Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Strategies for Successful Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Research (IDCR) in Kinesiology

Abstract

The field of Kinesiology has evolved in many ways, from preparing effective physical educators and coaches to preparing pre-rehabilitation sciences students (e.g., physical and occupational therapy, chiropractic, and physician assistant studies). Throughout our evolution, we have led the charge in developing interdisciplinary departments that engage professors in a wide variety of academic disciplines. Given our need to continue to evolve, and embrace the promise that interdisciplinary collaboration and research (IDCR) hold to help bring our discipline together, the purpose of this paper is to: (a) define and clarify terms; (b) discuss reasons why Kinesiology should engage in and lead IDCR; (c) present some challenges with IDCR; (d) make some suggestions for successful IDCR; (e) propose 4 dimensions for IDCR in Kinesiology and provide some examples of each (e.g., Health & Medicine, Technology & Data Science, Education & Community Engagement, and Business & Industry); and (f) and suggest some future directions for IDCR.