In most research-based universities, faculty are expected to publish, and the peer review process is often reserved for print publications. However, educational media, games and other products are often based on scholarship and valid research. The IMRE faculty unit has developed a peer review process for educational videos and interactive media. These products are informed by research: we partner with other faculty and other institutions to determine need, approach, process, and evidence. Our media products go through extensive review before peer review: content experts review the content, and, particularly for interactive products, we do user testing. By the time our products enter the peer review process they have already gone through an intensive cycle of formative review and revision.
Our peer-review process gives faculty collaborators who develop digital media a means to establish scholarly credit for their work and have it recognized as peer reviewed. Throughout the last year, our faculty worked to establish this peer review process by setting protocols, creating a list of reviewers or reviewer types to cover an array of qualifications, and developing an online Qualtrics survey for automated results. Stay Safe Working With Horses, our first product to go through the full peer review and revision process in 2021, served as a demonstration process for the showcase.
Faculty in the Department Drs. Pamela Martinez and Barbara Chamberlin presented their new peer review process devised by the unit at the national Connected Learning Summit (CLS) in July. The session, “A Peer-Review Process to Validate Educational Media Products as Research-Based Publications,” showcased our process. The online summit brought together researchers, educators and developers from across the globe.
If you are interested in becoming a reviewer please contact: Barbara Chamberlin bchamber@nmsu.edu or Amy Smith Muise smiamy@nmsu.edu
Written by Pamela Martinez Ed.D., Assistant Professor & Extension Learning Technology Specialist