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Winter 2004

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Peer Review of ABLE Lab Exercises

Bill Glider
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
wglider1@unl.edu

It was announced at the ABLE business meeting in Las Vegas that ABLE had been selected to participate in the BEN (BioSciEdNet) collaborative, spearheaded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This collaborative is currently composed of 20 professional societies and coalitions for biology education resources. The BEN Collaborative provides searchable access to the digital library collection of its Partners to provide users with accurate and reliable biology education resources. Over 1,000 reviewed resources, covering 51 biological sciences topics, are now available online. These resources include laboratory exercises as well as a variety of online learning activities. More information about BEN, a list of Partners, and a current list of online resources available can be found on the BEN web site. Over 100 reviewed lab exercises, originally published in volumes of Tested Studies for Laboratory Teaching, are currently accessible through BEN.

In light of ABLE’s participation in BEN, the ABLE Board of Directors and its members concluded that a more in-depth review process of the lab exercises published in the Proceedings should be established. Not only would such a process improve the quality of the published lab exercises, but it would also reflect more closely the peer review processes currently employed by the other BEN partners. An ad hoc committee met and discussed this issue at the Las Vegas conference. The following proposals were discussed:

  • Retain the short form evaluation that is filled out by all participants at each major and mini workshop. Minor revisions may be necessary.
  • After the registration deadline, randomly select two individuals among the registrants for each major workshop to write an in-depth evaluation of the lab exercise. These evaluations would be submitted electronically or in person to the Proceedings Editor prior to the conclusion of the conference.
  • The Proceedings Editor would designate an Assistant Editor to help with the incorporation of all comments received via the peer evaluation process.

It is the Board’s intention to institute this new peer review process at this year’s conference in Bowling Green. I will be working on this document over the next few months with the help of Bob Hodson. We would greatly appreciate any input you may have on this topic. Please send all suggestions to wglider1@unl.edu. Once the peer review process is adopted for the lab exercises, it will then be extended to include such online learning tools as interactive tutorials, video clips, and simulations.

 

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