By Rebecca Burton
Associate News Editor
Buying textbooks is nothing new to a university student. While some students opt out of buying them, new online textbooks that include mandatory quizzes make it a requirement to purchase them —no matter the price tag.
Part time student Kyle Bickerstaffe enrolled in a marketing course at the Raymond G. Chang school. One of the course requirements was a $75 online textbook that included quizzes that made up 5 per cent of his grade.
“If you don’t want to buy the textbook you shouldn’t have to,” says Bickerstaffe.
While the five per cent doesn’t seem like much, Bickerstaffe’s grade dropped to a B from an A- after he didn’t purchase the book.
The professor of the course, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed that the cost was unethical. Yet the textbook, chosen by the chair of the business management program, Mary Foster, who was unable to speak to the Eyeopener, made it a requirement for him to use it.
Third-year business student Ryan Madeley ended up in the same dilemma after choosing to purchase a used textbook for his human resources class to save money. Since the book was an old edition, he couldn’t access online content that included 10 per cent of his grade. The professor’s only advice was to spend the extra $40 to purchase the access code.
Photo: Marta Iwanek
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