I'm excited to highlight In the Room for Women in Business Week. It has been a pleasure working with the In the Room team, led by CEO and Co-founder Sarah Coward. In partnership, we have worked to deliver an interactive experience that enables people to connect with peer consultants, authors, and our own team members as though they were meeting them in real life  Using voice recognition and machine learning, this conversational technology provides its audiences the opportunity to have a dynamic interaction that is informative and authentic. The platform allows users to ask questions and receive personalized responses. The experience helps to break down barriers and create a sense of shared presence, offering an unparalleled and meaningful experience that goes beyond traditional methods of storytelling or learning A brief view of the In the Room website demonstrates this. Here you can speak with Sarah herself in an In the Room experience and learn about her company and her team. Speaking of her team, they are so easy to work with. They support, project manage, and advise every step of the way - from initial idea to storyboarding, and quality assurance. We can’t wait to share the In the Room Experience that we’re working on now. --- Macmillan Learning is committed to fostering an inclusive environment where women entrepreneurs not only have a seat at the table but also thrive. We believe that by supporting and collaborating with women-owned businesses, we contribute to a more equitable and prosperous future for all. Read about Monday's Spotlight on Work Simplr here. ... View more

Welcome to ​the first of Macmillan Learning's Women in Business Week Spotlight​s, where each day we will be highlighting  some of the many women-owned and operated businesses we have the pleasure to work with. In recent years, there has been a surge of  entrepreneurship​, with The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), ​reporting that women-owned businesses account for nearly 40% of all U.S. businesses. That they generate trillions of dollars in revenue and create millions of jobs is a testament to the resilience, creativity, and determination of women.​ At​ Macmillan Learning, we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where women entrepreneurs not only have a seat at the table but also thrive. We believe that by supporting and collaborating with women-owned businesses, we contribute to a more equitable and prosperous future for all. I am thrilled to share the exceptional experience we've had working with WorkSimplr. I have personally used them for a couple of different projects. Launching the projects was incredibly easy, and the fact that Work Simplr manages all of the administrative work of payment is invaluable. The students assigned to the projects were conscientious, completing the work well and on time.  Owned by Leah Jewell and Jodi McPherson, both of whom have proven passion for and experience in workforce readiness the Work Simplr team is highly responsive, collaborative, and consistently delivers exceptional results. The passionate, informed approach used makes all the difference in how they source, train and support student employees. Their deep understanding of educational publishing and workforce readiness is evident in everything they do.  If you have any projects where you are looking for reliable and vetted talent, you should definitely check out Work Simplr: https://worksimplr.com/ ... View more

Advancing equity and access isn't just the mandate of a month—it's an ongoing commitment to change, growth, and understanding. Every October, we observe the National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), as it offers an opportunity to reflect and find paths to create lasting change. For me, it took a long time before I was comfortable acknowledging my place in the disability community. I was afraid I was taking space from other people who had been through more than I had or whose disabilities were more apparent than my own. Disability felt like a dirty word. Founding our employee resource group AVID (Awareness of Visible & Invisible Disabilities) alongside my co-chair gave me a view into how everyone has a unique experience with disability and each of us deserves our space. Our conversations, meetings, blogs, presentations, and research have exposed me to a wonderful and varied world of life experiences and peer support that have made me feel truly welcome. My AVID co-founder had this to add: “the creation of AVID has fostered a community where we share our struggles, lean on one another, and bring levity in dark times. AVID has empowered me to realize that I don’t need to hide who I am. My disability is as much a part of me as my love of spreadsheets. I am now proud to tell you I’m disabled. I’m now me.” Our experiences being not only employees, but part of a thriving community of employees with disabilities, are oftentimes unfortunately the exception. While we have a rich community within Macmillan Learning, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2021, only 17.9% of persons with a disability were employed, in contrast to the 61.8% employment rate of those without a disability. The unemployment rate for persons with a disability was 12.6% in 2021, notably higher than the 6.2% for those without a disability. This data underscores the importance of our continued efforts to bridge these gaps and promote an inclusive work environment for all. The Power of Collaboration One critical way to drive change is through strong collaborations. By building bridges with internal stakeholders, partnering with community organizations, and liaising with disability advocacy groups, we multiply our potential for meaningful impact. This not only ensures that the needs of the disabled community are accurately represented but also fosters a support system that extends beyond the boundaries of our organization. To this end, AVID partners with groups like Disability:In, National Organization on Disability, Rutgers Center for Adult Autism, and several others. Their expertise, insights, and shared commitment have been invaluable in our journey towards a more inclusive workplace. Further, as part of our ongoing commitment, this month, we're excited to announce that we will be offering scholarships to Macmillan Learning’s employees for Deque University’s Accessibility Training Course. This course provides invaluable skills and knowledge, setting the foundation for a more inclusive digital environment.  While the National Disability Employment Awareness Month serves as a significant reminder, our dedication to equity and access doesn't wane with its conclusion. We are resolute in our mission to champion disability inclusion, continuously seeking novel solutions to eradicate barriers. The goal is to not only uplift every member of our team but to also instill a culture where all employees, irrespective of their abilities, can flourish. We invite you to harness the spirit of NDEAM to foster a workspace where disability stands not as a limitation but as a testament to the indomitable strength of the human spirit and the transformative power of inclusion. Together, the vision of an empathetic, understanding, and inclusive future becomes attainable. ... View more

At Macmillan Learning’s Tech Ed Conference this year, I connected with dozens of instructors teaching the next generation of learners about the topic on everyone’s mind -- Artificial Intelligence. AI will undoubtedly continue to change the learning experience. But I would also argue that the most meaningful parts of learning, at the core, are deeply human, and that's something we must never forget. So as teachers around the world have returned to class, I wanted to share some thoughts on our future and on what I believe will be AI’s impact on education. But first, let’s take a step back in time to November 30, 2022 -- the day that Chat GPT was unleashed as a free platform for the world to use and explore. I remember vividly the enormous influx of messages from my colleagues across the company and in classrooms. Everyone had questions about what it meant to education, what it meant for Macmillan Learning, and what its impact will be on society in general.  Not too long thereafter, we were inundated by headlines like The End of High-School English from The Atlantic and Teachers are on alert for inevitable cheating after release of ChatGPT from The Washington Post.  We began getting messages from instructors letting us know that their students were cheating using AI to write essays, to answer homework, and even during quizzes -- and they needed help.  It was at that moment of information crush that I remember looking up at the ceiling and understanding that everything had completely changed. I told our instructors at Tech Ed that in that moment, it felt a bit like I was rapidly going through the stages of grief: Denial. Sadness. Bargaining. Depression. And finally, acceptance. But that journey was critical to understanding the problem … and envisioning the solutions. AI as an Educational Tool  To best solve a problem you first need to understand it. So the first thing I did was what so many of us who work in education love doing -- learning more about the problem. I spent the next two months with various generative AI tools, with tech leaders, at AI conferences, with students and with teachers, and ultimately fortified myself on what Macmillan Learning’s role could and should be. There were enough people training the AI how to learn. Our job is to help humans learn.  Coming to that conclusion, for me, changed everything. I became optimistic. I remembered that learning should require effort. To form those new synapses, you need to be puzzled, challenged, engaged. The education community works tirelessly to both guide students along their learning path, and ensure the reward once it is taken.  I considered that this may be another opportunity to revisit some of our goals when it comes to reaching learners. To do things in a better way. To address issues of equity, equality, neurodiversity, or access in a different way. To address issues of bias in the system. To create stronger assessment tools, that can be tailored to a broader set of outcomes. Maybe we can unlock new learning experiences, reach more students, and have a real learning renaissance. Maybe the multiple choice problem wasn't the best assessment tool to begin with. Maybe there are other experiences we can develop that will assist all instructors in creating that magic moment that becomes the human connection to learning with their students.  Learning is Still Human In each of our lives, there likely has been someone or something that inspires: an influential moment in a person’s life that helped them to become the person who they were; a book they read; a speech, a lesson they learned in class; an instructor who took the time to get to know them and make them feel like they could do it. As amazing and useful as generative AI technology is, it still falls short of that person who inspired you to be better, that maybe changed your life. And that is ok. AI can do what it does well, and there is still a place for the human connection to do what it does best. As a learning company, enabling more of those moments needs to be at the forefront of the work we do. This means that we need to talk directly with, and listen to, students about how they use AI, and under what circumstances it advances their learning. As I have talked to students, I have found that they are not shy about sharing how they have used AI, talking as much about how they have used AI apps to cheat as they have used them to assist in their learning. We need to do more work here to know what exactly they’re doing and why they’re doing it.  Can we unlock learning for students in a way that is exciting and expands their curiosity? In my conversations with them, in many cases, they have told me they’re not actually sure if what they’re doing is, in fact, cheating. And when I ask them what motivated them to use AI in the first place, the answer is often “because I want to see if it will work.” There’s curiosity in there. There is learning happening there. With the rapid advance of AI tools and functionality, we’re getting into the potential of a new experiential learning experience. Students were one of the fastest adopting demographics for AI and there’s much to learn about how they use it.  Can we use metacognition in a way that helps provoke learning? If you ask ChatGPT what it learned this year, it responds “I don't have the ability to learn or experience things in the way humans do, as I am a pre-trained model with a knowledge cutoff in September 2021…” We can work with that. We can use metacognitive prompts to ask students if they’re aware of their learning, and what they learned. We can use the science of learning to help our human students be better at learning, to gain the kinds of critical thinking and awareness skills that will be crucial to helping them get better jobs in an AI-assisted future.  At Macmillan Learning, we see significant opportunity in this new world, but we also know there is a lot to continue to learn, understand, and be careful of. We’re partners in this journey. We’ve already rolled up our sleeves and are digging in creating new, exciting products and processes to support students and instructors. We are working to set new standards in inclusive practices within AI tools. And we are committed to advancing the learning science that will shape our next education renaissance.  In the coming months, you will begin to hear from our company leaders about our strategy, our projects, and our ideas. We’re working on some cool things. We’re eager to learn from you along the way. I hope you will stay close to us through our collective journey so we can inform each other’s progress. Our job is to help humans learn, to inspire what’s possible for every learner, to envision a world where every learner succeeds. And AI is changing the game in how we all support that journey. ... View more

Ever wonder why National Hispanic Heritage Month starts halfway through the month of September and not on the first like other affinity months? Or maybe you’re unsure which countries Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates? Find out the answers to these questions and more from members of Viva@ML, Macmillan Learning’s Hispanic/Latino/a/e/x employee resource group.  Viva@ML is a community of colleagues, Hispanic/Latino/a/e/x and allies alike, working together to foster a sense of belonging and explore the cultural diversity of Macmillan Learning through outreach and education. To kickoff this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, they answered common employee questions about the affinity month.    Why does Hispanic Heritage Month start on September 15th? September 15th is the independence day for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Mexico is right after, with their independence day celebrated on September 16th, followed by Chile and Belize on September 18th and 21st, respectively. With so many Latin American countries celebrating their independence in mid-September, President Lyndon B. Johnson recognized this time as Hispanic Heritage Week. (You can view all Latin American independence dates here.) In 1988, President Ronald Reagan moved to observe Hispanic heritage for a full 31 days, and President George H. W. Bush dedicated September 15th–October 15th as Hispanic Heritage Month in 1989. The United States has honored those four weeks since.   Does “Hispanic Heritage Month” include those who identify as Latino/a/e/x? Short Answer: Yes! “Hispanic” was the term used in the US Census in the 1980s when Hispanic Heritage Month was created, but “Latino” was not added as an option until 2000, so it might be fair to say that the month’s name was dictated by the most recent term of the time! Viva is committed to ensuring that inclusion is at the heart of what we do, and we know that how everyone identifies can be an extra personal question in our community, so we welcome everyone with Hispanic and Latine origins to consider themselves part of our Viva community!   What is the difference between “Hispanic” and “Latino/a/e/x”? “Hispanic” refers to Spanish-speaking countries or people from or whose ancestors are from areas/countries colonized by Spain, while “Latin” refers to ancestries in Latin America. Many of these countries and identities overlap, but a few do not! For example, Brazil gained its independence from Portugal, so while someone from Brazil or with Brazilian ancestry/heritage might identify as Latino, they would not be considered Hispanic.   What countries does Hispanic Heritage Month celebrate? If you think of the distinction between Hispanic and Latin countries as a Venn diagram, some countries are Hispanic; some countries are Latin American; and some countries are both. However, Hispanic Heritage Month, which is strictly a US holiday, celebrates people with ancestry in all of these countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela. ... View more

As students prepare to go to college, they’re likely excited about their independence, the upcoming academic challenges, and the prospect of new friendships. At the same time, there  could be anxiety or concern about adapting to unfamiliar environments. According to the American Psychological Association, during the 2020-2021 school year, more than 60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health problem. The weight of academic expectations, social adjustments, and the need to establish a sense of belonging all converge to underscore the importance of mental health resources. Rachel Comerford and Tina McCosky, leaders from Macmillan Learning’s Employee Resource Groups AVID@ML (Awareness of Visible & Invisible Disabilities ) & the Village@ML (Parent and Caregivers) respectively, share some tips about how to support students’ mental health. By Tina McCosky (Village@ML) and Rachel Comerford (AVID@ML) College life can be both fulfilling and challenging, particularly for new students. With the wide range of activities, assignments, classes, and opportunities available it can be easy to become overwhelmed or to neglect one's mental health. But like your physical health, mental health is integral for your well-being for a number of reasons.  Academic Success: Mental health plays a crucial role in academic success. When someone is emotionally well, they are better able to focus, retain information, and manage their coursework effectively. Personal Growth: College is a time of personal growth and self-discovery. Addressing mental health can enhance this process, allowing students to build resilience, cope with challenges, and develop healthy coping mechanisms. Relationships: Healthy relationships are essential to the college experience. Taking care of mental health ensures that students can form meaningful connections and communicate effectively with peers, professors, and staff. Both students and their guardians can play a role in ensuring that mental health remains a priority. Due to all the moving pieces and emotions involved with sending a child off to college, parents may prefer to be all business when it comes to college planning: planning move-in, buying dorm stuff, and asking teens many questions about their university portal and other resources. Students are already stressed about these things and more. They are moving from the safe space they’ve always known to a completely unknown environment, and even though they may be taller than their parents, they are anxious, excited, and likely feeling unsettled.  Students Research university website. All colleges have staff dedicated to mental health now. This is a huge improvement over the past where mental health was not always a priority. Start by searching for the "Counseling Services" or "Mental Health Services" section. Keep close contact with parents and other close friends and family members in the weeks before moving to college. Enjoy the free time, take time to just hang out, play games, talk to each other about things non-college, non-future planning. This will reduce stress and help both you and your parents (it’s a big transition for parents too!). Start Small. If talking to a counselor seems intimidating, you can begin by attending workshops or support groups. These can provide valuable insights and strategies for managing stress and improving your mental well-being. Self-Care. Incorporate self-care into your routine. Engage in activities that bring you joy whether it's exercising, reading, creating art, or spending time with friends. Prioritizing self-care can help reduce stress and improve your mood. Build a Support Network. Connect with peers, roommates, professors, and advisors. They can help provide emotional support and guidance. Parents and Guardians Give your teen the space they need to process. Parents may find themselves needing to hold their thoughts, or just talk privately about them with a partner or other parent friends going through this same transition, so that they don’t add more stress to their teen. Let your teen know they can talk to you whenever and you will be there to listen to them. If they know you’ll listen, they’ll ask for guidance when they need it. Similarly, encourage your teen to become comfortable with discomfort, analyze things their way, make mistakes, and trust that you are there for them, always. Their safe space won’t necessarily be in close proximity, but cell phones offer safety and virtual hugs at a fingertip’s reach. Our benefits provider is good at helping locate a counselor in specific zip codes. Some students feel a bit uncomfortable seeking a counselor at their university. Despite all the strides we’ve made, there is still hesitation on how they’ll be perceived or whether they’ll be impacted negatively by seeking help.  Normalize Seeking Help. Remember that seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Many students face similar challenges, and seeking support is a proactive step towards personal growth and well-being. Talk to your kids early and often about how and why to seek mental health assistance.  Mental health issues can be a reality for many of today’s college students, and there’s an ongoing need to first recognize the issue and then provide increased support and resources to address them. Students, their parents and even the college community each have a role to play in supporting this important moment in time for the teens. ... View more

With her Eras tour, Taylor Swift has been dominating the news this hot, cruel summer, including the $55 million in bonuses she gave to every member of the team that worked on the tour. But her impact on the people and the places involved with the concert experience extends way beyond that. From the resale prices, to the impact on local economies, to the role of Ticketmaster, we can learn a lot about economics from the pop icon and her tour. Economists research topics like labor, trade, global markets, healthcare, inequalities, education, etc., but the core of economics - one that Swift's Eras Tour has helped to teach us is How should economies allocate scarce resources?  Macmillan Learning author Paul Krugman (Economics from Krugman/Wells 6e) indicates that we can learn a lot from analyzing the headlines around something like the Eras Tour. Knowing that Swift's Eras Tour provides such strong teachable moments in economics, he created assignments for instructors to use this fall. The assignments are available beginning this August as an added benefit to all instructors using Macmillan Learning’s Achieve, but the team also wanted to make a few of them available for broader use. So … Don't let them slip by, like a moment in time. Is Taylor Swift Underpaid? This assignment asks students to think about economic growth as well as demand. Economic growth, the 11th principle in the first chapter of Economics from Krugman/Wells 6e, considers how the increases in an economy’s potential lead to economic growth over time. Concerts are big business. In fact, according to Bloomberg, Taylor Swift is bringing in ticket sales of more than $13 million a night for each concert, which may make the Eras tour the highest-grossing tour in music history (now that’s an American Dynasty). So how on earth could we even consider that she is underpaid? Let’s think about the question like an economist. Here are some things to consider: Modern superstar musicians don’t make the majority of their money from streaming or music sales. Rather, it comes from concerts. Unfortunately for Swift, but fortunately for us, we have the ability to listen to her songs just about any time (though there can also be a monthly subscription associated with that). While attending concerts offers a special experience, modern technology (Spotify, Apple Music, SirusXM) provides opportunities to hear Swift’s latest songs and even recordings of her live performances. Taylor Swift increased the number of shows on the Eras Tour, more than doubling the original number of shows to 131 shows. Following that announcement, ticket prices continued to soar (people seriously need to calm down!). Ticket prices on secondary markets have, in some instances, increased to more than 10 times their face value. Secondary markets exist because face values don’t reflect actual demand and supply. In the case of Taylor Swift, concerts sell out and prices continue to increase. That means demand continues to exceed expectations -- and when demand exceeds supply, prices will increase. So … should Taylor Swift have been paid more? What do you think? Start out your fall term by thinking about economic growth and demand. If you’d like to use this assignment in class, you can use the prompt above or log into Achieve for Krugman Wells 6th edition; there you’ll find a slide deck in the Resources Tab titled First Day of Class Icebreaker: Taylor Swift for even more details on the assignment.  Also, check out the assignment about the cost of attending a Taylor Swift concert & the concept of opportunity cost. ... View more

Sustainability is an issue I have always been very passionate about. Over the years, I’ve witnessed firsthand the effects of global warming on my coastal hometown. Seeing things change more by the year has spurred me to look deeper into how I’m personally contributing to climate change, and what steps I can take to combat it.   This most recent Earth Day, I learned some interesting facts about Macmillan Learning’s commitment to sustainability. Macmillan Learning CEO Susan Winslow noted that “our global team has taken an active role in making the education and publishing industries more sustainable” since 2009. I wanted to dig a little deeper into the details of this, and as it turns out there was a lot more to it than even I knew.  I’m not the only one concerned about the impact of climate change; it’s something that’s important to many people including Instructors and students. They care deeply about supporting companies that are dedicated to sustainability and helping the environment. Here are four things I learned about Macmillan Learning’s role in supporting the environment.  1. Macmillan Learning is Carbon Neutral Macmillan Learning and its supply chain has been carbon neutral since 2013! Climate neutrality is the “idea of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by balancing those emissions so they are equal (or less than) the emissions that get removed through the planet’s natural absorption” Source. Climate neutrality is an important step everyone can take in fighting climate change.  2. Emissions have Decreased by 60% Globally Carbon emissions occur when a carbon compound, like carbon dioxide, is released into the atmosphere by human activities like burning fossil fuels. These carbon emissions, also known as greenhouse gas emissions, are a main contributing factor to climate change. Reducing carbon emissions globally is necessary to combat climate change.  Macmillan Learning has been taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint and as a result, its carbon dioxide emissions in the US have dropped 60% from 2010 to 2021. The reduction includes Scope 1 emissions, which are derived from heat in our facilities and fuel in our sales representatives’ cars; Scope 2 emissions, which are derived from the electricity we purchase from utilities to power our building; and major Scope 3 items, which are emissions are derived from our manufacturing and transportation of our books, business travel, employee commuting, and waste management. 3. Paper production When buying textbooks, you may not think twice about the type of paper it was made with, but Macmillan Learning does. Macmillan Learning has drastically reduced emissions by vetting the supply chain, and purchasing paper at lower carbon-intensive mills. And they have also supported the efficient use of recycled fiber for hardcover books, although hardcovers are used less and less frequently. 4. The Shift Toward Digital Learning Materials & eBooks E-textbooks, or eBooks, provide a completely digital experience for students that can be accessed anywhere on any device. In recent research conducted by Student Monitor, students named “environmental benefits” as one reason that they prefer digital course materials to their print counterparts. Macmillan Learning offers ALL of our textbooks in a digital format! eBooks provide a variety of benefits compared to traditional textbooks, and many students prefer the features offered by digital textbooks. eBooks use no paper, are generally more affordable, are easily portable, and have features such as searching and highlighting. They’re also more accessible as they allow font size and brightness to be adjusted to fit each reader’s needs. Macmillan Learning’s eBooks have been recognized as Global Certified Accessible by Benetech, meaning that the digital learning options offered “ensure that all students have the same access to information”. ... View more

With her Eras tour, Taylor Swift has been dominating the news this summer, including the $55 million in bonuses she gave to every member of the team that worked on the tour. But her impact on the people and the places involved with the concert experience extends way beyond that. From the resale prices, to the impact on local economies, to the role of Ticketmaster, we can learn a lot about economics from the pop icon and her tour. Economists research topics like labor, trade, global markets, healthcare, inequalities, education, etc, but the core of economics - one that Swift's Eras Tour has helped to teach us is how should economies allocate scarce resources?  Understanding economic principles doesn’t have to be thinking about “widgets”; rather, we can look at decisions in our everyday lives. In fact, Macmillan Learning author Paul Krugman (Economics from Krugman/Wells 6e) indicates that we can learn a lot from analyzing the headlines around an important piece of pop culture -- like the Eras Tour. Knowing that Swift's tour provides such strong teachable moments in economics, Krugman created assignments for instructors to use this fall. The assignments are available beginning this August as an added benefit to all instructors using Macmillan Learning’s Achieve, but the team also wanted to make a few of them available for broader use. So … Are You Ready For It? The cost of attending a Taylor Swift concert & the concept of opportunity cost This assignment asks students to think about the true cost of attending a concert. Was it just the price you paid for a ticket? Let’s consider … In Chapter 1 of Economics from Krugman/Wells 6e, the concept of opportunity cost is introduced, which discusses both monetary and non-monetary costs.  In this example, students are asked to consider what they gave up, relative to their next best alternative. This means the cost of buying tickets plus what they could have been doing during the time spent waiting in the virtual queue, including lost sleep, missed homework assignments, and missed school or work.  What about the money spent buying the tickets? The concert outfit? The concert t-shirt? How about parking? And dinner before the concert with your Swiftie besties? Students may have given up the chance to sell them on the secondary market and just watched Netflix instead. Thinking about the costs of attending the concert -- what would students have if they made the decision to stay home instead. It should be no Trouble working that out. All of these decisions are part of the costs of getting Taylor Swift tickets. So … here’s your Question …” -- was it worth it? Start out your fall term by thinking about opportunity cost and the true cost of attending a Taylor Swift concert. Stay tuned next week for another Swiftie-nomics assignment! Instructors can learn more about Economics from Krugman/Wells 6e and Macmillan Learning’s digital learning platform Achieve. The 7th edition of Krugman/Wells will be available later this fall. To learn more about it, find your rep!) ... View more

Our mission is to inspire what’s possible for every learner. We pursue this mission with intention, not by mandate. We envision and create products that reach the diverse populations of students we serve in the classroom; more so, the inherent benefits of diverse and inclusive school environments motivate our research, editorial development, and pedagogical strategies to reduce the inherent gaps in outcomes that persist along racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, and cultural lines. The end of one set of government policies nor the onset of another will cause us to stray from the values that serve as a catalyst for our actions.  Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, effectively ending affirmative action policies relying on race as a determinant for admission to public and private colleges and universities has engendered a lot of reaction. Advocates for affirmative action see this ruling as a closure of yet another avenue for socioeconomic and class mobility for underrepresented racial minorities; or view the decision as a striking and racially-motivated reaction to thwart progress of Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities. Those skeptical of government policies or the implementation of affirmative action programs may view the ruling as a politically divisive if warranted decision to retire a well-intentioned policy that had outlived its effectiveness. Proponents might applaud the end of a race-centric policy as an opportunity to transition away from a race-driven perspective of American society. These arguments alone fail to represent the range of emotions and perspectives in respectful discourse felt by our colleagues and in our communities. We have stated repeatedly at Macmillan Learning that we believe classrooms should be places where ideas are fostered, engaged with, and critiqued; fair debate about affirmative action policies and programs has been presented in the educational titles we publish. But debates about public policy should not be mistaken for indifference to the quality and composition of our classrooms.  We envision a world in which every learner succeeds and where we play an important role in making that possibility a reality. Whether the mechanism that makes this vision a reality is government policy, a shift in cultural zeitgeist, community care, or by some other means, we recognize that diverse perspectives are a catalyst for inclusive thought. and a more engaged community of learners. We support an educational ecosystem that helps communities thrive, be less limited by social, economic, and cultural constraints, and enable colleges and universities to encourage a student experience that enriches each student, exposes them to a diversity of perspectives, and serves as a means to raise the prospects for all while reducing the equity gap experienced by so many.  ... View more

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Economics is the 15th most popular major in the U.S. But, students don’t have to major in Economics to take an economics course and reap the benefits. They don’t even need to be an expert at math.  From learning about whether to rent or buy a house to understanding why the prices of gas vary so much in any given year, students can learn practical and useful skills by taking economics courses -- and perhaps choose it as a minor or secondary area of study. One might even say that economics can be like a superpower that helps students to make decisions throughout their lives.  We have pulled together seven reasons why students should consider taking an economics class -- even if they don’t plan on majoring in it. Is Taylor Swift Underpaid? Understanding the Game of Supply and Demand: Economics can help students to better grasp the art of balancing supply and demand, a concept that demonstrates how the prices of things are determined in a market. By analyzing market trends and consumer behavior they may be able to better predict when the price of their, say, favorite sneakers or purse will drop, or why their concert ticket prices are high. Great examples of real-life applications that demonstrate how economic concepts like supply and demand play out in the real world can be found in an article about the economics of a Taylor Swift concert by Paul Krugman or Economics and Essentials of Economics by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells.  Every Decision is an Economic Decision. Mastering Opportunity Costs to Make Wise Choices: Most students have been faced with the decision of whether they should study for that test or do something a bit more fun, like watch a movie or go to a party. Whether or not they know it, that decision is an economic one -- the principle of opportunity costs. Taking an economics class will help them to better understand that there’s a cost to what they give up when they choose one option over another. Principles of Economics authors Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers present a framework in their title that argues that every decision is an economic decision and demonstrate throughout how economic principles can be used by students to make better decisions in their own lives. Who isn’t Looking to Save Money? Becoming a Savvy Consumer: Is that sale the best deal a student can get for a new laptop, or should they wait to buy one? Economics can help turn students into savvy and strategic shoppers. In an economics class, students learn about pricing strategies, how to manage their resources more effectively, and even be able to spot some misleading advertising and marketing tricks. Is Pizza Alone Enough? Exploring the Power of Incentives: Another challenge students face -- especially early on in college -- is having to move frequently. They may try to entice friends with offers of pizza, a night out on the town, or even promises to help them when they move. But are those incentives enough to help? Maybe some garlic bread and refreshments may make their friends more inclined to help. Economics reveals how incentives work and how people respond to rewards and punishments. Specifically, how both are used to encourage people to take certain actions or make certain choices. Modern Principles of Economics by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok demonstrates the importance of incentives and covers the topic in great detail with an entire chapter dedicated to it. Why is it Impossible to Choose? Embracing Decision-Making and Critical Thinking: Not every student starts college confident about what major they want to choose. They can use skills gained in an economics class to help them decide by considering what they value the most and what they’re willing to give up in order to get it. For example, if a student is passionate about studying the world around them and is not sure whether they’re more interested in biology or astronomy, they can learn how to weigh which are of study they may like more and would give them a more fulfilling career against what it would cost for them to achieve the desired outcome -- whether it be a high salary, the ability to work in the field, or something else entirely. Economics classes can help sharpen decision-making abilities by teaching students how to think critically, evaluate costs and benefits, and assess risks.  Can you Measure GDP by How Happy a Country is? Gaining a Global Perspective: Did you know that the government of Bhutan doesn't measure their well-being through gross domestic product, but through a Gross National Happiness Index. Whether talking about dollars, euros or shekels, students can discover how countries interact as it relates to their economies. They’ll learn about international trade, exchange rates, the impact of international agreements and treaties. Understanding the global economy can help students discover more about our interconnected world (and possibly a fun global job as well). There’s a Macmillan Learning title that looks at economics specifically from this perspective: Economics: Principles for a Changing World by Eric Chiang. How do Sports Play into Economics? Understanding that Economics is Everywhere. Even in sports. Students can learn about one of their favorite pastimes and how economics impacts so much of it -- from ticket prices, to how much athletes get paid, to why some teams are more profitable than others. One of Macmillan Learning’s titles, Sports Economics by David Berri, even has a section dedicated to “Why People Hate the Yankees.” No matter students' reasons for studying economics -- and whether it be for a class or a lifetime -- they can reap the benefits for years to come. Economics is a vast field that allows students to explore human behavior, societal issues, and the workings of our intricate economic systems.  Learn more about Macmillan Learning’s catalog of Economics textbooks and the experts that write them here.   ... View more

Writing a textbook is challenging. There are different requirements than writing a popular trade book; the text must undergo strict fact checking; and the inclusion of multimedia, assessments, and digital learning materials can make it a long and arduous project. That doesn’t include the time and effort it takes to build rapport with co-authors and the editorial team.  For Dr. Allison Sidle Fuligni, Professor of Child and Family Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, and Dr. Andrew Fuligni, Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Psychology at University of California, Los Angeles, some of those challenges were mitigated and others heightened. “We’ve of course collaborated before,” said Allison with a nod toward her spouse, “on things like raising our children together.” However, their professional work has remained mostly separate.  When approached by Macmillan Learning and asked to author Scientific American: Lifespan Development, Allison and Andrew learned quickly how to navigate living with a co-author and authoring with a spouse. “I think we figured it out early,” said Andrew. In this month’s special edition of our Author Spotlight series, we sat down with co-authors–and spouses–Allison and Andrew.  Dr. Allison Sidle Fuligni, Professor of Child and Family Studies at California State University Dr. Andrew Fuligni, Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Psychology at University of California, Los Angeles While Allison and Andrew are both experts in the field of developmental psychology, their areas of expertise vary and their educational and career journeys are distinct.  Allison was, from a young age, interested in child development; though she didn’t always know if graduate school and a career in developmental psychology was for her. “Growing up,” she said, “I thought I wanted to become a teacher, getting a degree in education and a teaching certificate.” While studying at Brown University, she discovered a degree program that she didn’t know existed, and it set her on a different path.  “It was an interdisciplinary major,” Allison said, “that combined psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, computer science, philosophy, and anthropology. It taught me to think about and understand things through many different lenses.” It was through this Cognitive Science degree that Allison was exposed to and able to conduct her own research. “I focused on children’s cognitive development for my honors thesis,” she said. “Working with children during my undergraduate research is what inspired me to apply to graduate school,” she added, “which is where Andrew and I met.”  Andrew remembers becoming interested in developmental psychology in high school and feeling certain that he would major in Human Development while studying at Cornell. “I was already interested in the subject,” he said, “and then I was fortunate enough to enroll in the honors section of an adolescent psychology course during my second semester. It was treated like a graduate seminar, and from then on I was hooked.” Andrew had no doubts about his educational and career path when he started graduate school at the University of Michigan, where he and his future spouse enrolled in the same PhD program.  Although in the same program, Allison and Andrew’s graduate school experiences were quite different. “I wasn’t always sure that graduate school is what I wanted to do,” said Allison, “which makes it much more difficult.” Allison often shares with her students the challenges she faced. “I actually quit graduate school twice before obtaining my Phd,” she said. “My mentor told me that all I had left to finish was my dissertation, and I’m glad I persisted.”  Part of what made graduate school a challenge for Allison was figuring out what she wanted to do with her degree. “One of my professors encouraged me to go the route of developmental psychology, a very research-based PhD,” she said. “And I did enjoy the problem solving and measurement aspect of research, but I also longed for more of a service-oriented career.” At one point, Allison considered getting her M.D. and becoming a doctor. Nevertheless, she completed her PhD in developmental psychology and spent the first half of her career as a research scientist. “Now the majority of my job is full-time teaching,” she said, “and that feels like my service: training students who will someday become Head Start teachers and running after school programs.”  Andrew teaches less than his spouse, though he still finds it just as rewarding as the research and writing aspects of his job. “Most of my teaching is of graduate students,” he said, “which is intricately involved in the writing process itself. Though I find it important to include undergraduates in the research process as well.” Andrew’s favorite part about teaching is when he can show his students the science that tells them that something they thought was true isn’t true. “With child development,” he said, “people think they know it well because they experienced it firsthand… but the science behind it often surprises them.” There is a feature in each chapter of their textbook, Scientific American: Lifespan Development, called “Can you believe it?” that demonstrates what Andrew described as his favorite part of teaching. “In this feature,” he said, “we offer a deep dive about preconceived ideas that students may have, and then we discuss the science behind it.” Allison agreed. “I love bringing new information to students. They become so interested and it opens up new perspectives,” she said.  Even with their wealth of teaching and research experience, writing a textbook posed a new challenge for both Allison and Andrew. “It took much longer than I had anticipated,” said Andrew. “And we were cautious because there are many textbooks out there and it’s difficult to break into the market.” Allison added: “It’s a big decision to change textbooks. Not one that instructors take lightly.”  The exciting challenge of their textbook was to create something novel. “We wanted it to be graphically interesting, include multimedia, be accurate and up-to-date, and based in science,” said Andrew. “It also needed to be accessible to students,” he added. Allison and Andrew greatly credited their other co-author, Jessica Bayne, for bringing the project to life. “We envisioned the content,” said Andrew, “and Jessica–who has a long history as an editor and producer–had the vision of the entire textbook and package and how it should come together.”  Between the three co-authors, there was a natural division of workload. “My area of expertise is early childhood,” said Allison, “including infancy, early, and middle childhood. Andrew’s is adolescence and the transition to adulthood.” Content-wise, it made sense for Allison to write the first half and Andrew to write the second half. “Jessica then provided the continuity across all of the chapters,” said Allison. “She was very focused on helping us create fresh, engaging, and accessible material.”  Scientific American: Lifespan Development provides students with a rich portrait of different stages of the lifespan, including different experiences, strengths and weaknesses, challenges, settings, and family forms. “Development is about how we raise our children,” said Andrew, “about how we change and adapt to the world we grow up in.” Each chapter in the book features the story of a different person or family, and developmental concepts are introduced to students through the context of these people’s experiences–and then explained through science.  “It’s difficult to choose a favorite story or chapter,” said Allison. “Though one is of a toddler named Telele. She is an Alaskan native, and her parents are from different tribal groups in Alaska, raising her to speak multiple tribal languages in addition to English.” Allison is passionate about second language acquisition in childhood, having conducted research on Spanish-speaking children early in her career.  Diversity is a central theme throughout the book. In addition to Telele’s story, the book includes a same-sex couple living in New Jersey with adopted daughters; a set of sisters on either side of the puberty transition; and the story of an individual with dementia. “The book captures the essence of stages of life really well,” said Andrew. “Through the stories, students really gain a better understanding of what toddlerhood is like, and adolescence, and being a parent, and taking care of one’s own parents.” The co-authors described the book and the stories within as those of “typical people with many typical life experiences.”  Dr. Andrew Fuligni & Dr. Allison Sidle FuligniWhile Allison and Andrew are experts in their field and have literally written the textbook on Lifespan Development, they still experienced some of those typical experiences when raising their children. “I think it’s been an interesting experience,” said Andrew. “Certainly, my profession has provided me with the scientific knowledge of what goes on during each life phase, but there was still a lot of gut checking and patience required.” Allison described it as being difficult to “turn off” the analytical part of her brain. “It’s how I’ve been trained and it’s how I face the world,” she said.  In addition to raising their two children and writing Scientific American: Lifespan Development together, Allison and Andrew enjoy hiking the Southern California mountains. “My mom took me backpacking as a child, which instilled a love of nature and wilderness in me,” said Allison. “And now we have this goal of completing the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains, a 67-mile long hiking trail.” The two also enjoy sharing book and movie recommendations with each other, and playing board games as a family when their children are home. ... 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Did you know that it’s not only writers and editors who influence how textbooks are developed? Each year, Macmillan Learning invites a group of outstanding graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to participate in the Bedford New Scholars program. During this weeklong event, scholars attend numerous focus groups and workshops centered around advancing pedagogy in composition courses.    Who are the Bedford New Scholars?  Bedford New Scholars are GTAs studying and teaching English who are passionate about innovating student learning. Graduate programs in Composition & Rhetoric across the country nominate candidates, and then the Macmillan Learning Composition team selects the year’s cohort, which is usually around ten GTAs. Over a week in June, the cohort participates in a number of professional development activities, including presentations from leading experts in the field. Then, they have the opportunity to share “Assignments That Work,” their successful teaching assignments via blog posts on the English Community Site. The scholars have a range of interests, including ESL studies, digital literacy, accessibility, rhetorical genre studies, transnational and indigenous literacies, and LGBT representation.  The Bedford New Scholars program has grown exponentially, with over 110 participating scholars since its launch in 2008. Previous scholars continue to carry on the program’s legacy of innovation and service to the field long after their time in the program. From surprising twists in their careers to new teaching opportunities, let’s take a look at where some of the Bedford New Scholars are now.  Where Are They Now? Gina Atkins  Gina Atkins participated in the Bedford New Scholars program in 2021. She was nominated by her professor and mentor Dr. Fedukovich from North Carolina State University, who she credits for fostering her love of composition and rhetoric. Gina is currently in the third year of her PhD program at the University of Wisconsin Madison and serves as the Assistant Director for the Writing Across the Curriculum program. She cherished the community amongst the Bedford New Scholars and gained valuable insights from her peers. She enjoyed fellow Bedford New Scholar Leah Washburn’s Assignments That Work: Dungeons and Dragons in the Composition Classroom in particular. This assignment introduced essay prompts through the context of Dungeons and Dragons and asked students to engage in the writing process.  Gina believes that learning about Macmillan Learning’s DEI initiative and practices helped her to evaluate how she could align these goals in her classroom and research. The insights she has gained from the Bedford New Scholars program has trailed into her career as she is currently working on an article that examines “the theoretical and, more importantly, the pedagogical importance of examining multiracial rhetorical practices and how it can help us redefine what racial literacy looks like in the writing classroom.” Check out Gina’s Assignment That Works: Teaching Stages of Revision and Peer Editing (The Ariana Grande Assignment) here.   Madhura Nadarajah  Madhura Nadarajah is an English PhD candidate exploring research in Cultural Rhetorics, Postcolonial Theory, and Tamil Cultural Production at the University of Oregon (UO). She also serves as the Assistant Director of the Composition program at UO, where she organizes undergraduate and graduate courses and provides campus-wide support for instructors. She was a Bedford New Scholar in 2022 and was nominated for the program by Nick Recktenwald, the former director of the Composition program at UO.  Madhura is grateful for the Bedford New Scholars program, citing that participating propelled her career by renewing her understanding of how to support writing students in the classroom. She also valued the sense of community and came to appreciate the diversity among the scholars, highlighting that she “learned so much about everyone’s important yet different approaches to writing studies.” Madhura’s Assignment That Works: Social Literacy Narrative prompted students to write a letter reflecting and exploring their experiences with social literacy.     Michael S. Garcia  Michael Garcia was a Bedford New Scholar in 2020. He was nominated by Kimberly Harrison, the director of the Composition program at Florida International University, Miami. His Assignment That Works: Discourse Community Profile asked students to examine how language is used to express a community’s identity. Michael expressed that the most valuable part of being a Bedford New Scholar was learning about academic publishing. He explained, “Learning about the publication process gave me the insight I needed to decide that I wanted to transition from teaching full-time to working in educational publishing.” Michael landed a job at Macmillan Learning a year later, where he works as an Assistant Editor in content development for the Humanities division. Michael credits the Bedford New Scholars program for changing the trajectory of his career and life in a positive way. These days, Michael spends a lot of time organizing data and key information and managing the English Community Site, which houses the Bedford New Scholar community and the Bedford Bits blog. Michael has come full circle, from being a Bedford New Scholar to managing the content of the Bedford New Scholars program! By fostering an environment centered around a passion for student learning, the Bedford New Scholars program has shaped and continues to shape the lives of its previous participants. And with that being said, the torch is now being passed to the Bedford New Scholars of 2023. This June, Macmillan Learning will welcome ten new scholars to its 2023 cohort. Sherry Mooney, the coordinator for this year’s program, has loved getting to know this new group of inspiring GTAs, saying, “We are excited to have this great cohort of scholars helping us to expand our culture of innovation, broaden our understanding of the current state of the composition classroom, and inspire us and each other to meet the challenges in the field today.” Excited to see what our 2023 Bedford New Scholars will share? Head on over to the Bedford New Scholars page on the English Community Site and read a blog or two!  ... View more

“If I would have had a teacher like Dr. Stewart,” said Janie Pierce-Bratcher, Director of High School Marketing at Macmillan Learning, “I’d be building bridges right now.” Originally a physics major in undergrad, Janie found the subject quite challenging and changed her course of study. Today, when she listens to Dr. Stewart explain it, she understands physics much better than she had as a student.  It’s partly because physics has a bad reputation. “People are afraid of it,” said Dr. Gay Stewart, Eberly Professor of STEM Education at West Virginia University and co-author of College Physics for the AP Physics 1 & 2 Courses. Physics’s perceived difficulty is also a reason that, among the other natural sciences, it has the fewest number of females in both physics courses at colleges and universities and physics-related careers.  Dr. Gay Stewart, Eberly Professor of STEM Education, West Virginia UniversityDr. Stewart wants to change that. “When I was in graduate school,” she said, “one of my female peers told me that she was studying physics because people think it’s hard.” Dr. Stewart thinks that’s the wrong approach. “We need to be more welcoming in the physics community,” she said, “and one’s motivation to study physics shouldn’t be because it makes them feel smarter.”  One way to change people’s perception of physics is to improve the learning materials used in physics courses, a task which Dr. Stewart has been uniquely positioned to accomplish. Before co-authoring the textbook for the AP course, Dr. Stewart spent six years on the AP Physics Test Development Committee, then served on and chaired the College Board’s Science Academic Advisory Committee; from there she became co-chair of the Redesign Commission, which established the new AP physics curriculum.  Dr. Stewart’s empathy for her students is another strength that greatly improves the quality of her teaching and writing. She faced many significant challenges during her time as a student, in both undergraduate and graduate school, that have allowed her to better understand the personal struggles of her students.  For Dr. Stewart, her journey to becoming a physics professor and textbook author began in high school. “My first physics class was at my tiny, rural high school,” she said. “The teacher only came to our school for half a day because he was shared with another school. He would trundle down from the mountains, and when his truck was full of snow we would have snowball fights. He made physics fun and interesting.” Dr. Stewart found the course challenging, but in a way that was engaging and motivating.  “When I started my undergraduate career, I thought first of majoring in engineering,” Dr. Stewart said. She enrolled at the Naval Academy, but unfortunately sustained an injury that didn’t allow her to continue her studies there. “I sort of hobbled around for a bit–both figuratively and literally–trying to figure out what to do next,” she said. She then continued her studies at the University of Arizona as a business major before serendipitously running into a former mentor who encouraged her to switch majors. “The University of Arizona had tried to recruit me before,” she said, “and at the advice of my mentor–with the support of VA vocational rehab–I was able to complete a physics major during my last three semesters.”  While condensing the entirety of a physics major into three semesters–including some summer coursework–seems challenging enough, Dr. Stewart also endured significant personal hardships before completing her degree. “I lost my husband,” she said, “and I had to finish my degree as a single parent with a very young child.” This experience, above others, created the greatest sense of empathy that Dr. Stewart has for her students and their unique backgrounds and situations.  Dr. Stewart cares deeply for her students and is passionate about teaching. “When I started graduate school,” she said, “I was probably the only person who showed up to this highly regarded program with a desire to teach.” Compared to her peers, who were largely interested in research, Dr. Stewart always prioritized her teaching interests.  “I remember my first experience teaching as a teaching assistant,” Dr. Stewart recalled. “I certainly looked as if I played the part; one of my students liked to point out my fuzzy hair and some of my other quirks.” Dr. Stewart remembered pushing this student a lot because he was a physics major. “Then, at a conference some twenty years later,” she said, “I was telling this story and there he was in the audience, smiling up at me. He became a high school physics teacher!”  It’s important that Dr. Stewart feels she is making a difference in the work that she’s doing. She’s always had the opportunity to focus on research, but she consistently asks herself if that will make the world a better place for her own children, or the next generation more broadly. “So many people hear the word ‘physics’ and think ‘ew’,” she said, “but I understand that a key part of my job is to show people how physics plays such a large role in biology, evolution, and the environment. There’s physics in all of that.”  During Dr. Stewart’s final year of graduate school, she discovered an undergraduate faculty advancement conference, which faculty attended in order to learn more about best practices in post-secondary pedagogy. “I contacted the event organizers  to plead my case to receive an invitation as a graduate student,” Dr. Stewart said. “I must have either annoyed them or provided enough of a heartfelt plea for them to extend the invitation to me.”  Returning from that conference, Dr. Stewart changed the type of jobs she was applying for. “I found a job posting in which they were looking for someone to improve their physics courses,” she said. “I applied for the three-year position, but after my interview, I was offered a tenure-track position.” Dr. Stewart began teaching the large introductory courses in which not everyone knew if they would be physics majors. “I remember students coming up to me after class,” she said, “and telling me that it was the first time that they felt they belonged in a physics course.” Dr. Stewart’s work was making a difference–in the lives of each of her students.  As the author of a textbook, Dr. Stewart makes a difference in the lives of even more students–and teachers. Though it was never her intention to write a textbook. “I swore I would never write one,” she said. “I had friends who had written textbooks, and I had learned quickly how large and time consuming of a project it is.” Nevertheless, through Dr. Stewart’s experience working on the AP Physics Test Development Committee, Redesign Commission, and Chairing the AP Physics 2 Test Development Committee she learned directly from high school teachers what was needed in an AP Physics textbook.  “Everyone had access to my email address because of my affiliation with the American Association of Physics Teachers,” she said, “so my inbox was flooded with emails from teachers detailing their struggles with current AP Physics coursebooks.” Dr. Stewart described many of the problems having to deal with language that caused confusion for students. “Teachers would approach me and tell me that their textbook didn’t say something correctly. I told them to tell their students what it should say, and they would respond with something along the lines of: ‘Well, maybe you can do that because you’re a professor. But I’m a high school teacher, so if I try to tell my students that the textbook is wrong, they’re not necessarily always going to believe me.’” When a developmental editor from Macmillan Learning eventually reached out to her suggesting she could help fix some of the language in their textbook, she agreed–thinking it would be easier than writing a textbook from scratch.  Dr. Stewart also used her experience at teacher workshops to fine tune her contributions to College Physics for the AP Physics 1 & 2 Courses. “I quickly realized that there were more layers to the problems high school teachers were having when teaching AP Physics to their students,” she said. “I am a member of several physics teacher listservs and routinely see the sorts of things my colleagues struggle with. At a workshop I was teaching about work and energy, a very experienced teacher I had a lot of respect for threw her hands up in the air and asked ‘Why didn’t anyone ever just say that?’” Dr. Stewart found that insightful, and used comments like that to improve the textbook for high school teachers with similar challenges.  College instructors and high school teachers each have their own strengths. While instructors at colleges and universities have often had years to more deeply study their subject, high school teachers' expertise is pedagogy. “We wanted to make sure that we created a textbook that would allow teachers to invest their time and energy in their students–and not have them wondering what they need to do to improve their coursebook or materials,” Dr. Stewart said. In the second edition of College Physics for the AP Physics 1 & 2 Courses, Dr. Stewart and her co-authors paid special attention to the modified curriculum from the College Board, shifting their material around and making it more realistic for teachers to cover over the course of the two courses. “We wanted to make it as supportive as possible for the teachers,” she said, “because it is still a challenging course.”  Dr. Stewart has dedicated her career to improving the teaching of physics and making the subject more welcoming to people of all backgrounds. “There’s always more work to be done,” she said, “but I think it’s a better space for women than it was a few decades ago.” Dr. Stewart also believes that her work to make physics more accessible to a wider audience has had an effect on her two daughters. “They support the work that I do,” she said, “and I know they are confident young women who don’t take lightly to people disregarding or excluding them because they are women. I'd be proud if I had something to do with that.  When Dr. Stewart isn’t busy teaching or writing, she enjoys spending time with her two daughters. She is also excited to soon become a grandmother. ... View more

At Macmillan Learning we envision a world in which every learner succeeds. We recognize that to do just that, it’s critical that students recognize themselves in our course materials. Each and every team within the company has an important role to play in achieving that goal.  When thinking about the teams that create educational titles, we may first consider those who write the materials. It’s easy to recognize the strong impact they have on what information is shared in a textbook. But there’s more to it than just that. There are teams that have the important task of selling or marketing the materials, which helps make the materials available to the students that need them.   But there’s one team that’s also critical to making diverse and inclusive course materials -- and that’s the team that manages our rights and permissions. This team enables Macmillan Learning to use audio, video, photo/images, and text assets in each of our titles. This is no small task when each title can have hundreds, if not thousands, of media assets.  Working in collaboration with Editorial teams, the Permissions team helps decide which images and media to include, ensuring that they add value to the learning experience while also representing and reflecting the many different students and instructors who may use the materials. The team also checks the content throughout the production process to ensure that there’s no misrepresentation. This is true both when there’s a new title we plan to publish as well as when we’re updating an already existing title for a new edition. For many years, educational materials did not reflect the diverse population that used them which is why this team has been redoubling their efforts to ensure this very important work is addressed. Creating representative and diverse textbooks Students have a remarkably diverse range of motivations, goals, and lives in and out of the classroom. They also have an increasingly diverse representation in college campuses, with more students than ever reflecting many different ethnicities, backgrounds and even countries. In fact, in 2020, more than 40% of students attending college were BIPOC ( 21% Hispanic, 14% Black, 7% Asian). We believe that offering materials that include representation for students of all abilities, backgrounds, and demographics helps support students’ sense of belonging both in and out of class. According to Cecilia Varas, Senior Executive Permissions Editor, “Representation matters when teaching students from all over the world. It is important that our student audience sees itself in our content to feel more connected and engaged to the material. Something as simple as a photo, text blurb, or cartoon can impact how one feels.”  To that end, the Rights & Permissions team finds content from a variety of sources. They seek out partnerships with organizations that specialize in diverse materials as well as collections from existing partners that have committed to offering inclusive content. “It’s fun to research new DEI artists and photographers. Sometimes we have the opportunity to work with incredible photographers, illustrators and artists,” said Robin Fadool, Executive Permissions Editor. She cites her work with artist Cynthia Fisher on For All Practical Purposes and photographer Lois Greenfield to get a licensed photo of Parsons Dance for the cover of Schacter Psychology 6th edition.  What the rights and permissions Team does When the team gets "rights and permissions” to use copyrighted material, that means that they’re obtaining the authorization and consent from the copyright holder to use their work in a specific manner. It’s a process that’s not always linear, as sometimes the owner of the copyright is deceased, or the copyright for materials has changed hands. The diverse content varies greatly from historical -- like speeches from Martin Luther King Jr. -- to more contemporary works, like a photo of a painting of Michelle Obama for use on a textbook cover. Another important, but challenging, part of the work is ensuring the copyrighted works are being used as intended, and that involves a detailed accounting of them. “So much of our work is tracking. Tracking assets and the rights associated with them. We try to keep it simple by requesting broad rights and working with preferred vendors but when we license for video or text, the tracking of restrictions needs to be accurate. Data entry standards are very important in our group,” said Christine Buese, Executive Permissions Manager.  Sheena Goldstein, Executive Permissions Editor, concurs: “It can be a grueling, tedious process to track down rights for a photo from a hard-to-reach source, like an academic who is out in the field conducting research or from a small library in a tiny town somewhere. However, it is always rewarding to see the final photo on the page and know that this unique image will help students learn and absorb the material. Some of us are visual learners. Images convey so much meaning in every book.” And, surprisingly, the opposite is also true -- the team also receives permission requests to use our material in other publications. According to Alexis Gargin, Permissions Editor, these can range from journal articles and textbooks to more unique usages such as a TV classroom prop, a whaling museum, and a Swiss hiking trail. If you look closely, you may find Myers/Psychology in Patriot's Day or Henretta/America's History for the AP Course 2020 in The Republic of Sarah, for example. In addition to being researchers and trackers, the team is also skilled in negotiations. While there are often standardized licensing agreements with the company’s preferred vendors, particularly for common types of content like stock photos, that’s not always the case. It's common for negotiations to cover what the assets will be used for, the period of time in which they will be used, as well as payment terms and any limitations.  Diversity and inclusion in action Because the educational publishing industry serves and informs students and instructors from a variety of backgrounds, its goal is to offer diverse materials that are backed by research and pedagogical insight. But in order to use diverse materials, those materials first need to exist. Oftentimes, this means going back to the drawing board (literally and figuratively speaking) to create representative content. This is done with both the company’s preferred vendors alongside new ones. And it can be done in big and little ways -- from re-imagining the entire cover of a textbook to changing captions that accompany new images. Their strategies are informed by a set of guidelines created by the company’s editorial teams.   Some of the many guidelines include recommendations like: Include photos and content that showcase a diverse array of humans and human activity; present people in non-stereotypical roles; Consider a full range of diversity categories: race, ethnicity, nationality, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, political affiliation, ability, socioeconomic status, veteran status, family status, and environment; Be aware of your own preferences and biases. One example of how the team put the concepts from the guidelines in action was by partnering with a preferred vendor, Cartoonstock, to improve the process of revising cartoons and, in turn, make content more inclusive. Goldstein cites working on Jonathan Gruber’s Finance and Public Policy 7th edition on cartoon captions and imagery revisions as an important step for her and the entire team, as it was the first title that she and the Economics editorial team had done revisions on a significant amount of cartoons.  Previously only 23.5% of the cartoons had women represented in its cartoon program for the previous six editions of the book. Now, there are 43% female‐presenting characters and 31% people of color. There are also now two people representing the LGBTQ+ community and one person with a physical disability, where previously those communities were not represented visually in the text. In addition to improving representation, the partnership also taught the team several best practices for future projects on how to best adapt cartoons for DEI. While some progress is quantitative, like Finance and Public Policy, some progress is done behind the scenes and is more qualitative. Gargin noted, “One of my favorite projects to work on was Developing Lives 2.0 because of all of the diverse photo research. This digital project showed how families are all different and unique and yet we all face the same challenges from selecting which schools to send our children to or even just deciding between a cat or a dog as a pet. The editorial team requested photos that represented how multiple countries and cultures celebrated life milestones from Korean Doljanchi to Apache Sunrise Ceremony.” Varas cited her recent work with the history title Freedom On My Mind as a highlight. The textbook offers narratives of African American and US History with documents that support the inspiring quest for freedom, the American dream and the countless contributions of African Americans to our collective history. She obtained permission from the Smithsonian/National Portrait Gallery to use an image of Michelle Obama by painter Amy Sherald.  “As editors and researchers, we’re always curious. We always want to make sure that the content is fresh and relevant. The team really cares about our products and what they see when they turn the pages of our books, and are always looking for new material” said Hilary Newman, the team’s leader and Senior Director of Rights and Permissions. “There’s nothing static about being in permissions.” ... View more