Successful Interdisciplinary Collaborations: The Contributions of Shared Socio-Emotional-Cognitive Platforms to Interdisciplinary Synthesis

Available theories concerning interdisciplinary collaborations tend to focus on either the cognitive or the social dimension of such interchange. We propose the theoretical construct of "shared socio-emotional-cognitive (SSEC) platforms" to capture what defines successful interdisciplinarity. The paper elaborates on this theoretical concept, which is informed by an extensive empirical study of nine research networks supported by three institutions: the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Santa Fe Institute. We also analyze the conditions that enable or impede individuals to conduct interdisciplinary research together successfully, focusing on intellectual, interactional and institutional conditions. We first review relevant literature on interdisciplinary collaborations, and then advance a definition of SSEC platforms, describing three key dimensions and the theoretical assumptions on which they stand. These dimensions are: the cognitive-intellectual (most exclusively concerned with substance); the emotional (concerned with reactions to individuals and ideas); and the socio-interactional (concerned primarily with interaction, meaning-making, and group styles). These dimensions are also described as conditions enabling successful interdisciplinarity. They operate together with institutional conditions for success, which concern the rules, practices and expectations of funding organizations and the academic fields. After showing that these dimensions and conditions are present in the nine groups studied, but in varying proportions, we conclude by comparing our construct with the notion of "trading zones" (Galison 1997) to specify our constructs‘ usefulness and contribution to the field.African and African American StudiesSociolog

Thinking Across Perspectives and Disciplines

A fundamental change is taking place in the ways in which knowledge has been organized, produced, and used since the emergence of the Modern university in the late nineteenth century. The disciplinary landscape in which knowledge was arranged is being rapidly reconfigured. In recent years, an unprecedented ease of communications, a fast-paced knowledge production, and important shifts in the kinds of problems addressed by academic and professional communities, have put a premium on the ability capitalize on multiple areas of expertise. Groups of individuals are called upon to gather and integrate multiple forms of expertise to address problems that cannot be satisfactorily engaged through single perspectives (Gibbons et al. 1994). Examples of this emerging demand abound at the frontiers of academic knowledge production and in professional problem-solving alike: � Ambitious, boundary-spanning research projects and centers draw together experts from different disciplines to address important social dilemmas—for example, to explain and treat tobacco addiction, plan for urban renewal, frame and answer bioethical questions, and understand the relationship betwee

Signature Pedagogies in Global Education: Unveiling the Secrets of Master Practitioners

Nurturing global and intercultural competence has become essential to prepare our young to participate fully and ethically in a world of growing connectivity and cultural disconnections. But how to do it well? Looking closely at master teachers’ practices, we will yield pedagogical principles that can guide and inspire our work

Mansilla, Veronica Boix, and Howard Gardner, Of Kinds of Disciplines and Kinds of Understanding, Phi Delta Kappan, 78 (January, 1997), 381-386. *

Describes what understanding means in history and literature and discusses implications for teaching and assessment

Gardner, Howard, and Veronica Boix-Mansilla, Teaching for Understanding in the Disciplines--and Beyond, Teachers College Record, 96(Winter, 1994), 198-218.

Poses forms of disciplinary knowledge that make up a currriculum for understanding

What Are They Thinking? Session A*

*Simultaneous Translation Session B information. Can we know what another person is thinking? Thinking is an invisible enterprise and too often what is articulated is what is perceived to be what is wanted and will gain approval, whether or not that is what the student, teacher, colleague or leader was actually thinking. In times when students, teachers and schools are constantly being judged by grades students achieve in ways that are readily quantifiable, does this limit both our students’ learning and our knowledge of what students are thinking; the processes they develop when exploring theories and ideas and the open-mindedness and confidence to convey thoughts that are different to those of others? How can the invisible be made visible? Visible Thinking, developed by Project Zero at Harvard Graduate School of Education provides research-based strategies and structures that enable this and empowers teachers to get to know their students sometimes differently, nurture deeper understanding and greater motivation for learning. Visible Thinking “is a broad and flexible framework for enriching classroom learning in the content areas and fostering students\u27 intellectual development at the same time.” During this session, experienced Project Zero researchers together with educators who have worked in different contexts with many people including teachers and/or with students of different ages, will share their findings, experiences and insights from research and practice, pictures of practice of incorporating Visible Thinking in various settings including classrooms and schools, processes and personal narratives

What Are They Thinking? Session B*

*Simultaneous Translation Session A Information. Can we know what another person is thinking? Thinking is an invisible enterprise and too often what is articulated is what is perceived to be what is wanted and will gain approval, whether or not that is what the student, teacher, colleague or leader was actually thinking. In times when students, teachers and schools are constantly being judged by grades students achieve in ways that are readily quantifiable, does this limit both our students’ learning and our knowledge of what students are thinking; the processes they develop when exploring theories and ideas and the open-mindedness and confidence to convey thoughts that are different to those of others? How can the invisible be made visible? Visible Thinking, developed by Project Zero at Harvard Graduate School of Education provides research-based strategies and structures that enable this and empowers teachers to get to know their students sometimes differently, nurture deeper understanding and greater motivation for learning. Visible Thinking “is a broad and flexible framework for enriching classroom learning in the content areas and fostering students\u27 intellectual development at the same time.” During this session, experienced Project Zero researchers together with educators who have worked in different contexts with many people including teachers and/or with students of different ages, will share their findings, experiences and insights from research and practice, pictures of practice of incorporating Visible Thinking in various settings including classrooms and schools, processes and personal narratives