The agreed top-line measures of research effectiveness for senior academics are to write books and journal articles (preferably in top quartile, high reputation, high citation-rate journals).
But equally there are 'impact' measures - what impact is an academic's work having on their field.
I am currently editing and contributing to the 7th edition of a historically successful text aimed at advising and guiding Australian pre-service teachers as they learn about Humanities and Social Sciences education.
This work ranks low in the currency of academic research but arguably contributes to impacting practice in the 'field' (in this case primary and secondary classrooms). I have no regrets about being engaged in textbook writing but what do others think?
How much 'value' should be ascribed to textbook writing?
Dear Peter Brett
Good luck with your writting and editing work work.
Textbook writing is by no means an easy task. It is time consuming and very challenging. I am not sure I can say what value is credited for that, compared for example to journal articles. I would believe that it has to do with many factors, such as:
1) the exact and specific content of the textbook
2) the field of research
and many more.....
PS: I must admitt I do plan to write a textbook in near future. I am still through 'gathering' ideas about what to write in it....
Thanks for the encouragement, Konstantinos.
You are right that textbook-writing is not an easy task.
I have also written History and Citizenship texts aimed at younger students (14-19 year olds).
There is a real skill to writing in ways that are engaging, accessible and succinct and which address the learning needs of the target audience (in my case pre-service teachers).
Textbook writers need to be completely across the latest research literature and evidence in their fields but have the ability to communicate this accurately and clearly.
A clear project brief is important and from earlier in my career I remember the importance of a constructively critical editorial adviser as I first became involved in textbook writing.
It will be interesting to hear the perspectives of others.
Best wishes with your own plans.
Thanks for your thoughtful response, Jan.
You are right that it is a question of balance - as well as editing a textbook I remain committed to generating new knowledge via funded projects and joint projects with research students.
I think that you are also right that how valuable the role is might depend upon where a person in is their career trajectory.
Thanks for your engagement.
I think it is generally accepted the impact in term of visibility and career development is low. The time frame is also excruciating slow which means most textbook publications are inherently out of date from the start. On the plus side though, textbook publication can become wonderfully collaborative experiences and push us out of our comfort zone. Many such textbooks are international in format and content and force us to take a comparative outlook on our subject matter, which is clearly beneficial. Just contributed to an International textbook on UDL (Noval & Bracken, in print) which involved almost 30 contributors from around the world. Great professional networking experience and it has already led to some of us meeting face to face.
Thanks Frederic
I agree with you that 'process' can be as valuable as 'product'.
There is a debate to be had about 'impact' (which Australian universities are having at present) in terms of how and what to measure in terms of the difference made by academic research in different fields.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Microbiology
- Scientific Research