Teacher Solution Manuals - How Can I Access Them?

[danago]

A lot of student textbooks these days seem to have heaps of additional supplementary material to go with the text, both for students and teachers, such as electronic versions, online test banks, solution manuals, quizes etc.

My question concerns specifically the teacher solution manuals. From what i have gathered, a student can't simply go into a bookshop and purchase the teachers material, it seems that they must be specially ordered (am i correct?). If this is the case, does anybody know if the publishers are usually strict about who they sell to? (i.e. do they check for a recognized license in teaching at an accredited institution?). The reason i ask is that while i am not a school teacher by any means, i do tutor kids doing high school courses in physics, chemistry and maths, and i believe it would be very handy to have the solution manuals to some of their textbooks so i can efficiently check their answers, rather than having to go through each question and work it out myself, which can be very time consuming. Has anybody who is a teacher or otherwise tried to purchase such materials, and if so, how did they go about checking your credentials? Would it be possible for me to get hold of some of these texts? I am sure if i really wanted to get hold of them i could ask one of my old high school teachers to look into it for me, but i'd prefer to get it myself if at all possible.

I guess it does depend on the specific publisher in question, but any input is appreciated

Thanks,
Daniel.

 

[yeongil]

I'm a HS teacher in a private school, and IME the publishers are rather strict in who they sell teacher solution manuals to. Many require a purchase order from a school. The only exceptions IIRC are parents who homeschool their kids -- they have to fill out some forms indicating that they are homeschooling. I think that your best bet is to try Amazon -- some solution manuals may be sold through Amazon Marketplace, though I should warn you that some sellers don't realize that they don't have a solution manual and may send you another supplement by mistake (like a student solutions manual, which contains only the odd-numbered exercises, or a teacher's edition of a textbook, etc.).01

 

[danago]

Thanks very much for your reply. I never did think about trying amazon, so i will have a look.

 

[Moonbear]

If it's for the legitimate purpose of tutoring students, I'd ask their teachers to assist in obtaining a teacher's copy. It's hard to get instructor's copies, and I had a hard time getting them myself until our campus rep came to campus in person to meet me and finally got me into "the system" as faculty.

Though, you really shouldn't have to just go through all their assignments to just check for right answers to tutor them effectively. Some spot-checking should suffice. Besides, looking through the methods they use is probably more important than looking if they have the right final answer anyway.

 

[danago]

If it's for the legitimate purpose of tutoring students, I'd ask their teachers to assist in obtaining a teacher's copy. It's hard to get instructor's copies, and I had a hard time getting them myself until our campus rep came to campus in person to meet me and finally got me into "the system" as faculty.

Though, you really shouldn't have to just go through all their assignments to just check for right answers to tutor them effectively. Some spot-checking should suffice. Besides, looking through the methods they use is probably more important than looking if they have the right final answer anyway.

I usually do just go through certain questions with them rather than every single one, but a parent of one of the students i currently tutor has recently asked me if i would possibly assign homework from a textbook, beyond what he is given in school, and then check it a week later. The specific textbook that we are currently studying doesn't have even numerical answers in the back, so that's the main reason i asked this question.