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Psychology Professor Teaches Textbook-Free Course
Noam Shpancer
Title: Professor
Department: Psychology
Noam Shpancer, professor of psychology at Otterbein University, said that he had been mulling the idea of designing and teaching a textbook-free course for some time. During Otterbein’s first J-Term this winter, Shpancer had his chance. His course, “The Skills: Keys to Mental Resilience,” served as a textbook-free, all-digital course pilot.

“Paper technology, as a means of storing, transferring and presenting information, is being replaced by the newer and far superior digital technology,” Shpancer stated in an article he wrote for Otterbein’s Center for Teaching and Learning newsletter. “Over the years I have been losing my taste for using textbooks. Textbooks are way too expensive for a student’s budget and don’t deliver much added value. With the new digital technology and our unprecedented access to knowledge, teachers and students no longer have to rely on the bulky, clumsy faux-authority of textbooks.”

Shpancer designed four teaching modules that were completed over 15 days of instruction during Otterbein’s winter J-Term. He used Blackboard’s Course Reading module to compile a reading list for students each week. He also used Blackboard’s Discussion Forum module as place where students could post their thoughts related to his daily question. Students also kept a digital wellness journal, in which they documented their experiences with assigned exercises and reflect on class-related topics.

In addition, Shpancer said that students were involved in the test creation process, submitting multiple choice test questions at the end of each class session that could be used on in-class quizzes. Shpancer said he also made heavy use of clickers to track both students’ comprehension in real tie and to solicit their opinions on course-related issues.

“Student evaluations of the class were very good, and my own sense is that the experiment was successful,” Shpancer said. “Students, I believe, appreciated the savings, as well as the immediacy and diversity of the reading materials.”

Still, Shpancer said the success of all-digital, textbook-free courses remains to be seen in semester-long courses, as well as introductory courses that require a larger breadth of material.

“My sense is that the classroom of the future is bound to be paperless and that the textbook – like the lecture – is a dated structural element of our educational approach that needs to be re-thought,” he said.

Click here to learn more about psychology at Otterbein University.