{"638489":{"#nid":"638489","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Meltem Alemdar and Christopher Cappelli: Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ceismc.gatech.edu\/about\/staffdirectory\/meltem-alemdar\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EDr. Meltem Alemdar \u003C\/a\u003Eand \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ceismc.gatech.edu\/about\/staffdirectory\/christopher-cappelli\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMr. Christopher Cappelli\u003C\/a\u003E are no strangers to collaboration \u0026ndash; they\u0026rsquo;ve been working together for nine years! They discovered early-on that their individual strengths naturally complement each other, and over time they\u0026rsquo;ve developed a seamless workflow.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith strengths in Input and Analysis, Cappelli loves discovering new information and often goes \u0026ldquo;down the rabbit hole\u0026rdquo; with research. As an Achiever and an Arranger, Alemdar enjoys synthesizing data and getting things done. With their combined strengths they are detail-oriented while also focused on the big picture, and together they catch things the other has missed. Alemdar explains, \u0026ldquo;With different strengths, people don\u0026rsquo;t have to be the same, and they don\u0026rsquo;t have to do everything.\u0026rdquo; For this reason, they are enthusiastic about the benefits of CliftonStrengths for team dynamics. As Cappelli puts it, \u0026ldquo;the StrengthsFinder helps avoid and mitigate conflict, because you better understand others, which creates a better team environment.\u0026rdquo; By appreciating each other\u0026rsquo;s strengths, team members collaborate instead of competing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlemdar and Cappelli are passionate about the benefits of diverse interdisciplinary research teams. \u0026ldquo;Diverse teams lead to different perspectives,\u0026rdquo; Cappelli remarks. \u0026ldquo;Interdisciplinary research moves the field forward and gets beyond narrow perspectives \u0026ndash; creating new knowledge that\u0026rsquo;s not siloed.\u0026rdquo; Race and gender diversity as well as disciplinary diversity, Alemdar adds, are key to driving innovation in collaborative research: \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a modern way of problem-solving.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor such teams to be effective, thoughtful cross-disciplinary communication is essential \u0026ndash; translating unfamiliar terms, asking questions, and actively listening. Cappelli draws upon his Individualization Strength to understand other people\u0026rsquo;s points of view, and Alemdar draws upon her Communication Strength to synthesize data for researchers across the social sciences and hard sciences. Cappelli\u0026rsquo;s experiences collaborating with assessment teams in graduate school showed him that \u0026ldquo;communicating about projects is vital to success on cross-disciplinary teams\u0026rdquo; because there are so many \u0026ldquo;different perspectives with different lingo.\u0026rdquo; For example, he elaborates, \u0026ldquo;the term \u0026lsquo;assessment\u0026rsquo; means something different across fields. In Education, it means testing, whereas, in another field, it might mean evaluating.\u0026rdquo; To avoid communication pitfalls with key concepts lost in translation, he says, \u0026ldquo;you need to learn how to talk to someone and ask the right questions.\u0026rdquo; Alemdar agrees: \u0026ldquo;Listening leads to better outcomes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to their research partnership, Alemdar and Cappelli work in multiple teams on a daily basis. As the Associate Director and Principal Research Scientist at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Institue of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ceismc.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECenter for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC)\u003C\/a\u003E, Alemdar supervises collaborative teams doing data analysis. As a Research Associate at CEISMC as well as a doctoral student in Educational Policy Studies, Cappelli does almost all of his assessment work with teams of cross-disciplinary evaluators. And in their roles doing assessment work (Alemdar as co-PI and Cappelli as a team member) for the NSF-IGE grant-funded project \u0026ldquo;Integrating Team Science into the STEM Graduate Training Experience,\u0026rdquo; they collaborate with a cross-disciplinary team of researchers to innovate team science training for graduate students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith their cutting-edge research in curricular assessment, Alemdar and Cappelli not only bring valuable leadership to the Effective Team Dynamics Initiative but also model harmonious teamwork dynamic in action.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Alemdar puts it, \u0026ldquo;Collaboration is a 21st-century skill \u0026ndash; you have to collaborate!\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECappelli agrees: \u0026ldquo;Practice what you preach \u0026ndash; we\u0026rsquo;re directly using the skills we\u0026rsquo;re teaching.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003EWritten By\u003C\/strong\u003E: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/etd.gatech.edu\/index.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EEffective Team Dynamics (ETD\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nOriginal blog post 1 of 2: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/etd.gatech.edu\/meltem-alemdar-christopher-cappelli-1.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/etd.gatech.edu\/meltem-alemdar-christopher-cappelli-1.html\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis is the first article in a two-part series featuring Meltem Alemdar and Christopher Cappelli. The next post will cover their assessment work on the NSF-IGE grant-funded project \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=1735017\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EIntegrating Team Science into the STEM Graduate Training Experience\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Effective Team Dynamics (ETD) initiative at Georgia Tech was developed with the intention of reshaping team experiences in a positive way through research-driven methods and reflective evaluations of thought and behavior patterns.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":" Cutting-edge Research in Curricular Assessment Helped Develop a Seamless Workflow to Form a Model of Harmonious Teamwork in Action"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDr. Meltem Alemdar and Mr. Christopher Cappelli of the Georgia Institute of Technology Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing\u0026#39;s Research and Evaluation Group are no strangers to collaboration. Their strengths naturally complement each other. Their cutting-edge research in curricular assessment helped develop a seamless workflow to form a model of harmonious teamwork in action.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":" Cutting-edge research in curricular assessment helped develop a seamless workflow to form a model of harmonious teamwork in action."}],"uid":"34901","created_gmt":"2020-08-27 16:30:07","changed_gmt":"2020-09-02 14:46:29","author":"smalone33","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-08-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-08-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"638490":{"id":"638490","type":"image","title":"Meltem Alemdar and Christopher Cappelli","body":null,"created":"1598545894","gmt_created":"2020-08-27 16:31:34","changed":"1598545894","gmt_changed":"2020-08-27 16:31:34","alt":"","file":{"fid":"242794","name":"meltem-alemdar-christopher-cappelli-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/meltem-alemdar-christopher-cappelli-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/meltem-alemdar-christopher-cappelli-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":318414,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/meltem-alemdar-christopher-cappelli-1.jpg?itok=Kxj_93Pg"}}},"media_ids":["638490"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/evaluation.ceismc.gatech.edu","title":"Research and Evaluation Group at Georgia Tech - CEISMC"},{"url":"https:\/\/etd.gatech.edu\/index.html","title":"Effective Team Dynamics"},{"url":"https:\/\/ceismc.gatech.edu","title":"Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing"}],"groups":[{"id":"361651","name":"Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC)"},{"id":"598218","name":"K-12 Connection"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"2012","name":"Team"},{"id":"1331","name":"evaluation"},{"id":"288","name":"Leadership"},{"id":"185765","name":"Effective Team Dynamics"},{"id":"411","name":"CEISMC"},{"id":"185766","name":"ETD"},{"id":"166988","name":"Meltem Alemdar"},{"id":"175218","name":"Christopher Cappelli"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMeltem\u0026nbsp;Alemdar, Ph.D.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAssociate Director for Educational Research \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Evaluation\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nPrincipal Research Scientist\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCenter for Education Integrating Science, Math and Computing (CEISMC)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, GA\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; 30332-0282\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:meltem.alemdar@ceismc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emeltem.alemdar@ceismc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nPhone:\u0026nbsp; 404-894-0297\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/evaluation.ceismc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/evaluation.ceismc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["meltem.alemdar@ceismc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}