Friday, October 05, 2012

[kitgmpki] Grading textbooks

Can textbooks be objectively graded and compared?

On first glance, objectively measuring the quality of "text" on its own seems impossible.  However, assuming unlimited resources for replicating controlled experiments to achieve statistical significance, it is within the realm of possibility to measure students' learning, so maybe.

Simplify by assuming no instructor: self-study.  It will be very important to keep the student interested.  A good instructor can only enhance a good textbook, so make the base case good.

It depends a lot on the student / reader.   Define categories of students that a given textbook works for.

Beyond textbooks, entire online learning courses: these are being statistically evaluated (e.g., Coursera).

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