Issue 26(2)
Advancing
Faculty Learning Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration
(New Directions for Teaching
and Learning, No. 102). (2005) .
Elizabeth G. Creamer and
Lisa R. Lattuca, (Eds). Jossey-Bass. 112 pp., $29.00 (paperback).
ISBN # 0-7879-8070-6.
Review
by: Joyce E. Howland
Mentor/Unit
Coordinator, Alfred Unit
Empire
State
College
Are your
research interests in areas where interdisciplinary collaboration
is essential to success? If so, do you worry whether your efforts
will garner the credit needed for retention, tenure and promotion?
Is finding a way to meld participants from varying disciplines
into a cohesive unit a challenge? Advancing Faculty Learning
Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration suggests ways to
improve the functioning of interdisciplinary teams while insuring
that participants get the credit they deserve.
This
volume grew out of a symposium presented at the 2002 meeting of
the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Several authors
write its 7 chapters. After a general introduction, the second
chapter outlines the importance of context to learning as explained
by sociocultural learning theory. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 analyze
three instances of interdisciplinary collaboration in the areas
of service, research and teaching. The first, on service, says
little about the actual project, but presents the clearest theoretical
model for how a group can move from being a collection of individual
experts who work together to becoming a fully functioning collaborative
team. The next chapter looks at a research group that, despite
almost a decade of collaboration, remains divided by disciplinary
perspectives. Still, this team has succeeded in working together
and has developed a number of techniques for appropriately sharing
both the work and the credit for the team's publications. The
essay on interdisciplinary teaching indicates that collaboration
works well when all have a common objective; in less goal-oriented
situations, the differing viewpoints cause student confusion and
unease. Next, the case studies are examined from the perspective
of sociocultural learning theory. The volume concludes with suggestions
for ways to improve interdisciplinary collaboration while increasing
recognition for the faculty involved in these activities.
The
volume will be most intelligible to those well versed in the theories
of learning and cognition; readers with background in education
and/or psychology will be better equipped to understand the theoretical
second chapter and the chapter which discusses the case studies
in light of sociocultural learning theory. However, all readers
will find that the case studies provide a number of suggestions
for enhancing collaboration among professionals working on a joint
project. While the reader would benefit from a quick review of
the case studies, they are not essential background for the final
essay, which provides the most useful material in the text. Presented
here are a series of recommendations for how to credit the work
of collaborators more clearly so that each participant's contribution
to the interdisciplinary project can be properly recognized in
personnel decisions. While many of these recommendations have
been under discussion for some time, it is helpful to have them
all considered in one place. Additional ways to structure and
manage projects that enhance the development of collaborative
teams are outlined.
Academic advisors
from both the professional and faculty ranks will find relevant
information presented on recognition of the contributions of various
team members and the suggestions for improving the functioning
of disciplinary teams. This information may be particularly helpful
to those working with groups that include faculty from many different
departments or disciplines.
