The ability to work effectively in a diverse team is a valuable skill which is transferable to many contexts. As such, it is important to build this skill through deliberate, targeted, and meaningful learning activities in higher education. The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) model enhances team diversity by combining students from different…

Changes in higher education institutions characteristic of a knowledge society are strongly affecting academic life, scientists' working conditions and the social dynamics of scientific groups. In such situations, it is important to understand the different ways in which these groups are tackling the structural dilemmas posed by the changes…

While the great scientists of the past recognized a need for a multidisciplinary approach, today's schools often treat math and science as subjects separate from the rest. This not only creates a disinterest among students, but also a potential learning gap once students reach college and then graduate into the workforce. "Cases on…

Although multidisciplinary research teams are well-equipped to attack complex problems, actually succeeding in such endeavors is not easy. This paper explores problems that may arise in multidisciplinary research teams, develops a grounded theory, and offers suggestions to help teams reach their goals. It also offers advice to administrators for…

In winter of 1993, a design research project was conducted in the Department of Interior Design at Ohio State University by interdisciplinary teams of graduate students from Industrial Design, Industrial Systems and Engineering, Marketing, and Communication. It was, in effect, a course which aimed to apply knowledge from the students' diverse…

Female college students were selected on the basis of their scores on the Manifest Anxiety Scale. The subjects worked either alone or in pairs. The experiment had a two x two x two design, with group type (nominal versus real), manifest anxiety (low versus high), and induces stress (low versus high) as the three variables. (Author)

The reasons for variation in interdisciplinary research team performance at U.S. and Canadian research universities are investigated. Interdisciplinary research is defined. The appropriate use of interdisciplinary research, the participants, the leaders of research groups, and the effective management of the groups are identified. (Author/MLW)

In interviews with 18 college faculty actively collaborating on research in the field of higher education, a variety of metaphors were used to explain the nature of the collaborative process, reflecting 6 distinct dynamics of the relationship: degree of jointness, definition of roles and responsibilities, flexibility of roles, similarity of…

Research management strategies used effectively in a large-scale clinical trial to determine the health effects of exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam are discussed, including pre-project planning, organization according to strategy, attention to scheduling, a team approach, emphasis on guest relations, cross-training of personnel, and preparing…

Senior level psychology majors and inservice counselors were administered the Rehabilitation Counseling Judgment Scale. A comparison of individual decisions, after sharing their thoughts in group discussion, indicated that group decisions were riskier than individual decisions. Implications of the effects of group interaction on rehabilitation…

Discusses the potential of teaching teams and collaborative instruction to support college faculty's action research efforts, and describes the use of such teams at one university, with illustrations from faculty research projects. Lessons learned in establishing and implementing teaching teams, and recommendations for enhancing their…

Two types of small-group instruction in which student teams work on specific projects are compared. Issues raised include the learning level achieved, teacher and student role changes, the influence of institutional culture on the work, assessment of cognitive skills being developed, and research needs. (MSE)

A review of the literature on university faculty research productivity found a consistent set of 12 characteristics common in research-conducive environments. Findings included (1) the leader has a disproportionate impact through his influence on all the other characteristics, and (2) participative governance is important in promotion of research…

In U.S. colleges and universities, much attention has been focused on the need to improve teaching quality and to involve students in the learning process. At the same time, many faculty members are faced with growing class sizes and with time pressures due to research demands. One useful technique is to divide the class into small groups and…

Domains of faculty research development are considered, with attention to various scholarly activities such as publishing in journals, editing books/monographs, publishing book reviews, and delivering papers at professional meetings. A cognitive map of faculty development is presented that incorporates findings from the literature on the sociology…