Blog Post
- We began our work for this project by presenting on our individual areas of expertise. Currently, we are working together on the same task, which is gathering articles for a publication.
- This fall we were supposed to be analyzing the data that we collected over the summer. However due to us not going to Sierra Leone, we started focusing on continuing the work that was completed during Mountaintop (publications).
- I have developed good collaborative conversation skills.
- I have developed good problem solving skills when teammates disagree with me.
- A lesson I have learned is to be able to make adaptations at any time because situations can change in an instant (COVID-19 cancelling our trip).
- I have learned how to simplify information and presentations for people in other countries. Many of the educational vocabulary that we use in the US may not be appropriate for developing countries.
- My fellow team members have taught me how to differentiate between quantitative and qualitative studies.
- My fellow teammates have taught me about different diagnostic assessments to use for autism. This helps me analyze evaluation and reevaluation reports of my students.
- I have developed an appreciation for all that I have in the United States. After reading articles, and looking at pictures, I realize that I often take for granted all that I have in my life.
- I have learned through articles about the culture and beliefs of people in Africa. This has impacted my career because I am able to converse and understand why some families from other countries refuse special education services for their children.
Updated Collaboration Plan
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What are my personal goals (small g) on this team? My personal goal on this team is to make a greater difference in this world. Being a special education teacher, I see the impact the individualized instruction and services has on students with autism and other disabilities. The children are able to become more independent and grow socially and academically. It saddens me to know that children with autism are not being educated and aren’t interacting with their peers. I want all children, despite their disabilities, to have access to education and be provided equal opportunities with their peers. Hopefully, with our project, we can get one step closer to this goal. The knowledge I gain in this project will help me become a better educator and coworker. I can utilize the collaborative conversation skills, teamwork, and general knowledge about developing countries. This information will also help me educate my students about life in Africa.
What is the Project GOAL (big G) we’re all committed to achieve 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 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. Collaborating on the meta-synthesis.
- 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. Experience in working on psychological/sociological research–both quantitative and qualitative. Alyssa also leads the meta-synthesis that our team is collaboratively working on.
- 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. Kathleen is also responsible for the psychometrics paper that our team has been working on. Collaborating on the meta-synthesis.
- SPED/ASD/Education/Healthcare Expert (Lindsey): Responsible for understandinding 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 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? Collaborating on the meta-synthesis.
- 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. Collaborating on the meta-synthesis.
- Ted: Collaborating on the meta-synthesis.Providing collaborative help with Kathleen on the psychometric paper.
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: (Google docs, 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 weekly with our teams on ZOOM to discuss the outcomes of screening abstracts for a publication. This is another example of how we work well together to resolve conflicts. If two team members disagree on an abstract or article, a professional discussion where we explain our reasoning is held. We have collaborative conversations and come to a final consensus.
- Each week we set a goal as a team. We have individual responsibilities of managing our time wisely to ensure these goals are attained by our next team meeting. We follow a pretty explicit format set forth by team leaders on how to mark items as done, your status on screening through a color coded system and open communication throughout the process. We always have a due date to have work completed by 5PM the day before our weekly team meetings so that team leaders have time to review the work to give meaningful feedback at the meeting.
| Prior Plan
If fieldwork were cancelled, how would we advance the dream forward? |
New Plan
What we have accomplished and our focus |
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