Collaborative Research Approach Research Articles

Renewing models for change

PurposeThis paper aims to contribute to discussion around the need for improved models for change in a rapidly changing world. It also aims to provide insights for further discussion around how a Nordic management approach can relate to the need for new change ideas. Since Lewin proposed that change requires unfreezing, moving and refreezing, several changes in models have been introduced. Many models include similar factors such as the need for a vision, a clear process and to motivate change. These change factors are investigated in this paper and related to a fast-paced, uncertain and volatile environmentDesign/methodology/approachBased on a collaborative research approach, engaging with leaders in five organizations, all headquartered in the Nordic countries, this paper examines problems with traditional change models in a contemporary context as well as how these challenges could be handled.FindingsThis paper concludes that leaders still find value in traditional models but see that these models need to be adapted to include elements of more recent research. This paper suggests tweaks in traditional change factors and ends with a proposition with a renewed model for change.Originality/valueThe ideas in this paper could be seen as a bridge between traditional and modern models – a bridge that seems to be needed in practice. It draws on action research and close relationships with top management, as they are working with change – potentially giving the study a unique angle on a practical, widespread problem: succeeding with change

Interactive research framework in logistics and supply chain management: Bridging the academic research and practitioner gap

Logistics and supply chain management (SCM) practice has grown in scope and complexity in recent years. A challenge for research in logistics and SCM is to create value for both academics and practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to introduce interactive research (IR) into the domain of logistics and SCM research and to describe the lessons learned from the implementation of this research approach. Compared to traditional empirical research methods, IR takes place in a context where inferences are co-produced in collaboration with practitioners. Taking an academic–practitioner lens, we draw on the IR framework to develop a deeper understanding of academic and practitioner exchanges in the increasingly complex and multidimensional domain of logistics and supply chain research. In addition to introducing the IR approach, based on four collaborative research projects, we outline and provide potential solutions to challenges arising from IR. Introducing IR to logistics and SCM research could enrich the understanding of collaborative research approaches and could act as a catalyst to its wider adoption in future research.

Using transformative learning theory to explore student points of view in a second-year mechanical engineering design course: A collaborative action research approach

ABSTRACT The goal of this work was to explore ways, within an existing engineering curriculum, to address the culture of disengagement by challenging the dominant engineering mindset. We conducted Collaborative Action Research to explore the implementation of Transformative Learning pedagogies in a Human-Centered Design context to understand how students make meaning of engineering contexts that involve unique sociotechnical considerations. Findings suggest that introducing students to such contexts allows them to use other points of view which can challenge the dominant engineering mindset and promote openness to the social nature of engineering, resulting in a more informed understanding of the nature of engineering overall. Furthermore, adopting Transformative Learning Theory as a framework for understanding and interpreting how the points of view students utilize can address the culture of disengagement by challenging the dominant engineering mindset. A framework connecting students’ points of view to their understanding of the nature of engineering is provided.

The persistence of power: Reflections on the power dynamics in a Merging of Knowledge research project


 
 
 Collaborative research approaches emphasise the need to transform the way the academic community produces science by integrating knowledge from different disciplines, but also by including non-academic knowledge in order to address the challenges of sustainability and social justice. This approach – known in the literature on sustainability science as transdisciplinarity – has been used increasingly in research to resolve sustainability problems, including those related to poverty and socio-economic inequalities. This article seeks to shed light on the power dynamics that exist and emerge in transdisciplinary processes by analysing a case study on food poverty. Following Fritz and Meinherz’s (2020) approach, I use Amy Allen’s (1998) typology of power to track and trace the way that power played out between and within actor groups in a project that applied a transdisciplinary methodology known as the ‘Merging of Knowledge’. Although the Merging of Knowledge model seeks to identify and address power differentials between the participating groups, power relations remain complex, dynamic and – to some extent – inevitable. Collaborative processes would benefit from an analysis of the way that power dynamics emerge, persist and evolve to enhance awareness of different forms of power that coexist in research, and to ensure that imbalances present outside the research process are not reproduced within it.
 
 

Collaboration and co-design: Learning from literacy interventions co-created by researchers and teachers

There is growing interest and practice in collaborative research approaches, that is, researchers, teachers, and/or other professionals working together to develop educational interventions. In this paper we discuss the merits and challenges associated with this and draw upon our experience of co-designing two educational (specifically literacy) interventions to share our learning so far. We argue that co-design works best when it recognises and values the distinct knowledge, experience, and expertise that different individuals bring, and finds the most effective ways to synthesise this into intervention development.

Innovative Performances of Agricultural Research Institutes in Sri Lanka: The Relevance of Knowledge Sourcing and Absorptive Capacity for Innovation Performances

This paper explores the relationship between external knowledge sources and absorptive capacity on the one hand and the innovative performance of agricultural research and development institutes in Sri Lanka. Following the literature, we first identify the different types of knowledge sources available to research and development institutions and analyse the ease with which they can access them. The institutions also acquire external knowledge from publications and by attending conferences. Secondly, we test and see whether external knowledge sources lead to higher innovation performance. Based on survey data, our empirical results show that institutes with fewer departments are more innovative and that higher organizational absorptive capacities result in a higher level of innovative output. Interestingly, formal and reliable knowledge sources contribute to higher innovative performance. Anyhow, higher absorptive capacity without engagement in external interaction reduces the innovative performance of research and development institutes. Moreover, this empowers agricultural research and development institutes to engage in more collaborative research approaches to achieve higher levels of innovation performance.

The COVID-19 Pandemic as an Opportunity and Challenge for Registries in Health Services Research: Lessons Learned from the Lean European Open Survey on SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients (LEOSS)

The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought opportunities and challenges, especially for health services research based on routine data. In this article we will demonstrate this by presenting lessons learned from establishing the currently largest registry in Germany providing a detailed clinical dataset on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected patients: the Lean European Open Survey on SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients (LEOSS). LEOSS is based on a collaborative and integrative research approach with anonymous recruitment and collection of routine data and the early provision of data in an open science context. The only requirement for inclusion was a SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by virological diagnosis. Crucial strategies to successfully realize the project included the dynamic reallocation of available staff and technical resources, an early and direct involvement of data protection experts and the ethics committee as well as the decision for an iterative and dynamic process of improvement and further development. Thanks to the commitment of numerous institutions, a transsectoral and transnational network of currently 133 actively recruiting sites with 7,227 documented cases could be established (status: 18.03.2021). Tools for data exploration on the project website, as well as the partially automated provision of datasets according to use cases with varying requirements, enabled us to utilize the data collected within a short period of time. Data use and access processes were carried out for 97 proposals assigned to 27 different research areas. So far, nine articles have been published in peer-reviewed international journals. As a collaborative effort of the whole network, LEOSS developed into a large collection of clinical data on COVID-19 in Germany. Even though in other international projects, much larger data sets could be analysed to investigate specific research questions through direct access to source systems, the uniformly maintained and technically verified documentation standard with many discipline-specific details resulted in a large valuable data set with unique characteristics. The lessons learned while establishing LEOSS during the current pandemic have already created important implications for the design of future registries and for pandemic preparedness and response.

Associating Field Actors in the Observation of Visitor Flows and Recreational Activities in Mountain Regions: Lessons Drawn from two Collaborative Projects in France and Switzerland

The Alps are particularly affected by the effects of climate change. The average temperature increase is twice as high as that observed at the global level (Beniston, 2012). Climate change is having a profound impact on tourism, sports and, more broadly, recreational activities in mountain regions. First of all, this concerns the rise in the rain-snow limit and the increasing scarcity of snow (Gonseth, 2013), leading ski lift companies to invest heavily in the production of artificial snow in order to sustain the activities of skiing and snowboarding (Abegg, 2011; Clivaz et al., 2015). However, climate change also has important repercussions for other sports and recreational pursuits in these regions, especially in summer (hiking, climbing, mountaineering, etc.). Observing the effects of climate change on recreational activities in less-developed mountain regions proves complex. In this context, an exploratory participatory research-action project, presented in this paper, was carried out in 2019 with the objective of both taking stock of existing data on the use of less-developed mountain regions and studying the feasibility of an approach involving field actors in the observation of the evolution of this use. This contribution is an opportunity to look back at this project and to show the challenges and difficulties linked to this deliberately collaborative approach, in particular by putting it into perspective with the French observation program “Refuges Sentinelles” (RS) (Sentinel Hut Program) from which it was inspired. More generally, it is also a question of examining the knowledge issues, for both research and field actors (hut keepers, mountain guides and leaders), linked to a collaborative research approach. The results in terms of data collected or issues identified (changes in visitor flows, the role of hut keepers, types of clientele, etc.) are not part of the subject of this contribution, even if they are mentioned from time to time in order to illustrate the topic.Our methodology is based on the final report of the participatory research-action project we conducted (Obin et al., 2020), on a student thesis on the feasibility of the Sentinel Hut program and of the approach to be implemented (Berthet, 2014), as well as on the minutes of various sessions and events related to this program. We supplemented these sources with a semi-structured interview conducted online in January 2021 with the scientific leader of this program, focusing specifically on the theme of the collaborative methodology utilised.

One Coin, Two Sides: Eliciting Expert Knowledge From Training Participants in a Capacity-Building Program for Veterinary Professionals.

Scientific research may include the elicitation of judgment from non-academic subject-matter experts in order to improve the quality and/or impact of research studies. Elicitation of expert knowledge or judgment is used when data are missing, incomplete, or not representative for the specific setting and processes being studied. Rigorous methods are crucial to ensure robust study results, and yet the quality of the elicitation can be affected by a number of practical constraints, including the understanding that subject-matter experts have of the elicitation process itself. In this paper, we present a case of expert elicitation embedded within an extended training course for veterinary professionals as an example of overcoming these constraints. The coupling of the two activities enabled extended opportunities for training and a relationship of mutual respect to be the foundation for the elicitation process. In addition, the participatory research activities reinforced knowledge synthesis objectives of the educational program. Finally, the synergy between the two concurrent objectives may produce benefits which transcend either independent activity: solutions and ideas built by local professionals, evolving collaborative research and training approaches, and a network of diverse academic and practicing professionals. This approach has the versatility to be adapted to many training and research opportunities.

Using collaborative action research to enhance differentiated instruction

ABSTRACT Differentiated instruction has been shown to meet the needs of diverse learners, and can meaningfully improve individual student learning, however many teachers find it challenging to implement. This paper reports on a targeted professional development programme which was undertaken as a collaborative action research project. Results show many participants adapted their classroom pedagogy to provide further supports for students through differentiated instruction. We argue that this study’s use of a collaborative action research approach to provide teacher professional development, along with a focus on evidence using a differentiation observation instrument, were important stimuli for reflection and pedagogical experimentation. This targeted approach to professional reflection and exposure to research-based and other colleagues’ teaching practices led to enhanced differentiated instruction among participants. These findings contribute to understanding the processes that lead to teacher development.

Correction to: Developing culturally relevant and collaborative research approaches: A case study of working with remote and regional Aboriginal students to prepare them for life beyond school

Correction to: Developing culturally relevant and collaborative research approaches: A case study of working with remote and regional Aboriginal students to prepare them for life beyond school

Developing culturally relevant and collaborative research approaches: A case study of working with remote and regional Aboriginal students to prepare them for life beyond school

For millennia, stories and oral histories have been a fundamental way of sharing knowledge in many Aboriginal cultures. Honouring the role of stories can address a continuing lack of Aboriginal voices in Australian educational research literature. In this paper, we describe the philosophical underpinnings and methodology of our research, which aimed to learn from Aboriginal people about their post-school experiences, particularly in remote communities. The uniqueness of the project included training currently enrolled students as researchers to interview past students through yarning and storying. The collected stories were then interpreted and represented in audio recordings later developed into podcasts, writing, and through art. The aim of these research outcomes is to inform relevant policies and the development of teaching and learning resources for Aboriginal students. The way the methodology of our study evolved in response to the participants’ input is another key focus of this paper as well as having implications for future research.

Supporting Muslim Students Through Culturally Relevant, Responsive, and Sustaining Pedagogies

In this article, I discuss a conceptual framework for supporting Muslim students using Culturally Relevant, Responsive, and Sustaining Pedagogies informed by a Collaborative Inquiry approach. The impact of 9/11 and its consequences on Muslim students’ temporal and social contexts calls for a critical stance that questions teachers’ assumptions regarding Muslim students. I examine Critical Pedagogy as the theoretical underpinnings for employing Culturally Relevant, Responsive, and Sustaining Pedagogies with the intent of underscoring the significance of incorporating these pedagogies to build upon teachers’ capacities in honouring the voices of their Muslim students and fostering spaces for these voices to speak up. I explore how teachers can engage in Culturally Relevant, Responsive, and Sustaining Pedagogies through Collaborative Inquiry to meet the needs of Muslim students in ways that acknowledges their narratives and support them in navigating their social and academic environments.

A Taxonomy of Sources of Waste in BIM Information Flows

Since its introduction, Building Information Modelling has evolved into a major technology in the construction industry, where information flows play a major role. However, the very presence of waste within these flows prevents the technology from reaching its full potential. This paper aims to develop a taxonomy focused on the sources of waste within information flows in BIM projects, as existing taxonomies focus primarily on work and material flows. Using a collaborative design science research approach, the study was divided into two phases: first, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data on BIM practices. The data was then used to identify similarities and contradictions in the information flows using process maps. Second, the ShareLab approach was used to validate the findings through a common agreement. The paper’s main contribution is the taxonomy of sources of waste in BIM project information flows, as it closes knowledge gaps in one of the main flows of construction projects. Another contribution is its use of a new approach to validate an artefact in a Design Science Research methodology named the ShareLab approach.

Museientreprenörskap som praktik- och kunskapsfält

This study, “Museum entrepreneurship as practice and knowledge field”,examines how museum directors view museum entrepreneurship, why they thinkit is important and how it can develop. Results show that the museum directorsview entrepreneurship from a broad perspective that goes beyond a traditionalimage of entrepreneurship as exclusively an economic phenomenon. The resultsemphasize the need to turn to museum entrepreneurship as a way of thinkingabout renewal of museum activities, solving financial problems linked to decreesin public funding, find new sources of income and to create business models thathave potential to refine opportunities coming from digitalization. The need formuseum entrepreneurship is also about clarifying an awareness of what kind ofvalues are created and how these can be formed while maintaining integrity incollaboration with the rest of society. The results also show that there is a need todevelop museum entrepreneurship through collaborative research approaches.

Promoting interconnections between reflective practice and collective creativity in higher arts education: the potential of engaging with a reflective matrix

ABSTRACT Reflective practice has long been understood to be integral to the arts, but has predominantly been conceptualised in terms of tacit or individual activity. Identifying the need to reimagine and deepen reflective practice in higher arts education as explicit, collaborative, and integrally connected to artistic practice, this article explores the potential of a reflective matrix focused on ensemble practices, teamwork and collaborative learning in the arts for promoting interconnections between reflective practice and collective creativities. The article reports on a collaborative research approach based on in-depth interviews with 12 professors and lecturers of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts from the University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland that were analysed in stages using the reflective matrix. The results demonstrate how working with the matrix provided opportunities for extending understandings of ensemble practices and particularly of the collective creativities within them. Insights gained include the ways in which our iterative and dialogic way of engaging with the matrix challenged our initial expectations and deepened our understandings of two professional dilemmas: engaging with an audience and navigating correctness. The article concludes by attending to the implications of our approach for both research and practice in higher arts education.

P62 Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the SeaSHeL study

IntroductionThe SeaSHeL Study is an ongoing national, multi-centre, cohort study investigating Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSNHL). The study is supported by the INTEGRATE ENT Trainee Research Network and the Audiology NIHR Champions, as well as being adopted onto the NIHR Clinical Research Network. It aims to map the pathway of patients with SSNHL, develop a prognostic model to predict recovery of patients with idiopathic SSNHL and establish the impact on patients’ quality of life. Here we summarise the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the study and highlight methods employed to improve data collection.MethodsData collection commenced in October 2019 and as of August 2020, 227 patients have been recruited from 66 registered sites across England. This interim data was analysed. The primary outcome was the change in monthly patient recruitment and site registration. The secondary outcome was the completeness of the dataset.ResultsInitially, monthly site registration increased to a peak of 31 in December 2019 and monthly patient recruitment increased to a peak of 34 in February 2020. Both levels decreased during the first wave of Covid-19 with 11 patients recruited and 0 sites registered in April 2020. Both levels have been increasing since, with 21 patients recruited and 5 sites registered in August 2020. The dataset of 227 patients has 113 (49.7%) completed records.ConclusionsThis study represents the largest national cohort study into SSNHL. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, data collection continued during the first wave and rates are now recovering to pre-Covid-19 levels. Key factors in this recovery are a collaborative research approach involving motivated trainees, an ethics amendment for follow-up data to be collected by telephone and continued engagement of collaborators through regular email correspondence and fortnightly newsletters.

Breaking monologues in collaborative research: bridging knowledge systems through a listening-based dialogue of wisdom approach

The urgent need to address the sustainability issues of the Anthropocene requires a dialogue capable of bridging different knowledge systems, values, and interests. This dialogue is considered one of the most crucial challenges in collaborative research approaches. With this research, we seek to break with monologues in collaborative research by offering a decolonising methodological approach that combines the notion of dialogue of wisdom, communication theories and ethical principles of Andean philosophy. The methodological framework, the circle of dialogue of wisdom, is the result of an iterative action–reflection process developed in a North–South collaborative research project for territorial planning in Bolivia. Our praxis confirms the potentials offered by a listening-based dialogue for (i) dealing with knowledge–power relations in collaborative research projects, (ii) promoting mutual learning and knowledge co-creation between different knowledge systems, (iii) re-valuating local and Indigenous knowledge, and (iv) decolonising the society–science–policy dialogue.

The Project Strategy Matrix: Systematizing the Design and Management of an Explicit Project Strategy

The notion of project strategy, i.e., the strategy of an individual project, remains an open field of investigation. Despite the significance of the topic, a few works in the literature examine the subject in a systematic way. Likewise, project strategy has not yet become a first-class, widely used construct, and an integral element of current project management practices. Moreover, most of the existing ideas around project strategy focus on business and management aspects, such as the alignment of projects with corporate strategy and project success factors. Consequently, limited support is provided with respect to the implementation aspects of project strategy. The main goal of this article is to bridge this gap. Specifically, to achieve this goal, we first discuss and exemplify the significance of an explicit project strategy. Subsequently, following a relevant literature review, we put forward a methodological means, called the project strategy matrix, which can be applied to design, capture, communicate, and manage the concrete strategy of a project. Such means capitalize on and adapt Rumelt's seminal work on business strategy, in a more problem-solving-oriented approach that puts emphasis on the key challenges and constraints of projects. We employ a real-world scenario of an Information Technology project to illustrate the case, to support our argumentation and to exemplify the project strategy matrix. Moreover, based on practical experience in a number of projects using a collaborative practice research approach, we report relevant findings and provide insights on the way the project strategy matrix can be applied in the real world. Finally, we call for an intensification of research on the topic of project strategy and make concrete recommendations in this regard.

Transdisciplinary Translational Science for Youth Health and Wellness: Introduction to a Special Issue

BackgroundTransdisciplinary translational science applies interdisciplinary approaches to the generation of novel concepts, theories and methods involving collaborations among academic and non-academic partners, in order to advance the translation of science into broader community practice.ObjectiveThis paper introduces a special issue on transdisciplinary translational science for youth health and wellness. We provide an overview of relevant research paradigms, share the related goals of the Iowa State University Translational Research Network (U-TuRN), and introduce the specific papers in the issue.MethodAuthors were asked to submit empirical reports, programmatic reviews or policy-related papers that examined youth health issues from a transdisciplinary translational perspective.ResultsThe papers included in this special issue each involve direct and fully-integrated community-university partnerships and collaborations between academic and non-academic partners in scholarship and research. Reports emphasize the value of the applied nature of the work with a research agenda driven primarily by real-world health and social needs.ConclusionsThere is growing acceptance of the need for transdisciplinary, community-university collaborative research approaches as a means to meet both the requirements posed by real-world problems as well as goals of advancing scientific knowledge and innovation. In this issue, readers will find papers that show the promise of rethinking existing conceptual frameworks to incorporate transdisciplinary approaches as a catalyst to addressing translational science questions related to the field of children and youth care.