Facilitating Collaboration Across Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Fields in Program Development

Abstract

It is vital to support learners at different stages of their learning process in aspiration to promote positive learning, critical thinking, technical and problem solving skills, and to assure gainful employment upon graduation. Collaboration is critical to providing strong foundational educational support to all learners as they advance to higher levels of learning. Most importantly, there is the need to promote collaboration among educators and other professionals across the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields; these individuals are responsible for educating the learners throughout their academic pursuit in their respective institutions of learning. To reap the value in diverse teams, the promotion of emergent interdependence fosters seamless collaborative activities across STEM disciplines. For industrial technology programs to prepare students with skills necessary to supervise and manage the future workforce of any organization successfully, necessary tools must be utilized for the success of the collaborative effort. This paper addresses leadership and knowledge sharing among collaborators and identifies the educational aspects of research facilities and research clusters as some of the tools necessary to develop programs through collaboration in STEM fields.