What is a Volunteer Peer Reviewer? Cathy Owens Swift Project Manager – MERLOT Editorial Boards Editor – Business Editorial Board Professor of Marketing - Georgia Southern University Jane Moore Judy Swertka Purdue University MERLOT International Conference July 26, 2005

Parties Involved in MERLOT Administration Team Institutional Partner (20) Faculty Discipline Teams (15) –Editors/Co-Editors (21) –Editorial Review Board Members (100) –Volunteer Peer Reviewers (>100) Others – Authors, Submitters, Users

Participation in MERLOT User Submitter Author “Volunteer” Peer Reviewer

MERLOT Editorial Discipline Boards Organized like journal editorial board –Editor (may be co-editors) –Board Members Associate Editors Peer Reviewers –“Volunteer” Peer Reviewers

Differences - MERLOT vs. Journal Evaluate teaching materials, not research articles. MERLOT has Peer Review Tutorial Actual Peer Review appears on MERLOT site, so can read what has been evaluated

Editorial Boards Physics Psychology Statistics Teaching & Technology Teacher Education World Languages Biology Business Chemistry Engineering Health Sciences History Information Technology Mathematics Music 21 Editors 90 Editorial Board Members 100+ volunteers

Peer Reviews Discipline Editorial Boards (faculty members): Adopt evaluation standards – Quality of content – Potential effectiveness for teaching & learning – Ease of use Develop peer review process Develop roles and responsibilities as MERLOT reviewers Use MERLOT Worksites to sustain productivity

Review Criteria Quality of Content –Core to the discipline’s curriculum, e.g., lower division requirement –Content difficult to teach and learn –Prerequisite to more advanced learning Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool –Stage of of the learning process, ala Bloom –Learning objectives and outcomes –Target audience Ease of Use –Directions, user feedback, documentation, intuitive, attractive, etc.

Peer Review Process 1. Author submits item 2. Item triaged No 3a. Peer Review 1 3. Cataloged w/out review 4. Reports consolidated – Editor Worthy of review? Yes 3b. Peer Review 2 5. Sent to Author Review posted to MERLOT

Volunteer Peer Reviewer Qualifications be an instructor at an institution of higher learning demonstrate expertise in the discipline be recognized for excellence in teaching have experience using technology in teaching, and have participated in the activities of the discipline.

Role of Peer Reviewer Evaluate interactive learning materials Solicit and learning materials from their colleagues and contribute them Contribute comments and assignments Develop personal collections Help develop the discipline’s learning community in collaboration with your professional organization

Benefits of Being Peer Reviewer Participation in Evaluation of Digital Scholarship Contribution to Discipline Learning how to Evaluate Modules Updating own Teaching Letter of Recognition Volunteer of the Year Award

Steps to Becoming Volunteer Peer Reviewer 1.Let someone know 2.They contact Project Manager 3.Project Manager notifies Editor of Discipline Editorial Board 4.Editor contacts potential Reviewer 1.Has person complete Peer Review Tutorial 2.Reviews results with individual 3.Assigns: 1.First module to review 2.Assigns Mentor to individual 3.Contacts on weekly basis to see how doing 4.Determines how frequently individual wants to review modules.

Tools We Use Peer Review Tutorial Workspace –Keeps track of what modules assigned –Can save work –Complete review online

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