Conditions for experiential knowledge exchange in collaborative research across the sciences and creative practice

Abstract

Interdisciplinary research across the sciences and creative practice offers potential to explore new areas of knowledge previously hidden between disciplines. However, diverging epistemology and expectations make collaboration difficult. We interviewed 11 researchers working in projects that combined scientific and creative practice research, to investigate how they dealt with different epistemological approaches. In some cases, the discrepancies that were first experienced as hindrances turned into enablers, opening up new vistas for learning. Our findings show that the prerequisites for experiential knowledge transfer need to be built consciously by engaging in handson practices and shared cognitive activities that may extend beyond the personal comfort zone. Furthermore, the common goals and research questions need to be motivating for all involved. Although academic research funding agents encourage interdisciplinary research, funding alone is not sufficient to motivate people to work and truly learn together. By combining different types of knowledge in co-creation processes, participants are able to better share each other's views and construct a multifaceted understanding. An analysis of the interviews suggests how a conscious development of interdisciplinary practice helps educate thinkers and makers to feel comfortable in the unsettling zone between disciplinary boundaries, and thus contribute to innovative research.

“Turning the Invisible Visible”: Transdisciplinary Bioart Explorations in Human-DNA Interaction

“…Bioart can be understood in the tradition of "new media," a space for exchange between technologists and artists advancing understandings of ethics and aesthetics in cultural production [23], [55]. Our findings underscore the value of working together with artists, whose work focuses on social critique and cultural production, and who tend to aspire to transdisciplinary modes of collaboration [31].…”

Design as a Driver for Multidisciplinary Teams: An Applied Research Case in El Quisco, Chile

“…However, the interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving attempts to integrate knowledge and methods from other disciplines to create a response (Groth et al, 2020). So, the previously described process of framing, central to tackling our modern world's problems, shouldn't forever be the role of the designer or design team only.…”

“…So, the previously described process of framing, central to tackling our modern world's problems, shouldn't forever be the role of the designer or design team only. Instead, in the search for transdisciplinarity, it should become part of the intellectual framework of the team that goes beyond disciplinary perspectives (Groth et al, 2020). For this, designers must lead and teach the process of framing and iteration, reinforcing their skills as facilitators of the conversation (Spencer, 2018) not only with project stakeholders and users but within the development team.…”

“…Designers, assuming this role and involving different disciplines in the framing processes, activate what Camilla Groth and her peers describe as key factors for experiential knowledge transfer: a closer collaboration within the group and a transversal understanding of the premises they are tackling. Allowing the creation of a common language surrounding the project, building trust and chemistry between team members, and boosting their motivation (Groth et al, 2020). The result is an improvement in the proficiency of the team to respond to the given problem and the growth of its members, since they acquire more and new experiential knowledge from their peers in the process.…”

“…For several years research and industry have been evolving from a discipline-centered paradigm to an interdisciplinary approach. This has caused disciplines themselves to question how they can contribute and what their role is in this new way of investigating and solving problems (Groth et al, 2020). The problems themselves have also changed and are now seen as dynamic and socially driven, with an increased level of indeterminacy and allowing for a vast range of relevant solutions and approaches (Buchanan, 1992).…”