Selecting teaching resources: a guide: Select and evaluate

Does the content include several perspectives, show how meaning is negotiated and established, provide the historical angle, explore dissenting views and even include those from outside the discipline?

Is the content authoritative? Have you determined the validity of the resource, taken into account new perspectives and changes in thought, and questioned the origin and context of the created information?

Acknowledge that biases arising from positions of privilege can arise from accepted sources of authority. Apply this understanding to all formats you select, including online videos and images.

Is the content at the appropriate AQF level for your course? Does it meet the benchmarks of a School policy or the standards of industry, sector or professional regulatory bodies?

Do your search strategies for teaching content retrieve the results to meet the information needs of your students? Will your students be able to achieve the learning outcomes of the AQF level by interacting with material you have selected?

Is the content you select culturally appropriate, sensitive and inclusive of indigenous peoples? Does your selection of material encourage Indigenous Knowledges? Has the content been evaluated for authenticity and accuracy with input from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?

Know your student cohort. Are your selected resources appropriate for international, rural and low socio-economic status students?

For example:

• is there a digital version that all students can access regardless of mode of learning?
• does your content reflect international perspectives, or present local issues within global contexts?

Are your resources current, or, in the case of set textbooks, is a more recent edition available? Perhaps you have a range of authoritative materials that span recent decades.

Whilst in some disciplines older works may be most authoritative, recent works should be presented to students for them to explore emergent schools of thought and new discoveries. New research must be acknowledged in the scholarly conversation, encouraging further contributions to research in the discipline.