FIU Interprofessional Cross-Disciplinary IPCD LibGuide

This section identifies concepts and provides definitions for some of the major terms of art in the area of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary studies.

Collaboration is a mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship entered into by 2 or more organizations to achieve common goals. The relationship includes a commitment to a definition of mutual relationships and goals, a jointly developed structure and shared responsibility for success, and sharing of resources and rewards. (Mattessich & Monsey, 1992).

Cross-disciplinary research provides flexible strategies and methods from a variety of areas of scholarship to challenge conventional thinking, build productive connections between fields, learn from setbacks, and communicate across disciplines. Cross-disciplinary encompasses three different approaches: multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research. (Graham Bertolini et al., 2019).

Interdisciplinary research is any study or group of studies undertaken by scholars from two or more distinct scientific disciplines. The research is based upon a conceptual model that links or integrates theoretical frameworks from those disciplines, uses study design and methodology that is not limited to any one field, and requires the use of perspectives and skills of the involved disciplines throughout multiple phases of the research process. (Aboelela et al., 2007).

Interdisciplinary education draws from two or more academic disciplines to expand and enrich the learning experience. It "...emphasizes collaboration, integrative learning, critical thinking, and creative problem solving skills." (from CSU Chico State's site).

Interprofessional collaboration occurs when 2 or more professions work together to achieve common goals and is often used as a means for solving a variety of problems and complex issues. The benefits of collaboration allow participants to achieve together more than they can individually, serve larger groups of people, and grow on individual and organizational levels. (Green & Johnson, 2015).

Multidisciplinarity concerns studying a research topic not in only one discipline, but in several simultaneously....Multidisciplinarity brings a plus to the discipline in question, ... but this ‘plus’ is always in the exclusive service of the home discipline. In other words, the multidisciplinary approach overflows disciplinary boundaries while its goal remains limited to the framework of disciplinary research. (Nicolescu, 2012).

Team science is a collaborative effort to address a scientific challenge that leverages the strengths and expertise of professionals trained in different fields (SCCTSI, 2021)

Team Work  A team is a collection of individuals who exist within a larger social system such as an organization, who can be identified by themselves and others as a team, who are interdependent, and who perform tasks that affect other individuals and groups. (Guzzo & Dickson, 1996).

Transdisciplinary: the application of theories, concepts, or methods across disciplines with the intent of developing an overarching synthesis. (Lattuca, 2001).

The transdisciplinary approach seeks to unify knowledge and involves teaching from a universal perspective, that is, to present a subject from its many perspectives without any special recourse or exclusive service to a specific discipline ... This approach has the advantage of eliminating disciplinary boundaries and allowing students to infer the pervasiveness of relevant concepts across multiple disciplines. (Alunge et al., 2016).