us with the old edition and post them on our class site with the other information because she did this for us at the beginning of the school year when everyone was still waiting to receive their textbook. Also, our university library is closed due to COVID and only providing online resources right now. Another reason that I didn't mention prior to this is that the class had issues finding the current edition of the text, and that was the reason a lot of people got the older version. The newer version at the time wasn't available through Amazon or Chegg and our school bookstore sold out pretty quickly. Also, yes this is an educator preparation class.

Answer 1

I've been both in situations where I told my students "I've looked at the 1st edition of the text and it's OK to use it" and "I've looked at the 1st edition of the text and it's not OK to use it". It sounds (unless I misunderstand your story) that your professor never looked at the prior edition and just assumed that it would be OK. I hope that "never assume" will be one of the lessons learned in this class by everyone, including your professor.

The professor tried to mitigate their mistake. (Other possible solutions might be to limit the topics of the guided inquiry to the material in the old edition, but that would not be fair to the students who do have the new edition.) Clearly, this creates a huge inconvenience for you (and the other people with the old edition), but also, more importantly, you're missing out on the material that's in the latest edition and is missing in the one you have.

My advice to you is twofold:

• You're missing out on gaining the knowledge which is the goal of your being in this class and in school. You're not learning as much as the other students who have access to the current edition. Get hold of the current edition of the text book (buy it new, buy it used, rent it, download it for free from pirate sites, borrow from somebody). It may cost you, but the alternative is that you won't learn in this class whatever you've set out to learn.

• Do not say anything to the professor. Nothing good is likely come out of it. The professor already knows that students who have the old text are inconvenienced. You have nothing new to say. The professor sounds very unlikely to change anything again, but also sounds like the type who might retaliate and dng your grade for complaining. If your school conducts course evaluations at the end of the semester, explain there clearly what went wrong.

Answer 2

You've established that the professor knows about the problem and has found a low quality solution. If you do not have a better solution, I see no point in contacting the professor about it.

Is there a copy available in the library or through the library website? If so, use that. If not, ask the librarian if one can be made available.

Answer 3

I doubt sending an email is wise. I imagine two cases. First, the instructor is newer and hasn't run into this before. Second, the instructor is experienced.

If the instructor is younger/new, I can almost guarantee that they already realize their error and feel badly enough about it. Many younger instructors make the mistake of thinking they're serving their students by being flexible on editions. With good intentions they sought to lower the cost burden of the class, etc. They should be seeing that this ultimately backfires. This professor is learning (hopefully) the hard way to make it a written-in-stone policy that everyone get the same edition. They've cobbled together the best solution they can think of, but it's too late to go back. They won't do it again next semester. You don't need to pile on when they're probably already punishing themselves.

If the instructor is experienced, they should already know better. And that probably means they don't care that much. So in this case sending an email won't have any affect anyway.

Answer 4

Your professor has caused a problem and it is a problem that should never occur. I find it especially egregious in a program designed for future educators. The professor is, right now, a terrible role model for how to manage a class.

The professor should design a class and provide for sufficient materials and instructions for every student to be successful. This includes text book recommendations. The design shouldn't be changed after the course begins and, most especially, it shouldn't be changed in a way that disadvantages some students over others. That is just wrong.

The professor, to behave ethically, needs to either return to the original "agreement" made when students entered the class or provide, in some legal fashion, the necessary additional materials. Anything else is a breach. It shouldn't be on the backs of students to recover from problems caused by the professor.

The professor should teach the course so that the original (first edition) is sufficient or supplement it explicitly with other things that they provide directly.

I don't know what recourse you have. Ideally, a complaint to the department head or dean would be appropriate, but, with the power imbalance here it might not be wise. If the teacher is so inexperienced or callous as to have let this happen, they might not react well to being called on it.

As with many such things, individual action an be dangerous and collective action can, in theory, be more effective. But you have to judge the local situation, including personalities, to decide whether any course of action is feasible.

But, you have been wronged. When you get to be a teacher, I hope you consider other people to be your mentor and others to be those you want to emulate. Good luck.

Answer 5

Your professor made a significant mistake. Judging by your question, it sounds as if she was attempting to be helpful and accommodating, that this backfired, and that she has realized this and tried to do what she can.

I would complain if (1) you don't think she's realized that this is a serious inconvenience, or (2) you would like to request some alternative form of accommodation. It sounds as if she has realized (1), but if you can think of a practical suggestion for (2) then I would encourage you to suggest it.

You also edited your answer to add:

The newer version at the time wasn't available through Amazon or Chegg and our school bookstore sold out pretty quickly.

It is the responsibility of the bookstore to stock the books required by students. At least in my university, they are provided textbook orders and registration counts months in advance, and hence have no excuse for this sort of thing. (It happens anyway.) In my estimation this is an egregious failure on the bookstore's part, and one which is completely beyond the professor's responsibility.

In your shoes, I would consider complaining about the bookstore to the university administration.

Answer 6

Wondering how conversant the prof. is with both editions...

The onus is on the prof. to get the library to order 2nd edition copies, and perhaps ensure the bookstore has some in stock.

A suggestion to the prof. on this issue should not alienate anyone. Prof. understands blunder, but working from just one edition disadvantages those with the other. Speak to the prof.