The purpose of this dissertation research has been twofold: first, to develop and implement a workshop to teach skills and strategies for collaboration, and second, to evaluate the program's effectiveness. The first goal was fulfilled with delivery of a two-day workshop on collaboration and ICT, which was presented twice in the summer of 2001 to 30 faculty, postgraduates, and students from the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes (STC-ERSP), a research and development (R&D) center distributed between four universities and across two states.
The design of the workshop and its evaluation protocols were based on a literature review, on the experience of the dissertation committee and author, and on consultations with members and associates of the STC-ERSP. Development proceeded in stages, beginning with the conceptual model and continuing through a needs analysis and a pilot workshop to the workshop as implemented. Strengths and shortcomings were evaluated at the end of each stage in development to guide improvements in the next stage.
For the purposes of evaluation, quantifiable measures of individual ICT knowledge and attitudes towards collaboration were collected twice, before and after the workshop. During the workshop and follow-up interviews, written and oral responses to open-ended questions were collected, together with observational data. Statistical and content analyses of the three sets of data were compared to identify cognitive learning (acquired knowledge), affective learning (changed attitudes), and participants' reactions to the workshop.
Participants' attitude, self-efficacy improved after the workshop while organizational commitment and motivation did not. The analysis of changes in attitude suggested the workshop content may have been most effective with respect to affective learning for graduate students with a high cooperative learning style (low individualistic and competitive). The workshop also had a strong influence on participants' information and communications technology (ICT) knowledge. All ICT knowledge test scores were significantly higher after the workshop.
Workshop participants perceived the workshop as relevant and useful in learning about different aspects of collaboration. They preferred learning by hands-on-exercise over passive learning. Graduate students rated the workshop more positively than postgraduates.
