Challenges in Transdisciplinary Integrated Projec

Authors: Linda Vanasupa Kathryn E McCormick Carolyn J Stefanco Roberta J Herter Margot McDonald

Publish Date: 2011/09/07

Volume: 37, Issue: 3, Pages: 171-184

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Abstract

In this article we describe the challenges of transdisciplinary teamwork involving four faculty members from dissimilar epistemological traditions in the process of developing a manuscript on the lessons learned in our teaching collaboration Our difficulty originated in implicit mental models and assumptions that caused incongruence between our intent to collaborate and the habituated relationship structure of the partnership The dynamics are described through the lens of Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s leadership model and Aristotle’s causality We suggest that successful collaboration necessitates careful attention to the process of establishing the collaboration its structure and the metacognitive capacities to see one’s own thinking suspend one’s epistemic beliefs and engage in productive dialogue around conflictThis work was supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation NSFEEC0834959 NSFDUE0717428 All views are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation The authors thank the students who participated in the research and Roger Burton for his valuable insights

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