Doctoral Seminar, Fall 2011, ME-609 / CIST-9900-850 “Collaborative Research Processes across Boundaries” Course Syllabus and Schedule (revised Sept 27, 2011) COURSE OBJECTIVE Learn how to be a researcher in a distributed virtual environment, including process, practice, techniques, and collaboration technologies COURSE OVERVIEW We will cover a variety of issues in this seminar, including such topics as the technology environment for virtual research collaborators, planning a distributed research collaboration, executing that collaboration, and dealing with “discontinuities” along the way Discontinuities include differences in culture, work practices, individuals, and expertise, not to mention technologies As we approach each topic, consider: (1) what is known about the basics of that topic; (2) what is different and challenging in a virtual environment for that topic; (3) what are innovative ways of dealing with that topic that are not possible in a traditional environment, i.e., what can we creatively or differently because of the virtuality of the research team, and (4) what are the best practices and challenges for virtual research with respect to that topic? Our collective deliverable from the course will be a conference submission that presents a “manifesto” for collaborative research processes across boundaries INSTRUCTORS Prof Bjørn Erik Munkvold, University of Agder, Norway, bjorn.e.munkvold@uia.no Prof Deepak Khazanchi, University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA, khazanchi@unomaha.edu Prof Ilze Zigurs, University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA, izigurs@unomaha.edu STUDENTS/TEAMS Team 1: Al Tarrell, atarrell@gmav.unomaha.edu & Soffi Westin, Soffi.Westin@uia.no Team 2: Vipin Arora, varora@gmav.unomaha.edu & Adeola Wale-Kolade, Adeola.y.wale- kolade@uia.no Team 3: Dawn Owens, dmowens@gmav.unomaha.edu, & Karen Stendal, Karen.Stendal@uia.no MECHANICS/ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS 2.5 ECTS for UiA (ME-609), credit hour for UNO (CIST-9900-850), with grading pass/fail students from each university, paired together to work in 2-person teams Six synchronous meetings held approximately every other week, lasting 90 minutes, held at 0900 to 1030 Omaha time/1600 to 1730 Kristiansand time on Tuesdays Synchronous meeting dates are: 13 September; 27 September; 11 October; 25 October; November; December Adobe Connect for synchronous meetings, http://unoconnect.adobeconnect.com/boundaries/ o Everyone must have headset/microphone and camera for participation o Please note: The Adobe Connect sessions will be recorded Please advise us immediately if you have any problems with that The recordings allow you to go back and review the meetings and they serve as a resource for future students Huddle is the class workspace, including document repository and other tools Guest lecturers from industry will be included SCHEDULE OF TOPICS, ACTIVITIES, ASSIGNMENTS FOR SYNCHRONOUS SESSIONS Pre-Session assignments (due prior to 13 September) Go to Huddle workspace and post your bio and picture Read Session readings and be prepared to discuss Connect with your team member and get to know one another Session (13 September): Introduction Prepare readings: Globalization alters traditional R&D rules, R&D Magazine, September 2006, G1-G17 Pennington, D.D., Bridging the disciplinary divide: Co-creating research ideas in eScience teams, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 2011, 165-196 Porac, J.F., et al Human capital heterogeneity, collaborative relationships, and publication patterns in a multidisciplinary scientific alliance: A comparative case study of two scientific teams, Research Policy, 33, 2004, 661-678 Supplemental resources (not required): Oerlikon presentation on Global R&D, Christopher Breach, 2009 Agenda for session: Introduce each other and the teams (which have been pre-assigned) (~ 10 min.) Introduce the seminar goal, format, deliverables (~ 15 min.) Discussion on the following issues, based on course readings (~35 min.) a How to address a scientific problem in a distributed environment b Basics of doing collaborative research – overview of what it means to work with coauthors; ethics of research and collaboration; human subjects; professional implications of co-authoring versus single authoring c Basics of doing collaborative research in a virtual environment – what it means to work over distance and how that affects the collaborative research process d Building collaborative relationships, choosing collaborators, networking Discussion on joint paper (~ 30 min.) Session (27 September): Introduction – Continued Prepare readings: Cummings, J.N and Kiesler, S., Collaborative research across disciplinary and organizational boundaries, Social Studies of Science, 35, 5, October 2005, 703-722 Söldner, J-H., et al., Supporting research collaboration – On the needs of virtual research teams, Wirtschaftinformatik Proceedings 2009, 2009, Paper 26, 275-284 von Zedtwitz, M., Gassmann, O., and Boutellier, R., Organizing global R&D: Challenges and dilemmas, Journal of International Management, 10, 2004, 21-49 Agenda for session: Present ideas on draft outline for paper Each team should be prepared with two articles of interest and draft outline for the paper If you are not able to find two articles relevant to your assigned topic, you may choose one of the readings that we have already provided for your topic, but you must find at least one additional new reading Complete introduction topics as needed (from session 1) Session (11 October): Challenges – Team presents and facilitates discussion Prepare readings: Riemer, K., vom Brocke, J., Richter, D., and Böckmann, G Cooperation Systems in Research Networks – Case Evidence of Network (Mis)Fit and Adoption Challenges In 16th European Conference on Information Systems (Golden W, Acton T, Conboy K, van der Heijden H, Tuunainen VK eds.), 49-60, Galway, Ireland Evaristo, R Nonconsensual Negotiation in Distributed Collaboration Communications of the ACM, 44(12), December 2001, 89 Readings suggested by Team Keraminiyage, K., Amaratunga, D and Haigh, R Achieving Success in Collaborative Research: The Role of Virtual Research Environments Journal of Information Technology in Construction, 14, March 2009, 59-69.l Mayben, R., Nichols, S and Wright, V.H Distance Technologies in Collaborative Research: Analyzing the Successes and Barriers The Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 2(2), Fall 2003, 1-21 Agenda for session: Student team presents on the topic; general discussion and review of paper draft Session (25 October): Technology environment – Team presents and facilitates discussion Prepare readings: Bullinger, A.C., Hallerstede, S.H., Renken, U., Soeldner, J.-H., and Moeslein, K.M Toward Research Collaboration – A Taxonomy of Social Research Network Sites AMCIS 2010 Proceedings, Paper 92 http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2010/92 Procter, R., Rouncefield, M., Poschen, M., Lin, Y., and Voss, A Agile Project Management: A Case Study of a Virtual Research Environment Development Project Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 20, 2011, 197-225 Farooq, U., Ganoe, C.H., Carroll, J.M., and Lee Giles, C Designing for e-science: Requirements gathering for collaboration in CiteSeer Int J Human-Computer Studies, 67, 2009, 297-312 Readings suggested by Team Levina, N Collaborating on Multiparty Information Systems Development Projects: A Collective Reflection-in-Action View Information Systems Research, 16(2), 2005, 109-130 Lin, C., Standing, C and Liu, Y-C A model to develop effective virtual teams Decision Support Systems, 45, 2008, 1031-1045 Agenda for session: Student team presents on the topic; general discussion and review of paper draft Guest lecture? Session (8 November): Working with discontinuities – Team presents and facilitates discussion Prepare readings: Newell, S and Galliers, R.D More than a Footnote: The Perils of Multidisciplinary Research Collaboration AMCIS 2000 Proceedings, Paper 304, http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2000/303 Readings suggested by Team Watson-Manheim, M.B., Chudoba, K.M and Crowston, K Discontinuities and continuities: a new way to understand virtual work Information Technology & People, 15(3), 2002, 191-209 Lawrence, K.A Walking the Tightrope: The Balancing Acts of a Large e-Research Project Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 15, 2006, 385-411 Agenda for session: Guest lecture by Ragnar Tronstad, Director R&D, Elkem AS Technology Student team presents on the topic; general discussion and critique Session (1 December): Wrap Prepare readings: To be posted in Huddle Agenda for session: Guest lecture by Gurdeep Singh Pall, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft (to be confirmed) Integrated working session on paper Reflections on learning to date STUDENT WORK PRODUCTS DURING THE COURSE Reflection journal The reflection journal is an individual assignment Each week, you are required to record a reflection on the following questions The reflection can be a couple of paragraphs long What did I do? What did I learn, e.g., theories, models, best practices? How can I use what I learned? What issues did I struggle with and how might I mitigate them? Record your reflection journal in a word file and email the updated journal once every OTHER week to all three instructors; due by Sunday midnight Omaha/Monday 0700 Kristiansand prior to each synchronous session Readings Approximately to assigned readings will be required, to be read and prepared in advance of each synchronous session Discussion in class It goes without saying, though we say it anyway, that lively class discussion is a hallmark of good seminars, so please be prepared and contribute Bring your experience to the discussion, as well as your lack of experience and the things that you are struggling with, as we will all learn from each other Team presentations with accompanying draft of paper section Each 2-student team researches the topic and reports to the class during a synchronous meeting, as noted in the schedule The team should develop a draft section on this topic, to be included in the joint paper according to the outline developed in session The draft should be about pages in length, 12 pt font, single spaced, including references The draft needs to be posted in Huddle at least 24 hrs before the session, so that we all have time to read it beforehand Discussion board in Huddle The use of a discussion board will be entirely optional Students are most welcome to use the discussion board for their own needs but, as instructors, we will not post questions that you are required to respond to The intent of this board is to allow you all to have on-going conversations about topics of relevance and interest as the course develops FINAL DELIVERABLES FOR THE COURSE Joint paper The final deliverable is a paper to be submitted to a relevant conference and for later submission to a journal on the topic of “Best Practices and Challenges for Virtual Research Collaboration.” The drafts from student teams in Sessions 3, 4, and will lead to sections in the paper Individual reflection journal Submit your final and updated individual reflection journal, with all postings from the semester Due via email to all instructors on Tuesday, 13 December