Textbook Selection: Balance Between the Pedagogy, the Publisher, and the Student

We report a national survey of introductory psychology instructors about how pedagogical aids and publisher practices impact textbook selection and student learning. Respondents evaluated the importance of 79 attributes on 2 separate criteria: textbook selection and facilitating student learning. Some criteria received high ratings on both dimensions (e.g., textbook accuracy, readability/writing quality, use of examples on both textbook selection and student learning), whereas others received high ratings on only 1 dimension (i.e., ancillary materials and test item files for the textbook selection process). Experience in teaching the course also influences the relative importance of textbook selection criteria.