Policies and Procedures
AKU-IED faculty members have been extensively engaged by the external sponsors in developing educational materials ranging from teaching manuals, teaching and learning resource to teaching and learning material for Classes 1-2 (National Curriculum, 2007).
These educational materials are developed and published with an intention to be used by the wider educational community. Therefore, it is expected that all material for publications prepared at AKU-IED through external funding should be original and relevant scholarly work of quality.
To encourage and support faculty members to develop quality publications and material, AKU-IED recommends policy and procedures for quality assurance. The proposed policy and procedures will apply to all externally funded publications which include the following:
- Teachers’ guides or manuals
- Teaching and learning materials
- Textbooks
- Textbook related teacher guides
- Other (authors to specify)
Guidelines
- Concept papers, manuscripts and proposals for material development are prepared by the faculty member/s considering the existing or available human resource at AKU-IED to undertake such a task.
- The concept paper, manuscripts and proposals for material development will have an inbuilt component of peer review for quality assurance.
- The types of material will determine the budget, timelines and the processes for the review.
- Depending on the nature and size of the materials the peer review process could take anywhere from 3-6 months.
- A peer review committee with internal members is placed. If required, the services of expert/s external to AKU-IED will be hired for review purposes.
- The review committee will examine materials for assuring quality of the content, presentation of content, age appropriateness, development level, language and style, font, images in reference to the stated purpose for developing materials.
- AKU policies on intellectual property rights, authorship, ethics, and publications guidelines would be negotiated with the funding agency at the onset of the project.
Research and Policy Studies Unit at AKU-IED would:
- discuss with the authors/project coordinators the details of review process.
- arrange for editorial support to the author/s.
- facilitate the authors to identify the reviewer/s for the review.
- liaise with the reviewer/s to ensure that the review task is accomplished as outlined for assuring the quality.
- identify and negotiate with publishers and seek quotations for material development and mass production through AKU purchase department.
- seek advice of AKU’s office of Public Affairs if needed.
- follow-up and monitor the process to ensure no delays in publication and material readiness.
