| Interdisciplinary tasks typically require teamwork among members with diverse disciplinary backgrounds and knowledge (Klein, 2005). These tasks are highly complex, difficult and necessitate extensive coordination among team members to be able to integrate knowledge (Repko and Szostak, 2021). Team members may also have distinct disciplinary skill sets, and lack interdisciplinary research skills, leading to reduced confidence and efficacy (Lattuca et al., 2013). Team members and especially students may not feel competent with regard to the task (Horn et al., 2023; Van Woerden et al., 2025a) | Coordination; integration of knowledge; task execution; building confidence; creating a shared team mental model |
| Task uncertainty can be high, as interdisciplinary research methods are still evolving, and many outcomes depend on the team’s decisions, making critical reflection on the teams’ research process essential (Repko and Szostak, 2021; Vestal and Mesmer-Magnus, 2020) | Adaptation; decision-making; mission and task analysis; problem-solving; reflection |
| Team members may hold differing beliefs and attitudes toward science, mirrored in different (disciplinary-defined) mental models, perspectives and identities (Miller and Mansilla, 2004; Ming et al., 2023). Team members may struggle to communicate and understand each other across disciplinary boundaries and to know who holds what knowledge (MacLeod, 2018; Miller and Mansilla, 2004; Repko and Szostak, 2021). Misunderstanding and disciplinary differences may lead to frustration, (task) conflict and subgrouping (Jehn et al., 1999; MacLeod, 2018; Miller and Mansilla, 2004) | Boundary spanning/management; communication; information and knowledge management; building team transactive memory systems; managing team conflict; identifying and stopping team degradation/disintegration; managing team fault lines and team subgrouping; increasing team understanding of each other; managing team diversity; creating shared team mental model; developing and maintaining team rules and norms |
| Providing feedback and evaluating each other’s work is challenging when dealing with disciplinary insights, as there is often a lack of shared knowledge (MacLeod, 2018) | Feedback; evaluation and correction; monitoring (progress, budget, team members, systems) |
| Characteristics of student teamwork | |
| Student teams often work together for short periods, typically functioning as a team for the duration of one course. Due to the short-term nature of much student teamwork, students may be less inclined to engage in team development processes, feel less committed to the team and may not invest time in building cohesion, trust and psychological safety (Bacon et al., 1999; Van Woerden, 2023) | Team process improvement; building team cohesion; building commitment; building team psychological safety; building team trust |
| Students vary in their grade ambitions, which can lead to frustration if these do not align. Students may have lower motivation for the task or teamwork, or exhibit free-riding behaviors. Students are highly dependent on each other to complete the (interdisciplinary) task, as they often receive collective grades (Fiore, 2008). This high (outcome) interdependency can lead to stress if grade ambitions do not align or students exhibit free-riding behavior. Team members may rely on the work of others or feel incompetent themselves (Caspersz et al., 2003; Debnath et al., 2007; Hall and Buzwell, 2013; Wageman and Baker, 1997) | Monitoring (progress, budget, team members, systems); increasing team balance and mutuality; increasing team motivation |
| Students struggle with addressing problems and to being open and honest with team members due to fears of social (e.g., conflict, being disliked), personal (e.g., loss of energy, high frustration) or academic consequences (e.g., disintegration of the team, lower grades; Van Woerden et al., 2025a) | Problem-solving; increasing voice and speak up |
| Students face challenges in process management, such as conducting effective meetings, planning and task division (Van Woerden et al., 2025b), which may be connected to the often horizontal and unclear leadership structure in student teams (O’Shea et al., 2013). Students themselves indicate they would want to improve their skills in different teamwork roles (Van Woerden et al., 2025a) | Leadership; planning and time management; task division and demarcation of responsibilities; role management |