1. Summarize and report out on the results of the SKS exercise:

 

Below is the chart illustrating the results of the SKS exercise, which we completed by having all members individually insert items in each category and then discussing which item we would like to emphasize and elaborate on. Approaching the exercise this way allowed us to share our exact perspectives on the status of our collaborative work, with a focus on group dynamic rather than specific goals related to our project itself. It allowed each of us to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses we may not have otherwise known (and made salient) as a group.

 

Keep	Start	Stop
Communicating Collaborating Asking for help Being positive Being supportive  Having defined goals and next steps for each week More “working” meetings Our team spirit Continue the rate in which we are working How we will make it happen: Continue with setting goals for each week and setting goals for next week. If we continue to be organized and on the same page weekly, we will continue.	More working sessions where we focus on a specific topic, rather than just meetings where we report on the work we’ve done individually Asking how we can help someone else with their assigned tasks More honest/direct communication about progress/ feedback Communication throughout the week of updates and barriers we may encounter so we can brainstorm ideas immediately and help each other out instead of only updating once a week How we will make it happen: Set up additional times where we meet with each other  outside of our Wednesday meetings if need be Talk with our faculty advisor in order to have more working meetings	Working ineffectively  Holding back thoughts for fear of being wrong (lol mostly just me) Being afraid to ask for help How we will make it happen: Ensure we are openly communicating with one another in order to receive feedback and improve our project Ask for feedback and provide feedback at the end of each meeting/presentation

 

2. Develop a detailed Collaboration Plan for your team clearly articulating your Goals (Small g and Big G), Roles,Procedures, and Relationships:

 

What are my personal goals (small g) on this team? Pull those goals from the dreams on your individual profiles. Capture them by person in your collaborative plan. e.g., get an A, learn laser cutting, start something I can continue after the semester

 

• Grace: My personal goals which motivated me to participate in this project are centered around growing and learning. As a student of International Relations, participating in this project will allow me to delve and immerse myself into a foreign country. Furthermore, I will be able to apply skills I have learned in my courses to tackle and contribute to a field completely outside of my major and expertise. I want to be able to push myself out of my comfort zone and work on developing skills outside of my current skill set. I also have an interest in helping others and working to create impact in the lives of others. This project will allow me to achieve my personal goals as it will allow me to immerse myself in a new field and contribute to progress and impact within Sierra Leone.

 

 

What is the Project GOAL (big G) we’re all committed to achieving together?

 

The project GOAL for our team is to develop a culturally appropriate, highly effective Autism diagnostic screener. Throughout this process, we must also be committed to finding a way to disseminate the screener, bring awareness and education on the nature of Autism, as well as providing training for community health workers throughout Sierra Leone.

 

Establish Roles – How will you leverage the assets each member brings to the team? How will you leverage the experiences each member brings to the team? How will you ensure that the team’s work gets done on time and with high quality?

 

 

• Qualitative Expert (Emily):  Responsible for the study design & approach. For example, which approach (e.g., case study, ethnography, etc), what types of data should we collect, develop a protocol, how to synthesize and write up the data, develop focus group and interview questions/format.

 

• • • Experience in working on psychological/sociological research–both quantitative and qualitative.
  • IRB Expert (Alyssa): Responsible for anything & everything related to the IRB. She is the point of contact with the University, she will write, submit, revise, and resubmit IRB,  develop consents (verbal only), and work with the qualitative expert to create data collection forms, etc.

 

• Assessment Expert (Kathleen): Responsible for main analyses on current Western assessments and screeners and will work with SPED & cultural experts to decide what questions/tasks our assessment should have, learn how to validate the assessment.

 

• • • Knowledge of available western screeners and experience using, scoring, and reporting these tools. Previous experience developing and validating a new measure. Psychometric expertise. 

 

• SPED/ASD/Education/Healthcare Expert (Lindsey): Responsible for understanding these facets in order to inform the team on how best to approach our goal. Will seek to answer questions like: how did we get from where we started in the US in terms of the level of knowledge, awareness, and services, to where we are now? What can we do in SL to make progress in this area? What is the education structure of SL? What trainings do teachers need to be qualified to teach? What is the healthcare system like?

• Cultural Expert (Grace): Responsible for thoroughly understanding the culture of Sierra Leone: its history, language, values, beliefs, geography, different districts, etc., the strengths and challenges of the people and country, and will report on current events weekly which are impacting and shaping the country.

 

By assigning roles in this format, we can ensure that every facet of our broad and ambitious project goal is covered in depth so that we can gather data as comprehensively as possible–to form a firm foundation for our screener and education dissemination.

 

Establish Team Procedures Decision Making – What process shall we use: consensus, majority rules, deference to expert, default to the loudest, or? Effective Meetings – Focus on key, timely decisions together vs. status/update (offline); meeting roles: scribe, facilitator, time keeper Communication – FTF: frequency, time, location; type of technology: (Googledocs, Hangout, etc.); expectations for responsiveness; ‘best time to work’ (AM, PM, weekends?)

 

So far, we have not had an issue with disagreements and finding a consensus on important decisions. Thus, we will continue with our usual approach where someone proposes a question or suggestion on a problem and all are given a chance to input their own thoughts, stance, and comments so that we may discuss the most viable decision based on all the cards put forth on the table. If there is still a strong disagreement, we may consult our various experts (both team members and professional contacts) depending on the area of which the disagreement stands. We are currently meeting via Zoom at our regular meeting times, and conduct individual zoom meetings between team members collaborating on a certain project within the larger goal. During the regular meetings, we share updates on our progress within our various roles as well as bring up questions and concerns we had come across during the week in hopes of a resolution through team-wide discussion. 

 

3. If fieldwork were canceled, how would we advance the dream forward? 

• Work with our contacts in the Sierra Leone Autistic Society to have them review the questions we identified for our screener and talk through phrasing and cultural appropriateness.
• See if they would be willing to and able to have some families complete the screener so we can use some initial pilot data to further refine the screener
• We will be able to continue our work and submit at least one manuscript for publication regarding an older paper we are working on and one on the process of how we created a screener. 
• We would be able to continue refining our screener and focus group questions in order to make sure they are ready to be implemented for future fieldwork trips