Assessing the crossdisciplinarity of technology-enhanced learning with science overlay maps and diversity measures

This paper deals with the assessment of the crossdisciplinarity of technology-enhanced learning (TEL). Based on a general discussion of the concept interdisciplinarity and a summary of the discussion in the field two empirical methods from scientometrics are introduced and applied. Science overlay maps and the Rao-Stirling-Diversity index are used to analyze the TEL field with a scientometric analysis. The science overlay maps show that a wide variety of disciplines contribute to research in the field. The analysis reveals that the field has been operating on a relatively high level of crossdisciplinarity in the last 10 years compared to 6 other fields of reference. Only in 2004 a decrease in the level of crossdisciplinarity could be identified

An investigation of technology mediation in interdisciplinary research within Higher Education

There has been a growing awareness of interdisciplinary collaboration as a means of addressing new challenges within academic research, and digital technology has been a core underlying support in these endeavours (Scanlon et al., 2013, p.49; Haythornthwaite et al., 2003, p.144). ‘Digital technologies will be a core aspect of interaction and cooperation between different fields of expertise’ (Costa, 2011, p.84). This paper investigates the process of technology-mediated knowledge co-production in interdisciplinary research in Higher Education, and explores how researchers from different disciplines appropriate technology to break down disciplinary boundaries. Through the presentation of findings from a collective case study of two interdisciplinary research projects based at the University of Oxford - the Ashmolean Latin Inscriptions Project (AshLi) and Poetry Visualisation: Imagery Lens for Visualising Text Corpora (PVis) - this paper aims to challenge conventional approaches to investigating the use of technology in interdisciplinary scholarship, responding to the paucity of research at the intersection of interdisciplinarity, collaborative research and technology in academia. Findings from interviews with academic researchers, and a visual analysis of project artefacts, elucidate a mutually shaping relationship between innovative research technologies and new interdisciplinary research practices. Technology can be constructed through the integration of disciplinary perspectives. Researchers from different disciplines both adopt and adapt technologies, and through these processes, disciplinary boundaries are broken down, and knowledge is co-created. This iterative process of mutual shaping assumes different nuances according to the disciplinary ‘make-up’ of a project, the technologies involved, and the ways in which the researchers appropriate technologies according to their disciplinary backgrounds. Using the social construction of technology (SCOT) as a theoretical framework illuminates researchers’ diverse perceptions of technologies and interdisciplinary practices, and highlights the importance of interpretation in the use of technology within these contexts. This paper contributes to the area of networked learning by highlighting that collaboration around research technologies has not been explored very much in the field, nor has the potential for building on other concepts from the area of science and technology studies (STS) such as Actor-Network Theory (Clough et al., 2010; Adams and Thompson, 2014). In this way, the findings hold broad implications for substantive promotion of a more nuanced view of modern interdisciplinary practices

Case Study Investigation of the Development and Management of a University Research Institute

Multidisciplinary research institutes provide universities with an important vehicle to conduct research across traditional disciplines that can also be an attractive capability to external funders. However, there are particular challenges in the management of such institutes, including managing different reporting lines, research coordination and collaboration development; and these issues are especially relevant in the early development stages of institutes. Consequently, this paper will describe a case study investigation of the Institute of Shock Physics, which is a new university research institute at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom. The case study will provide a discussion of the key strands of management activity that were undertaken in the first two years of operation for the Institute, together with details on how any difficulties were overcome. Management areas discussed in the case study will include: collaboration development; financial program management; research project management; program reporting and governance; risk and safety management. This analysis will be carried out in the context of supporting research from the literature and through building on the findings from the case study a set of recommendations will be formulated on developing and implementing management systems for new research institutes

Scale of results in research groups

Purpose: the aim of this paper is to develop a scale to measure results in research groups (RG). Originality/value: the study is innovative in developing a scale for verifying results in Brazilian RG. Its main contribution is data collection from an evaluation made by leaders regarding results that RG’ produced as a whole (meso or organizational level), going further than individual indices of academic productivity. Design/methodology/approach: the scale was developed based on: 1) literature review of empirical papers published between 2005 and 2015 regarding results in RG; and 2) analysis of data (audio recordings, interview transcriptions, field reports) previously collected from RG members, regarding achieved results and re-evaluation of preliminary instruments developed by RG. In total, 387 RG leaders answered the survey after semantic and theoretical analysis by experts and a pre-test. Findings: exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors in the results (Distal Results of External Repercussion, Proximal Research Results and Tangible Research Results), with a total variance of 51.9% explained and reliability indices of α = 0.927, α = 0.872 and α = 0.624, respectively

The Impact of Heterogeneous Shared Leadership in Scientific Teams

Leadership is evolving dynamically from an individual endeavor to shared efforts. This paper aims to advance our understanding of shared leadership in scientific teams. We define three kinds of leaders, junior (10-15), mid (15-20), and senior (20+) based on career age. By considering the combinations of any two leaders, we distinguish shared leadership as heterogeneous when leaders are in different age cohorts and homogeneous when leaders are in the same age cohort. Drawing on 1,845,351 CS, 254,039 Sociology, and 193,338 Business teams with two leaders in the OpenAlex dataset, we identify that heterogeneous shared leadership brings higher citation impact for teams than homogeneous shared leadership. Specifically, when junior leaders are paired with senior leaders, it significantly increases team citation ranking by 1-2%, in comparison with two leaders of similar age. We explore the patterns between homogeneous leaders and heterogeneous leaders from team scale, expertise composition, and knowledge recency perspectives. Compared with homogeneous leaders, heterogeneous leaders are more adaptive in large teams, have more diverse expertise, and trace both the newest and oldest references

The brazilian management graduate program network : analysis of academic relationships and the attributes of programs

Este artigo investiga, apoiado na abordagem de redes sociais, a influência de relações acadêmicas e de atributos de programas de pós-graduação em administração na estrutura da rede desses programas. Os dados foram coletados entre fevereiro e julho de 2007. Um questionário eletrônico foi enviado aos coordenadores de 58 programas em funcionamento nesse período. Destes, 32 (55%) responderam à pesquisa, e informaram as relações do próprio programa com os demais 57 programas, em sete atividades: pesquisas conjuntas, produção intelectual compartilhada, realização de eventos científicos, disciplinas compartilhadas, intercâmbio de professores, intercâmbio de estudantes, e participação em comissões examinadoras de dissertações e teses. Os atributos dos programas foram identificados nas páginas eletrônicas da CAPES e de cada programa. Os resultados mostram que: (1) a rede pesquisada é pouco densa, com relações esparsas e, na maioria das vezes,fracas entre programas; (2) a localização geográfica e as linhas de pesquisa dos programas são importantes na definição da estrutura da rede; as linhas de pesquisa mais compartilhadas são: Organizações & Comportamento Organizacional, e Estratégia; e, (3) o programa da UFRGS é o mais central da rede e os programas da FGV/SP,USP/SP, UFRGS e FGV/RJ são os mais prestigiados. _________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThis article investigates the influence exerted by relationships between academic institutions and attributes of graduate management programs in shaping the structure of the Brazilian Graduate Management Program network. The research was designed according to a social network approach and the data collection was undertaken between February and July of 2007 and included the coordinators of the 58 programs that were operating at that time, to whom a link to an electronic questionnaire was e-mailed. Thirty two (55%) of these coordinators completed the questionnaire, providing information on the relationships between their programs and the other 57 programs in the following activities: joint research, shared scientific production, promotion of scientific events, shared courses, academic staff exchanges, graduate student exchanges and participation in examination boards for dissertations and theses. The programs’ attributes were obtained from the websites of each program and CAPES. The main results showed: (1) a low density network with mostly weak relationships between programs, (2) a network structure defined by geographical location and research area, with the better connected networks in the areas of Organization and Organizational Behaviour and Strategy; and (3) a network in which UFRGS is the most central program and the FGV/SP, USP/SP, UFRGS and FGV/RJ are the most prestigious

Learning processes, competences learned, operation, sharing and storing knowledge in research groups

A finalidade deste artigo é descrever o funcionamento, os processos de aprendizagem, armazenagem e compartilhamento de informações em grupos de pesquisa. Para isso, pauta-se por referenciais teóricos oriundos de abordagens cognitivistas e construtivistas. Desenvolvida numa instituição pública de ensino superior, esta pesquisa valeu-se da coleta de dados obtidos por meio de análise documental e de entrevistas semiestruturadas com líderes de 10 grupos. As entrevistas foram registradas em diários de campo e gravadas em áudio. As categorias extraídas dos dados levantados balizaram não apenas as análises de conteúdo, mas também a apresentação de resultados. Foi verificado que os grupos de pesquisa diferem quanto ao objeto e aos métodos de pesquisa, ao tamanho, ao tempo de existência, aos recursos disponíveis, às técnicas e aos equipamentos, o que influencia o desenvolvimento de competências específicas ligadas à realização das pesquisas de cada área. Há semelhanças no que se refere aos processos de aprendizagem, aos conteúdos e às competências genéricas aprendidas por seus integrantes (entre os quais, estudantes de graduação e de pós-graduação). Entre essas competências intelectuais, típicas da produção de conhecimentos, estão: a elaboração de projetos e a coleta, registro e análise de dados. Os resultados indicam também que, quando perguntados sobre o que aprendiam nesses grupos, nove líderes referiram-se especialmente a habilidades relativas à gestão de pessoas, tais como: lidar com diferenças individuais, de ritmo de trabalho, de escolaridade, de experiência profissional, de valores, de crenças e de cultura. A aprendizagem nos grupos ocorre de maneira informal, por meio de conversas entre participantes, e formal, através de leitura dirigida, da participação em eventos científicos e pela realização de pesquisas, sob a supervisão do líder. O compartilhamento de conhecimentos ocorre principalmente durante reuniões para discussão de dados e leitura de artigos, mas também pela utilização de ferramentas da informática por alguns grupos. Os resultados obtidos confirmam a importância da integração de partícipes de diferentes níveis de formação, o que possibilita a aprendizagem, a assimilação de complexas habilidades intelectuais e atitudes, bem como a formação de redes e a busca de reconhecimento e de visibilidade (nacional e internacional) dos conhecimentos produzidos pelo grupo. Esses resultados são discutidos com base nos referenciais teóricos, propondo-se uma agenda de pesquisa sobre a aprendizagem em grupos.The purpose of this article is to describe the operation, the processes of learning, storing and sharing information in research groups. Therefore, it is guided by cognitive and constructivist theoretical approaches. Developed in a public institution of higher education, this study draws on data collection obtained through documentary analysis and structured interviews with leaders of 10 groups. The interviews were recorded in field diaries and recorded on audio. . The categories obtained from the data collected used as guidelines not only content analysis, but also the presentation of results. The research groups were found to differ on the object and methods of research, the size, time of existence, available resources, techniques and equipment, which influences the development of specific competences of each area. There are similarities in the learning processes, contents and generic competences learned by members (among them, graduate and post-graduate students). These intellectual competences, typical of knowledge production, include: project design, collection and record and data analysis. The results also indicate that, when asked about what they learned in these groups, nine leaders were concerned mainly with the skills related to managing people, such as accept individual differences, velocity of work production, schooling, work experience, values, beliefs and culture. Learning occurs in groups informally, through conversations between participants, and formally, through guided reading, participation in scientific meetings and for practical research under the supervision of the leader. Knowledge sharing occurs mainly during meetings to discuss data and reading articles, but also by using computing tools in some groups. The results confirm the importance of participants’ integration from different levels of training and graduation, which enables learning and assimilation of complex intellectual skills and attitudes, as well as providing network building and searching for recognition and visibility (national and international) of knowledge produced by the group. These results are discussed based on theoretical frameworks, proposing an agenda for research into learning in groups

What is the optimal number of researchers for social science research?

Many studies have found that co-authored research is more highly cited than single author research. This finding is policy relevant as it indicates that encouraging co-authored research will tend to maximise citation impact. Nevertheless, whilst the citation impact of research increase as the number of authors increases in the sciences, the extent to which this occurs in the social sciences is unknown. In response, this study investigates the average citation level of articles with one to four authors published in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007 in 19 social science disciplines. The results suggest that whilst having at least two authors gives a substantial citation impact advantage in all social science disciplines, additional authors are beneficial in some disciplines but not in others.University of Wolverhampto

The burgeoning field of transdisciplinary adaptation research in Quebec (1998–): a climate change-related public health narrative

This paper presents a public health narrative on Quebec’s new climatic conditions and human health, and describes the transdisciplinary nature of the climate change adaptation research currently being adopted in Quebec, characterized by the three phases of problem identification, problem investigation, and problem transformation. A transdisciplinary approach is essential for dealing with complex ill-defined problems concerning human–environment interactions (for example, climate change), for allowing joint research, collective leadership, complex collaborations, and significant exchanges among scientists, decision makers, and knowledge users. Such an approach is widely supported in theory but has proved to be extremely difficult to implement in practice, and those who attempt it have met with heavy resistance, succeeding when they find the occasional opportunity within institutional or social contexts. In this paper we narrate the ongoing struggle involved in tackling the negative effects of climate change in multi-actor contexts at local and regional levels, a struggle that began in a quiet way in 1998. The paper will describe how public health adaptation research is supporting transdisciplinary action and implementation while also preparing for the future, and how this interaction to tackle a life-world problem (adaptation of the Quebec public health sector to climate change) in multi-actors contexts has progressively been established during the last 13 years. The first of the two sections introduces the social context of a Quebec undergoing climate changes. Current climatic conditions and expected changes will be described, and attendant health risks for the Quebec population. The second section addresses the scientific, institutional and normative dimensions of the problem. It corresponds to a “public health narrative” presented in three phases: (1) problem identification (1998–2002) beginning in northern Quebec; (2) problem investigation (2002–2006) in which the issues are successively explored, understood, and conceptualized for all of Quebec, and (3) problem transformation (2006–2009), which discusses major interactions among the stakeholders and the presentation of an Action Plan by a central actor, the Quebec government, in alliance with other stakeholders. In conclusion, we underline the importance, in the current context, of providing for a sustained transdisciplinary adaptation to climatic change. This paper should be helpful for (1) public health professionals confronted with establishing a transdisciplinary approach to a real-world problem other than climate change, (2) professionals in other sectors (such as public safety, built environment) confronted with climate change, who wish to implement transdisciplinary adaptive interventions and/or research, and (3) knowledge users (public and private actors; nongovernment organizations; citizens) from elsewhere in multi-contexts/environments/sectors who wish to promote complex collaborations (with us or not), collective leadership, and “transfrontier knowledge-to-action” for implementing climate change-related adaptation measures

From neural to social: Medical student admissions criteria and engagement in a social learning environment

Notions of what it is to be knowledgeable and skilled in one's profession have evolved in recent decades. For instance, medical practitioners are expected to think critically and creatively, communicate effectively, and to be a professional and community leader. While these attributes have always been well regarded, it is only relatively recently that higher education institutions are actively incorporating these skills and attributes into student admissions criteria. In parallel, methods of instruction and course delivery have also changed over time with respect to these driving social paradigms. Today's medical schools are expected to both select and develop students in terms of these qualities through socially based pedagogical practices. This paper investigates the admissions criteria that best predict student engagement in a social learning environment and thus the related attributes such as communication, creativity, and leadership. The paper frames this investigation in the scholarship related to 21 st century skills and achievement orientations