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>My major issue is reporting it. I don't want to be an accomplice to academic dishonesty.

On my campus not reporting knowledge of academic dishonesty is in itself an honor code violation. Given how OP is describing their school I'm guessing that's not the case there however.

I'd absolutely distance myself from those classmates immediately and not engage in any more communication with them around the course material. If OP wants to report anonymously it would be simple enough to set up a temporary email account to do so without any identifying information. As an instructor I would absolutely want to know about this, in part so I could change my assessment plans to make it harder to cheat.

If the class is going to be online or have online components, then a USB microphone would be great. It makes a significant difference in the audio quality. I use one like this: https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-Condenser-Recording-Streaming-669B/dp/B06XCKGLTP/

If he has an iPad that he might use for grading (many of the online course systems have an app), then an apple pencil can make grading go even more smoothly.

A massage or something that he really enjoys would also be a great thing mid-semester. I know the pandemic complicates everything, but man would a massage be nice right now.

But most importantly I think just your understanding and patience, especially if there's an online component. It seems like there are 10x more emails and fires to be put out. It's been hard for my friends and family to adapt to my new work schedule...

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For political science specifically, if he's planning to incorporate current events, a list of places to get reliable news would be great. I get a lot of mine from key reporters I follow on Twitter, from NPR and certain local news sources. Maybe collecting a list of those resources could help?

To add: the learning curve shouldn't be too bad if you're in calculus (there are only a few symbols you need, and you can avoid messing around with the document format). You can also find templates that look pleasant to you on overleaf (https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates), then just change the content for each set of notes.

Have you tried Zotero? It is free and IMO even better than some of the paid ones. It is a standalone program with MS word integration and web browser extensions.

https://www.zotero.org/

I found this short book on argument helpful https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/162466654X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00

I think it might be better to answer a slightly different question, on how to save money on textbooks in general.

Pro-tip:

Textbooks are a scam, (often) incredibly overpriced, and that price is (often) artificially kept at high levels by making superficial-and-unimportant changes to make "new" editions. Authors often don't make much, if any, money off the textbooks, and some publishers will outright push or pay schools to use their textbooks.

This is less true of higher-level textbooks though, than lower-level ones. (It is easy to find one of Rudin's analysis texts for $40 in seconds, probably cheaper if you look harder. But those textbooks often used for low-level calculus, history, physics, whatever that often cost $100, $200, or more?)

Pirate them as much as you can. Be it through sites like Library Genesis, or -- if feasible, for books with just one author -- you might be able to have them email you a PDF of the textbook for free.

Same shit can be said about scientific papers, on that note.

And also don't overlook free resources. While the quality might be significantly more variable, and it's unlikely it'll be the required text for a course you take, in the right places there's plenty of stuff to look into (e.g. here for math).

This won't get you out of having to buy software from people like Pearson to do your homework, but it takes a significant amount of edge off financially and makes research so much easier.

Metacognition! I get a lot of students who have very poor ability to assess what they actually know. "I'm just a poor test-taker" is almost always synonymous with "I am superficially familiar with or can recognize this material, but can't actually perform it". Helping students recognize their own weaknesses is important. I get students who study for hours and hours and hours but don't actually get anything out of it since they aren't actually assessing their own learning (or recognizing the opportunities I give them in class to do same).

Honestly, this book is something I'd recommend any new college student read. The author occasionally kinda comes accross as a self-aggrandizing dick (people I know who have met him says he's actually quite nice, but the tone doesn't always read great, sadly), but the content is solid. It's about a lot more than writing in college, and a lot of what is written in it really helps students.

Also everything everyone else has said.

Probably Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. It's not directly related to cognitive science or game design (my education and job, respectively) but was a terrific foundation for both. Plus Hofstadter is an engaging writer and all-around good egg.

Most of what passes as news isn’t even punditry it is flat out opinions and without any expertise at all. And expert opinion is not necessarily a bad thing - X did this here - maybe a fact , but having someone to explain to you the reasons that that thing can be a problem for water supply and that that place is not the first time X did this is also an important part of the meaning of the story

There are some things that make sources tend to be reliable. Are they fact checked? do the devote sufficient space or time to the thing they are taking about so that it is not a sound bite? do they include any caveats, nuance or acknowledgement of conflicting opinions. Do they cite or identify their sources? “It is known” is ok for the Dothraki but not for serious information. It is really important to read conflicting sources with an open mind. Proponents of X (like national health care) have the right idea but the opponents can bring up valid logistical issues - that doesn’t mean that I am not for that, but you still have to deal with those issues to make the program run.

Also there are some very well known cognitive biases - that what you see often is more weighted than what is right, that what you want ot think is more noticeable and more easily remembered than stuff you dont like to think.

so start with the cognitive biases. And logical fallacies This is not the best source, but it is one that may be more appealing for your target audience.

https://zapier.com/blog/cognitive-bias/

Try to get your kids to pick out fact vs opinion and find the biases and fallacies in a given piece of work.

Generally speaking, answers like those from /u/ProfessorHomeBrew et al are correct, or at least they're the main path. I came up as a "Professor of Practice," meaning I had a full career in industry and then switched over to become a full-time professor a few years ago.

So in my case I had a full career in industry, taught a few classes on the side, and then eventually switched over so I was a full-time professor.

I don't have a PhD or even a MS, but OTOH I've done a lot of work on the frontiers of my field (game design, AI, etc.), wrote a book on the topic, have been an entrepreneur for years in the area, and generally prepared myself to teach on the frontiers of a new area.

Admittedly though, my path is a bit of an odd one, and not one that most people follow. In more established areas, listen to the others posting here first. :)

Try The Elements of Academic Style: https://www.amazon.ca/Elements-Academic-Style-Writing-Humanities/dp/0231168012/ref=sr_1_1?crid=25ZQOTI2MSMPU&dchild=1&keywords=elements+of+academic+style&qid=1613404862&sprefix=Elements+of+a%2Caps%2C206&sr=8-1

A book that works well for undergrads is:

https://www.amazon.com/They-Say-Matter-Academic-Writing/dp/0393631672/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FAP52AKFDON2&dchild=1&keywords=i+say+you+say+book&qid=1613395250&sprefix=i+say+you%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-1

There's a lot in there that will be useful to most grad students, too.

But my recommendation is to read a TON, especially in your field. After you read an article, think about its style, and what worked. Find authors whose work you admire, and then try to emulate that.

When my grad students can't write, it's often because they just don't read enough.

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