Instructor's Resource Manual (IRM)
The primary components of the almost 2,150 pages in the nine instructor's resource manuals are:
- Test Generator – One of the most challenging areas of education is assessing whether or not a student understands the material. Over the past 25 years, we have developed tests and quizzes to accurately measure not only if a student understands the material, but also the level of comprehension. Each chapter test has multiple forms so that you can test yourself, identify and correct any weak areas, re-test yourself, and verify your understanding before beginning new material.
- Tests and Quizzes – Six of the IRMs have 4 tests per chapter, where two of the tests have multiple-choice answers and the other two are find the answer. The others have 2 tests per chapter. Five of the IRMs have a quiz for every section of the textbook. All of them have at least 2 final exams and 3 of them have 4 final exams. All of the tests and quizzes are formatted with space to work the problems and are ready to print. Answer keys are provided at the end of each manual.
- Course Syllabus – Two different timelines for covering the material are provided. These represent a typical pace to complete the material in a reasonable amount of time. Using the syllabus, you can develop a timeline for covering the material in whatever time span you feel is appropriate.
- Teaching Strategies – Most of the IRMs have teaching tips and instructions for using the features of the textbooks. There are also guides to using the instruction package, comprehensive overviews of the textbooks, and descriptions of the textbook's learning system.
- Extra Problems – Most of the IRMs have challenge problems, extension problems, and/or critical thinking problems. The more difficult problems have a series of hints, and you solve the problem using as few hints as possible.
- The Selected Topics Textbook does not have a IRM.
Avoid Generic Tests – Since how a topic is covered in a textbook can vary greatly in approach, depth, and difficulty, a generic test that is not specifically designed for that book will usually be constructed with simple or general questions. This type of test will only provide a superficial assessment of your abilities, and might cause you to begin new material before you are competent with the current material.