How do you design an effective interdisciplinary collaboration assessment tool?

1 Define your purpose

The first step in designing an interdisciplinary collaboration assessment tool is to define your purpose and scope. What are you trying to achieve with the collaboration? What are the specific objectives and outcomes you expect? How will you use the assessment results to inform decision-making, learning, or improvement? Your purpose should be clear, relevant, and realistic for your context and stakeholders.

2 Identify your criteria

The next step is to identify the criteria that will guide your assessment. Criteria are the standards or expectations that you use to evaluate the performance or quality of the collaboration. They should reflect the key aspects of interdisciplinary collaboration, such as communication, integration, diversity, innovation, and impact. You can use existing frameworks or models of interdisciplinary collaboration to inform your criteria, or develop your own based on your purpose and context.

3 Select your indicators

Once you have your criteria, you need to select the indicators that will measure or demonstrate the achievement of the criteria. Indicators are the specific and observable behaviors, actions, or outputs that show how well the collaboration is meeting the criteria. They should be measurable, relevant, and feasible to collect and analyze. You can use quantitative or qualitative indicators, or a combination of both, depending on your purpose and data sources.

4 Choose your methods

The fourth step is to choose the methods that will collect and analyze the data for your indicators. Methods are the tools or techniques that you use to gather and interpret the evidence of the collaboration. They should be valid, reliable, and appropriate for your indicators and context. You can use various methods, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, documents, portfolios, or rubrics, to capture different dimensions and perspectives of the collaboration.

5 Develop your instrument

The final step is to develop your instrument, which is the document or tool that contains your purpose, criteria, indicators, and methods. Your instrument should be clear, concise, and consistent, and provide instructions and guidance for the users and evaluators. You should also pilot-test your instrument to check its validity, reliability, and usability, and make adjustments as needed. Your instrument should be flexible and adaptable to the changing needs and dynamics of the collaboration.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?