Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration And Learning, Deana D. Pennington

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Complex environmental problem solving depends on cross-disciplinary collaboration among scientists. Collaborative research must be preceded by an exploratory phase of collective thinking that creates shared conceptual frameworks. Collective thinking, in a cross-disciplinary setting, depends on the facility with which collaborators are able to learn and understand each others’ perspectives. This paper applies three perspectives on learning to the problem of enabling cross-disciplinary collaboration: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, constructivism, and organizational learning. Application of learning frameworks to collaboration provides insights regarding receptive environments for collaboration, and processes that facilitate cross-disciplinary interactions. These environments and interactions need time to develop and require …