The Peer Review Process of Teaching Materials

Abstract

When an instructor adopts teaching materials, he/she wants some measure of confidence that the resource is effective, correct, and robust. The measurement of the quality of a resource is an open problem. It is our thesis that the traditional evaluative approach to peer review is not appropriate to insure the quality of teaching materials, which are created with different contextual constraints. This Working Group report focuses on the evaluation process by detailing a variety of review models. The evolution of the development and review of teaching materials is outlined and the contexts for creation, assessment, and transfer are discussed. We present an empirical study of evaluation forms conducted at the ITiCSE 99 conference, and recommend at least one new review model for the validation of the quality of teaching resources.