Towards the Creative University: Developing a Conceptual Framework for Transdisciplinary Teamwork
Authors: Giedre Brazdauskaite, Danute Rasimaviciene.
Issue: 2015, Vol. 1
Abstract
The paper emphasizes the importance of creating opportunities at universities for developing transdisciplinary teams since many today’s complex issues or highly innovative products can no longer be effectively solved or created from a singular perspective, but require different and broader viewpoints and a collaboration of different expertise, approaches and methodologies. Indeed, recent research indicates that disciplinary boundaries can be fluid; therefore, creative transdisciplinary teams are capable to transfer useful ideas, concepts and knowledge between different disciplinary domains. The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for student transdisciplinary teamwork by reconciling different streams of literature on teamwork, creativity and transdisciplinarity, and to test the appropriateness of this framework in practice by observing three transdisciplinary teams, which were assembled for a new product development ideation. The framework was constructed as a network of interlinked concepts (uncertainty management, effort synchronization management, and synthesis management) that together provide a comprehensive understanding of the necessary capabilities for transdisciplinary teamwork and the need for their management. This exploratory paper relevance is assessed in terms of research contribution towards answering the question on how to make transdisciplinary teamwork more effective by providing a synergy-driven approach for more effective transdisciplinary teamwork capability development and their management.
Keywords: creativity, teamwork, transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary teamwork, creative university.
To download the article, please click on the PDF file or read on this page below:
Authors: Giedre Brazdauskaite, Danute Rasimaviciene.
Issue: 2015, Vol. 1
Abstract
The paper emphasizes the importance of creating opportunities at universities for developing transdisciplinary teams since many today’s complex issues or highly innovative products can no longer be effectively solved or created from a singular perspective, but require different and broader viewpoints and a collaboration of different expertise, approaches and methodologies. Indeed, recent research indicates that disciplinary boundaries can be fluid; therefore, creative transdisciplinary teams are capable to transfer useful ideas, concepts and knowledge between different disciplinary domains. The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for student transdisciplinary teamwork by reconciling different streams of literature on teamwork, creativity and transdisciplinarity, and to test the appropriateness of this framework in practice by observing three transdisciplinary teams, which were assembled for a new product development ideation. The framework was constructed as a network of interlinked concepts (uncertainty management, effort synchronization management, and synthesis management) that together provide a comprehensive understanding of the necessary capabilities for transdisciplinary teamwork and the need for their management. This exploratory paper relevance is assessed in terms of research contribution towards answering the question on how to make transdisciplinary teamwork more effective by providing a synergy-driven approach for more effective transdisciplinary teamwork capability development and their management.
Keywords: creativity, teamwork, transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary teamwork, creative university.
To download the article, please click on the PDF file or read on this page below:
| Towards the Creative University: Developing a Conceptual Framework for Transdisciplinary Teamwork |
