EAGER GERMINATION: TRANSPIRE – A transdisciplinary pedagogy for postdoctoral development

Research Foundation Cuny - Advanced Science Research Center, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project is funded through the NSF Directorate for Engineering Germination program, which seeks to foster the development of pedagogical approaches to increase the ability of academic researchers to formulate research questions and ideas with potentially transformative outcomes. This project seeks to develop an evidence-based, transferrable pedagogical strategy for training and mentoring postdoctoral researchers. The planned program involves: a series of weekly bootcamps designed to introduce specific transdisciplinary skills; a research interval for the participants to work on reformulating their own problems with their supervisors; further bootcamps; and will culminate in chalk talk-based presentations. The workshops are designed to instill skills and techniques associated with working across disciplines and then to use those in service of designing an independent research project, with the support of their supervisors. Given that the postdoctoral years represent a key inflection point, this program may yield substantial broader impacts through fostering the development of a new generation of scientists with well-developed capacity for broad thought and interdisciplinary engagement. This project will pilot and evaluate TRANSPIRE as a theory of change model and assess whether, how, and why habits of mind transform from a traditionally siloed disciplinary focus towards a more systems-oriented worldview. The pedagogical model integrates practices from team science, reflective practice, and adult learning theories to inform the design of transdisciplinary bootcamps. Postdoctoral fellows will be guided to develop research questions, engage in iterative writing, and present their ideas to a panel of senior faculty. Methods used to evaluate the TRANSPIRE model will include surveys, interviews, reflective journals, observations, and focus groups. A discourse/content analysis will (a) describe the model and how it functions in practice, (b) evaluate the model as a theory of change, and (c) assess the potential scalability of the model. Opportunities for scaling through leveraging professional organizations will be explored. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.