In this case we are firing an electron at an atom, where the incident electron has a kinetic energy that is greater than the energy gap. The incident electron is scattered off the atom and loses kinetic energy; the lost energy is transfered to the atom and is used to raise the atomic electron to a higher energy level. The main point is that there is an outgoing electron (as it is a scattering process) which takes away some of the energy.
This is different from the case of a photon hitting an atom, where generally the photon will be completely absorbed. In this case the photon needs to have exactly the right energy (to move an atomic electron between energy levels), otherwise it won't be absorbed at all.
So in my view, both the teacher and the textbook are correct.