Re-imagining Textbooks for Surveying and Geomatics Education

by N.W.J. Hazelton and John D. Bossler

 

This is the text of a paper presented at the Surveying and Geomatics Educators Society 2015 Conference, held in Orono, Maine in June, 2015.

This presentation went on to launch the Leveling and Vertical Location textbook as an example of a solution to some of the problems discussed in the paper.

 

 

Abstract

Rapidly rising costs in post-secondary education, while at the same time society is requiring greater credentialing for jobs and professional registration (it has been estimated that nearly 30% of US workers need a license to perform their jobs), adds to the growing cost of higher education. Textbooks are part of that spiraling increase in costs. Modern technology has allowed publishers to make the release rate of new editions faster, while printing costs have dropped. But the price of textbooks continues to increase, while the lifetime of textbooks shortens. Most textbooks seem to operate on a 3-year edition cycle.