Teaching Point Teacher Authors speak on panel at
Text and Academic Authors National Convention

TEXT AND ACADEMIC AUTHORS
Text and Academic Authoring News
April 11, 2004
Edited by Kim Pawlak
kmpawlak@hbci.com

Here is the latest news from TAA:

TAA CONVENTION HELD THIS PAST WEEKEND. TAA's annual convention, held at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus on April 3, drew members from as far away as Japan. A dozen academic experts presented attendees with new ideas affecting academic publishing and research. Six presentations covered a range of topics including writing and scholarship in the university setting; doing complex web-based academic research; and acquiring images for use in scholarly publications.

VETERAN TEACHERS HELP LESS EXPERIENCED ONES. Doug Matthews, President of Teaching Point, brought a panel of teacher-authors into a TAA convention session that introduced the idea of having expert teachers write coursework for out-of-field, less experienced teachers. The teacher-authored texts include lesson plans, teaching tips, class notes, and student and teacher workbooks. "It's a life saver for those who get thrown into the deep end," Matthews said. "We provide soup to nuts, everything a teacher needs."

Each of the teachers on Matthews' panel balanced teaching, grading, conferences, and daily homework with their authoring efforts to produce courses for struggling teachers. These teacher-authors retain text copyrights on the courses that they write for Teaching Point. David Lovell, a history teacher from Nashville, stressed the importance of testing books in a practical environment with his students. He has written a United States history course. Dianne Smith, a journalism teacher from Houston, has created coursework that integrates a web site, on-line classroom and library to keep her coursework relevant, topical, and instantly accessible. For more on Matthews's presentation, visit the TAA website at http://www.taaonline.net.

CONVENTION KEYNOTE SPEAKER SHARES PUBLISHING INSIGHTS. Professor Robert Picard journeyed from Sweden to St. Petersburg to address his peers at Saturday's TAA convention in St. Petersburg. Picard led the session, "Changing Economics of Scholarly Publishing", with an overview of the impact of evolving media markets on academic publishing. Picard, professor of economics and director of the Media Management and Transformation Centre at Jonkoping International Business School in Sweden, discussed publishing in a modern global economy that is increasingly trading industry for information. According to Picard, textbook publishers are responding to the market flux by seeking new markets internationally, moving into trendy niche markets, and taking part in mergers and joint ventures in the hope of slashing some of their manufacturing, warehousing and distribution costs. For more on Picard's presentation, visit the TAA website at http://www.taaonline.net.

KEYS TO TENURE AND PROMOTION. Mark Durand, professor of psychology and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at USF St. Petersburg, and Robert Diamond, author, higher education consultant and president of the National Academy for Academic Leadership, discussed what accomplishments beyond an impressive volume of publications should contribute to faculty scholarship in a TAA convention talk entitled, "Publication, Scholarship, Tenure, and Promotion." Diamond, author of the book, Preparing for Promotion, Tenure, and Annual Review: A Faculty Guide, cited reliance on department input to find experts in the field. He suggested that scholarship should break new ground in the field and provide the foundation for further work, while satisfying the traditional criteria of remaining scholarly, illustrating expertise in the discipline, showing thorough documentation, and gaining peer support. He cited these values in determining the quality of publication and the degree of scholarly work: "It has to break new ground and move the field ahead." For more on Diamond and Durand's presentation, visit the TAA website at http://www.taaonline.net.