Team Science Learning Objects

Find below team science-focused activities and tools, termed “Learning Objects,” which were developed as part of an interdisciplinary teaming project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Several were borrowed from, adapted from, and inspired by Team Science research and other resources. The goal of this page is to bring both existing and new resources to research support staff—Research Development (RD) and Research Administration (RA) professionals—at colleges and universities who support faculty research team.

Click the buttons below to learn more about each Team Science Learning Object, and to access information on how to implement them along with downloadable materials.

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Click to access Team Science tools and activities below:

Note: All activities can be implemented virtually or in-person.

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Some more information about the above Learning Objects:

• Collaboration Agreement: A tool that facilitates a shared purpose and sets expectations for team communication and behavior for team success.
• Inventory and Ideation: Uncover opportunities to harness team expertise and resources to collaborate.
• Lightning Presentations: A format for elevator pitches to stimulate collaboration.
• Linking-Relinking: An activity to enhance awareness of teammates’ areas of expertise and opportunities for collaborating.
• Problem Tree: A brainstorming activity to depict a problem space and identify causes and impacts.
• Question Brainstorms: For rapid generation of questions spanning disciplines around a topic.
• Shared Team Roles: An activity to empower all members of a team to contribute.
• Team Temperature Read: Get a quick pulse on members’ feelings on team dynamics and progress.
• TEAMwork vs. TASKwork: Highlight the important role group dynamics play in collaborations.
• Thumps Up or Down: A simple process that uses one’s hand to indicate agreement, disagreement, or uncertainty related to a topic.

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History of this Project:

As part of an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), a group of Research Development (RD) and Research Administration (RA) professionals, under the guidance of a Team Science expert, ran a team science professional development program. The overarching aim was to help faculty researchers form and sustain high-functioning interdisciplinary teams around major societal problems, in addition to enabling RD and RA professionals a practical experience in supporting these teams as embedded “team coaches.”

In the first year of the project, research teams formed around Florida coastal challenges and were supported by team science coaches (the RD and RA leaders of the project) to improve their teamwork. Team science-informed activities were used throughout the program to facilitate team formation and ideation. In the second year, new researchers were recruited and teams convened around the topic of disaster resilience. A new cohort of coaches was also recruited to support researchers’ work. To aid the coach’s team facilitation, the prior year’s team science activities were formalized into “Learning Objects” (i.e., modular activities), which are published on this site. (Access more information about these two program years here.)

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