Abstract
Transdisciplinary research (TR) is a growing field in a myriad of subject domains ranging from sustainability to education. The idea is to solve complex problems through the collaborative participation of academic actors, community stakeholders, governments, and other leaders to jointly define the problem and find solutions. To accomplish such complex projects, one of the main tools is an efficient technology platform. The need for an efficient technology platform, in turn, leads to a need for an evaluation tool to determine which is the most suitable for a given transdisciplinary research situation, however, a literature review confirms that research on such evaluation tools is scarce. The goal of this paper is to improve the evaluation of technology platforms for individual TR projects, based on the characteristics of that specific TR. The research question is “Can TR characteristics be used to construct an evaluation tool for technology platforms?” The specific aims used to answer the question were: the following: (1) to define the characteristics (core activities and skills) of TR and (2) to construct a tool for evaluating technology platforms for use in TR. Methodology: For the first specific aim, a literature meta-analysis was used; the second specific aim was addressed following a newly developed methodology, including elements of the technology acceptance model and elements of a standard technology evaluation process. Results: A chart for defining the core activities and skills in TR was developed, and a tool was constructed for evaluating technology platforms that could be used in TR.
Highlights
Fordefinitions analyzing of the TRorcharacteristics, (2) an approach forbeanalyzing existing new Transdisciplinary research (TR) projects identify and and the specify evaluation criteria to used for existing or of new TR projects to identify andinspecify evaluationofcriteria to be roles usedand for evaluation technology platforms for use TR, (3) the identification the various evaluation of technology platforms for use in identification of the various roles and use cases in TR, and (4) a software tool that enables the evaluation of technology platforms use cases
8 of on an iterative algorithmic process of building queries using the technique of Venn diagrams
The literature review provided insights into the possible research directions, one of which is technology enablement to facilitate TR. It was clear from the literature review that there is a need to increase the adaption of tools, such as technology platforms, to enhance and support TR
Summary
The essence of a transdisciplinary approach is that it emphasizes a collaboration model of research across academic, industrial, military, and community settings. In such a context, there is a need for a common glossary of key terms in transdisciplinary collaborations [2]. It was first used to analyze the increasingly important roles that technologies were playing in companies and organizations It relies on the following two constructs: (1) perceived usefulness and (2) perceived ease of use which reflects individual beliefs that are affected by external variables. A primary activity for a multidisciplinary team is to identify key requirements through scoping They may further identify a set of products for evaluation against these requirements. The evaluation team tests and scores the products against all the test criteria
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call