Peer review of courses

Academy members perform peer-review of course plans and teaching materials.

Peer-reviewing of course plans and teaching materials is done as a mutual service among Academy members. Non-academy members can also have their course plans and teaching materials reviewed against a fee.

The matching of reviewers and reviewees is done by the review coordinator who also collects feedback on the experiences of both reviewers and reviewees for continuous improvement of the review procedures.

The review procedure is particularly useful when a new course is being implemented or when an old course needs a ’makeover’. But a review facilitated by ILCA is a two-way exchange benefiting both reviewer and reviewee.

A testimonial from one reviewee demonstrates how new eyes may lead to exiting outcomes:

‘I have taught a course like this for almost 20 years. It was a very difficult course in which to create a final exam, in fact I stopped trying 10 years ago and only did a final project. However, the results of reviewing this course and the exam showed me that an exam is possible, and the teachers have done a great job. Receiving critique (e.g. on correct usage of technical terms) and affirmation of good course standards was also very valuable’