Frequently Asked Questions
(Most recent questions are at the bottom)

How do you choose what materials to review?

We accept requests from visitors to the site and anyone who emails us about a possible topic that we feel would be helpful.

How can I use this information in my teaching?

We hope to be able to point out where it might be relevant. We expect that in many instances it will simply be something to enhance one's background or serve as a start for a student project.

I saw your name as a reviewer of a textbook. Does that mean that you recommend the book?

Not necessarily; check with us first or see if it has been reviewed on the site. Publishers get reviewers to review a few chapters of a book and then list them as reviewers. The reviewer has no say over what actually gets printed, so, be wary, of books with lots of reviewers! We know of cases where the reviewer's corrections were ignored.

Do you have copies of all the materials that are reviewed on the site?

Generally, yes. If we do not own a copy, we will indicate that fact, probably with an asterisk next to the title.

Do you accept reviews from others?

Yes, and the review will be so indicated with the author's name.

How do I get material reviewed?

Complete the form on the Contact Us page or send a note to hubisz@unity.ncsu.edu and we will determine if it is of interest. If we do not have access to it, we will need a copy (returnable, if necessary) sent to us.

Do you consider Home Schooling Programs?

Yes, a lot of good materials have been generated for Home Schooling. Many materials that will never get on state adoption lists are excellent and the private schools and home schoolers benefit from these because of their flexibility with respect to their curricula. Librarians at all schools would do well to get these materials.

Where can I get the materials that you recommend if they are out of print?

We find a lot of material at library book sales. Many librarians think that an old publication date is bad, whereas in science they might be excellent. We always buy up Asimov's books and pass them out to students. Similarly for George Gamow's books. If teachers do not know of the good writers in science they may never mention them to students and these books then get zero circulation so librarians get rid of them. Second-hand bookstores are another good source. We have found Science Study Series books, Momentum books, and Time-Life Science and Nature Series volumes in such shops. Another source might be a retired teacher.

Are you willing to look at religious materials?

We are willing to look and comment on the physical science contained in the material, but any comments on religion would have to be off-line.

Can you provide more information or answer specific questions about reviews that you have done?

Yes, unless stated otherwise, we own all the books or articles that we have commented on so we are able to easily look up answers to further questions.

Is there a high school physics book that you would recommend?

The May 1999 issue of 'The Physics Teacher' has an article reviewing high school physics textbooks. There are two levels of physics taught in high school. We strongly support a 9th grade introductory conceptual or practical course that is aimed at all students and then a follow-up course at the 11th or 12th grade that makes use of some level of mathematics. Paul G. Hewitt has written Conceptual Physics and Conceptual Physical Science Explorations that would be quite suitable for the first course as well as Active Physics that approaches physics from a different perspective. As for the other course, there are many books that are quite good assuming that the first course has been taken.

If pressed to select a text for Middle School what would you recommend?

For the lower grades we would recommend Integrated Science Books One & Two from J.M. LeBel Enterprises. For the 8th and 9th grades, we would recommend Introductory Physical Science from Science Curriculum Inc. Realize, however, that there are many programs that may be more suitable for particular situations, some not even using a textbook.

In your studies of textbooks, did you find a general lack of context (historical, social, etc.) and do you feel that establishing such context would be a step in the right direction?

Project Physics recently published as Understanding Physics does this.  Other books at a slightly higher level - grade 12 and freshman college do a very good job also.  The problem is that they do not get adopted and thus - low sales. 

We found that most books do not do a good job integrating such material.  At the same time one should not go overboard as the course is a science course. Mostly, one should aim for accuracy in what is presented rather than making up a "good" story.

The recent American Educator (Spring 2002) pages 12 - 25 has a synopsis of an excellent series of books being prepared for Middle School science by Joy Hakim.  She won the Michener Prize in Writing for her 10 volume set A History of US.  A PBS series called "Freedom" is planned for next year based on this series.

I have a good idea of what books to avoid; can you make some suggestions for books you consider acceptable?

I always have to consider the background of the teacher when making suggestions. Without much information on you, I would recommend Integrated Science Books One & Two published by LeBel, 6420 Meadowcreek Drive, Dallas TX 75240. For yourself, I recommend Introductory Physical Science by Haber-Schaim and others from Science Curriculum, Inc., but it could also be used as a text in a solid grade 8 or certainly for grade 9. You could use some of the material in this latter book in your classes, if you chose not to use it as the text. These books could easily cover grades 4 through 8. Dates of publication are not a prime consideration when selecting a text.

Any of Hewitt's books would also be fine. His Conceptual Physical Science or the Conceptual Physical Science: Explorations has chemistry and geology in it. For the lower grades, you will have to be selective. If you can get a hold of some of his teaching aids such as "Next-Time Questions" they would be very helpful.

How can you give unbiased reviews if you work for Holt Publishing?

This question and similar ones have come to me since shortly after the report was published. I have located a copy of an article "Pearson Education's Response to Issues Raised by the Hubisz Report" with a dateline "UPPER SADDLE RIVER. NJ, February 8, 2001." Of course, "Upper Saddle River" is the home of Prentice Hall, now Pearson.

The article is quite similar to an interview that I had with a reporter from NJ except that it does not have my responses. This note will fill in those responses. The textbooks to be reviewed and the reviewers were selected by May of 1998. They were books currently being used because a question of interest was whether the poor showing of our students in physical science might be related to the quality of the textbooks that were being used. Peter Jovanovich of Pearson claimed that we only referred to textbooks published from 1986 to 1995. That was not true as can be seen in the report. He also claims that the reported errors had been corrected. In fact, expecting this claim, we traced errors repeated through many Prentice Hall books. We delayed publication to determine if Prentice Hall's Science Explorer (2000) represented a significant improvement. It didn't. Jovanovich further claims that their Open Book Initiative corrects errors as soon as they become aware of them. We found it very difficult to locate the error page for the books of interest in this NEW (The article suggests that it has been available for some time) site. We even had a number of Middle School teachers try to find the corrections on the site. The consensus was that it was a terrible site to navigate.

In his Notes to Editors, he claims that I am a content reviewer for " the Holt middle grades science textbooks" which compete directly with texts in the study and he further states, "The Holt program, first published in 1999, is not included in the Hubisz study." Obviously, because the book was published in 1999, it was not included in the study, but, of course, other Holt books were included and they did not fare well either. As to my connection with Holt, I did read a couple of chapters and criticized them in the hope that this new attempt might help Middle School students. I have no other connection with Holt. I am presently reviewing the 2002 edition of Science Explorer and it is not faring well either.

Do you have a question? Please contact us and we will do our best to find an answer.