Dupen, B. (2013, June), How to Write a Textbook in Ten Easy Steps  Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--19687

\bibitem{asee_peer_19687}
  Dupen, B. (2013, June), \emph{How to Write a Textbook in Ten Easy Steps}
  Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia.
  10.18260/1-2--19687

Barry Dupen.  "How to Write a Textbook in Ten Easy Steps".  2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia, 2013, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2013.  https://peer.asee.org/19687 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_19687}
  Barry Dupen.
  "How to Write a Textbook in Ten Easy Steps".
  \emph{2013 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia, 2013, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2013.
  https://peer.asee.org/19687 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_19687
author = "Barry Dupen"
title = "How to Write a Textbook in Ten Easy Steps"
booktitle = "2013 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2013"
month = "June"
address = "Atlanta, Georgia"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/19687}
number = {10.18260/1-2--19687}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                       How to Write a Textbook in Ten Easy StepsAbstractStrength of Materials is the most difficult course in the first two years of the Mechanical, Civil,and Architectural Engineering Technology programs at ____; consequently it has the highestdrop and fail rate. In the past decade, the failure rate in our Strength courses has ranged from 18to 30% each semester, under three different professors, using the same algebra-based textbook.Students have trouble using algebra...they prefer to plug numbers into canned equations. TheCivil and Architectural students struggle with unit conversions. Although professors provideoffice hours during the day, most students work on homework in the evening, and report that theexplanations in the text are insufficient, too wordy, or too difficult to understand at midnight. Aroot cause of these problems is the editing process; most textbooks are edited for technicalcontent by other professors, so they are technically excellent. However, they are not edited forunderstandability by the target audience, so many undergraduates find them difficult tounderstand.To solve these and other problems, I spent a sabbatical writing a new Strength textbook forEngineering Technology students. Each semester, these students submit editorial changes, forextra credit. Feedback must be both specific and actionable: “this chapter is confusing” does notmeet the criteria, whereas “I don't understand how to solve the moment in Example 6, page 45”meets both criteria. A student may not know what to change, but can easily identify the confusingparts of a text. The book is free, available as a pdf on the course website, and is updated on anongoing basis.This paper discusses the writing process, delivery via pdf instead of print, selection of topicsrequiring extra emphasis, editing assistance from students, and the improvement in learningoutcomes. Although the topic of the book was Strength of Materials, this paper discussestechniques that can be applied to a variety of undergraduate engineering textbook topics.
AU  - Barry Dupen
CY  - Atlanta, Georgia
DA  - 2013/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - How to Write a Textbook in Ten Easy Steps
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/19687
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--19687
ER  -