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Case 7b :

Interdisciplinary Collaboration within a Single Institution

Andre and Timo met each other at post-graduate student orientation two years ago and have been friends since. Although they work on opposite sides of campus, in very different disciplines, they both share an intense interest in undergraduate education. They both recently completed a program for improving tutorial performance among HKU graduates hosted by the Centre for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. While there, they met Jessica, a post-graduate student in education. The three friends have developed a research proposal together to study whether on-line/ webinar style tutorials increase student participation in tutorials.

To conduct their research, Andre, Timo and Jessica will have to obtain permission to implement a webinar tutorial in their courses from their supervisors. Each dutifully contacted their supervisors last week and are meeting today to move forward.

Andre slumped into the meeting room late, looking forlorn and announced,

"My supervisor says that there is no benefit to me doing this research. He says that it is a waste of time and that only "losers" who cannot do research study education".

Jessica was immediately defensive, stating,

"Does that mean my whole PhD is for "losers", Andre? I thought you were interested in this!"

Andre retorted quickly,

"Jessica, I said my supervisor said that. I am interested in this. I would not be here if I weren't! He says that working on education issues will count against me if I publish anything related to it. He says that future post-doctoral supervisors will think that I only want to be a teacher and will deny my applications straight away. In my field, if you cannot land a post-doctoral fellowship, you will never get to teach because no university will hire you."

Timo chimed in,

"Andre, my supervisor is also skeptical. She says to watch how much time I spend on this project as it is not my primary research. I worry about time management but I really wish to do this project. I spoke to my dean, who holds those monthly post-graduate student coffee meetings I told you about, and he said that proof of ability to publish widely is something that future employers and supervisors look for. While I do not have to do a post-doc like you do, most of us that wish to be in good universities do so. What if you spoke to another person in your faculty? What about that nice guy from geosciences that did the seminar on Common Core Courses? He is in your faculty and he believes in undergraduate education research? I think your supervisor is just one person. Maybe ask your dean?"

Andre softened and replied to Timo, ignoring Jessica,

"You know my supervisor… the only thing that matters is yet another ISI journal publication for him. If he found out that I was working on other research, he would give me a bad review and cancel my studentship. He does not think that much of me because I spend time to write comments on student projects".

Jessica jumped in,

"Andre, your supervisor is one person. Your whole discipline is not like this. Let us think about what to do if we cannot get Andre's classes in. Maybe you can write the software code to analyse the webinar transcripts? That is closer to what you will do in your later work, right?"

With that, Andre brightened and the three friends started to talk about implementing their project in Jessica and Timo's classes.

• What are the problems that the three potential collaborators face now?
• What collaborative problems might arise from Andre's supervisor?
• What attitudes towards education and education research are expressed here?
   

Imagine you are Andre:

• How will you manage the conflict between your passion for undergraduate education and research while you are a post-graduate researcher?
•  Could your collaborative work with Jessica and Timo adversely alter your collaborative research projects with your supervisor?

 

Imagine you are Timo:

• As Andre's friend, what would you encourage him to do? Is your friendly advice to Andre any different than the advice you would give him as a potential collaborator?
• What resources might you seek from the university to make this collaborative productive for all involved?