I’m looking to refresh my memory on political science, and so I bought this textbook online for $50. It was recommended to me by a teacher of mine a while back. It says that it’s the instructors edition. The student’s edition costs $80 new, but the instructors’ edition costs $50 new. Any real difference between the two? It’s not for a class; I just need it To refresh my mind on American government.
As long as the instructor’s edition doesn’t lose information that the student edition has, then I’m fine with it.
The instructors edition typically includes teaching guides, tips, lesson plans, and answers to selected reading comprehension or problem set type of material. The student version should probably be more than sufficient for your purposes. Honestly though for something like political science, if you are just doing it for pleasure or for your own personal benefit, there are probably many other books out there that are not textbooks (cheaper, perhaps more engaging) that would serve the same purpose
Does the instructor’s edition miss out on any text/info that the student’s edition contains? And I’ve checked this book out in the past for an hour, and it was very good. I liked it and I don’t think I’d go with another choice. It has tons of good information in it.
I just want to make sure that I’m getting a good deal here before buying the instructor’s edition.
Every book I’ve used or bought that’s been an instructor’s edition has had the same information as the student, just with supplemental pages for instructors.
@elliebham so I’m not missing out on any extra text/info that the student’s edition has? I guess the instructor’s edition is better if you had to pick one?
This is just in my experience, so it could be different than yours. But the two or three instructor’s editions I’ve used (not intentionally, but ebay sellers often mix up the two) were essentially reprints of the student edition with resources for instructors in the margins and on supplementary pages. The text itself was identical.
I definitely wouldn’t say the instructor’s edition is the better of the two for a student; the footnotes and supplement resources are usually not relevant and the text loses its aesthetic appeal by having the text pages replicated and surrounded by notes in the margins. The important part is the information, which both of them have.
It’s also possible that this is actually an exam copy, which are sent to professors directly from the publisher. These are usually just student copies. The fact that the $50 version is labeled ‘instructor’s’ makes me think it isn’t, though.
Also, sometimes the instructor’s edition is simply identical to the student edition, but with a different cover and maybe a couple pages asking the instructor not to sell it, since they got it free for teaching purposes.
Really, without knowing the precise textbook you’re talking about, it’s impossible to answer your question. (And might not be possible even then.)
Just checked the product description and it says, “Description: Instructor Edition: Same as student edition but has free copy markings.” Well as long as there’s no text/info that I’m missing out on, then I think I got a very good deal here seeing as the book goes for $120+.
That seems like an exam copy. Exam copies/desk copies are given to instructors by the publishers, and are usually just the student copy with a note that it is not to be resold. My major’s department keeps a bunch of them in our student break room because they’re usually sent unsolicited. So that seems like what you might be buying. It’s basically the same.
No, I said that because the $50 one was labeled “instructor’s” that it was probably a teaching copy, not an exam copy. Nothing to do with the price itself, just specifying which of the two ($50 instructor’s or $80 student) I was referring to.