Agentic engagement, or attempts to proactively influence instruction, predicts positive classroom climate and students' motivation. As such, it is a potentially effective target for intervention, though causal evidence is limited. This investigation explored whether an agentic orientation could be cultivated through a brief, online intervention for university students and the potential benefits of such an intervention. Three randomized field experiments with college students in psychology (Study 1 and Study 2) or introductory physics and chemistry courses (Study 3) tested the effects of an agentic orientation intervention compared with an alternative study skills intervention or an inactive control condition. The intervention encouraged students to view their motivational experiences in class as malleable and responsive to agentic behaviors they were encouraged to use. Relative to the alternative intervention (Studies 1 and 3) and inactive control (Studies 1, 2, and 3), students exposed to the target intervention at the beginning of the semester later reported a more agentic mindset. Indirect effects indicated that the intervention predicted greater student-reported in-class agentic and other forms of engagement, instructor autonomy support, need satisfaction, domain personal interest, and intention to persist in the field at the end of the semester via an enhanced agentic mindset. Multigroup comparisons suggested that the intervention worked similarly for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in science compared with their counterparts, with limited evidence of variation on certain outcomes. The investigation provides preliminary causal evidence regarding the benefits of intervening on an agentic orientation.
Educational Impact and Implications StatementThree randomized field experiments were conducted with college students in psychology, physics, and chemistry courses to examine whether an agentic orientation (that is, an orientation for proactively and constructively influencing the flow of instruction and motivational experiences in the classroom) could be cultivated through a brief, online intervention, as well as the benefits of such an intervention. Results suggested that students exposed to the intervention at the beginning of the semester later viewed their classroom motivational experiences as malleable and responsive to agentic behavior more so than students in an alternative intervention or an inactive control condition. In turn, this agentic mindset predicted more engagement, including agentic engagement, as well as more need satisfaction, personal interest in the domain, intention to persist in the field, and instructor autonomy support, according to student reports at the end of the semester. Results point to the potential power of targeting students' agentic orientation as a lever for changing motivation and the classroom climate.
