Analyzing Associations between the Different Ratings Dimensions of the MERLOT Repository

As the dissemination of digital learning resources is continuously growing over the internet, the existing repositories are enabled to search for different alternatives to assess the quality of their materials. MERLOT, one of the most recognized learning object repositories available nowadays, has adopted the peer-review approach as the cornerstone for the quality evaluation of their learning objects. In that evaluation, experts on specific areas rate resources according to three predefined dimensions, and, after an extensive edition process, these ratings are published and used for the recommendation of materials among the community of users. In addition, MERLOT allows users to write comments and provide ratings for the learning resources, complementing its evaluation strategy with this more informal mechanism. The present work analyzes associations between the ratings given by the users and the experts with the aim of discovering whether or not these two groups have similar impressions about the quality of the materials, as well as to explore the usefulness of this twofold strategy towards the establishment of learning resources quality inside MERLOT.