THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE ON TEAM DYNAMICS IN INTERDISCIPLINARY COMPUTING TEAMS

<p dir="ltr">Team value orientations and technical expertise distributions fundamentally shape how interdisciplinary computing teams develop cohesion, coordinate work, and achieve outcomes. However, traditional assessments that focus solely on project completion hide critical variations in team health. This study extended Team Dynamics Theory (TDT) by examining how team value orientations and technical expertise differences moderate the four interdependent team dynamics processes (cohesion, team mental models, coordination, and collective efficacy) in graduate-level interdisciplinary computing education. While TDT effectively models relationships among these processes, it doesn’t consider differences in team values and technical experience which influences why teams achieve divergent outcomes despite identical contexts. The conceptual framework positioned value orientations and technical expertise as moderators operating at each TDT stage, with value orientations measured quantitatively through five bipolar dimensions and technical expertise identified through qualitative analysis of team experiences. This mixed-methods study examined four interdisciplinary teams using value orientation surveys and semi-structured. The qualitative data was analyzed through a reflexive thematic analysis while descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative value orientation data. Results revealed that pre-existing friendships and physical proximity provided powerful alternative pathways to cohesion that buffered the relation of value diversity. Technical expertise configurations systematically influenced learning and contribution patterns, with complementary distributed expertise enabling balanced participation and reciprocal skill development, while hierarchical expertise created bottlenecks, contribution inequities, and limited learning opportunities. Teams completing projects successfully demonstrated dramatically different health profiles across process satisfaction, learning outcomes, contribution equity, and relationship quality. The extended framework showed team health dimensions that traditional outcome-focused approaches miss, revealing that value orientations moderate team dynamics through team cohesion and problem-solving processes while technical expertise configurations operate through learning opportunities and contribution patterns. Team health encompasses multiple interdependent dimensions beyond project completion. Instructors should use multi-dimensional assessments, facilitate value alignment conversations, and structure expertise recognition practices like expertise biographies and knowledge sharing plans.</p>