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Mike Arnzen

updated 6/17/08

TAA member receives President's Medal from Human Anatomy & Physiology Society
TAA member Kevin Patton was awarded the Human Anatomy & Physiology Society's President's Medal on May 26, 2008 for exceptional services to HAPS and its mission of promoting excellence in teaching and learning of human anatomy and physiology. Click for more

Busy TAA People: Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (North Mankato, MN) recently published an article in Gifted Child Today (2008, 31, 41-29) entitled, "Internet Strategies for gifted students." His latest book, Teaching and writing: Research-based strategies for teachers, tutors, parents, and paraprofessionals, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, will be out in September 2009. He is also under contract to write a second edition of his social studies textbook, Making connections in elementary and middle school social studies, Thousand Oaks, CA, Sages.

updated 8/7/08

Evaluating college textbooks for course adoption requires careful thought
by Mary Ellen Lepionka
As you know, choosing the right texts for your courses is often not as clear and straightforward as you hoped or assumed. Depending on your or your students' degree of reliance on the textbook to acquire course content, the wrong one can confound learning, eat away class time, skew information, pauperize students (or provide inadequate return on investment), and even sabotage your instructional goals. What to do, then? Click for more

When the professor wrote the textbook
by Michael Arnzen
I recently contributed a chapter to a book called On Writing Horror which could become a textbook I assign some day in my graduate courses at Seton Hill University, where we have a Master's program in Writing Popular Fiction. I've been working, too, on editing an instructional text on that very subject -- Writing Popular Fiction -- along with an alum from the program. The longer I do this, the more closely aligned what I write and what I teach become. Click for more

updated 7/15/08

10 tips for preparing your next edition
Steven Barkan, a professor of sociology at the University of Maine, and the author of five textbooks and one tradebook, shares ten tips for preparing your next edition: Read here

Two new How-To articles on writing
Read two new How-To articles on writing by prolific author Kenneth Henson, presenter of the TAA sponsored workshops, "Writing for Publication" and "Grant Writing." The articles, entitled "Don't Use a Scalpel to Peel an Apple" and "The Most Important Writing Tool", will be published in a new book by New Forums, Inc. in Stillwater, Oklahoma, entitled, It Works for Me, edited by Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet.
"Don't Use a Scalpel to Peel an Apple": Read here
"The Most Important Writing Tool": Read here

2008 Texty, McGuffey winners participate in Q&A during TAA Conference Awards Ceremony
Five of this year's Texty and McGuffey winners attended the TAA Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas held June 21 during the 2008 TAA Conference on Text and Academic Authoring. After being presented with their awards from TAA President John Wakefield, Texty winners Bradley D. Fahlman, author of Materials Chemistry; Charles Corbin, co-author of Fitness for Life: Middle School; Janet Belsky, author of Experiencing the Lifespan; and Jay Withgott, co-author of Environment: The Science Behind the Stories; and McGuffey winner Belverd E. Needles, co-author of Principles of Accounting, participated in a Q&A session with attendees. Click here

Making your work more visual
Communication law author Paul Siegel told an audience of textbook and academic authors during his 2008 TAA Conference session "Making Your Work More Visual," that he hired an art student on his campus to create original cartoons based on his ideas, that illustrated the points he made in his textbook, Communication Law in America. Download Paul's PowerPoint from the 2008 TAA Conference, which includes a slideshow of cartoons from his textbook: Click here (7.8 MB)

Websites enhance textbook materials for students
Chemistry author Karen Timberlake created a website for the seventh edition of her textbook, Chemistry: An Introduction to General, Inorganic and Biological Chemistry (now in its 10th edition) several years ago, before publishers entered the Internet and began adding online materials such as website supplements to textbook packages. At Timberlake's website, www.karentimberlake.com, students can access learning and teaching activities that complement both her chemistry classes for allied health and her Chemistry textbook, including... Click for more

How to find a textbook publisher
If you have an idea for a new textbook a great way to start looking for a publisher is by attending your discipline's annual meeting -- which typically hosts book vendors -- where you may be able to make some good contacts with publishing companies, said Dr. Laura Taalman, a mathematics professor at James Madison University. Read the entire article: Click for more

Textbook author shares her experience working with literary agent
Dr. Cynthia Arem hired literary agent Michael Lennie of Lennie Literary & Authors Attorneys to negotiate the contract for her most recent book,  Conquering Writing Anxiety. He is also negotiating the terms for her Conquering Reading Anxiety book, which is in the proposal stage, and negotiating the terms for the third edition of her Conquering Math Anxiety: A Self-Help Workbook with CD, 2nd Edition, published by Brooks/Cole. Click for more

Tip for writing at home when you're not alone
Here's something Jane Karwoski, an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, started recently that seems to really work to keep family members from interrupting her when she's writing at home: Click for more

updated 6/5/08

How to find a textbook publisher
If you have an idea for a new textbook a great way to start looking for a publisher is by attending your discipline's annual meeting -- which typically hosts book vendors -- where you may be able to make some good contacts with publishing companies, said Dr. Laura Taalman, a mathematics professor at James Madison University. Read the entire article: Click for more

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