Utility value interventions in a college biology lab: The impact on motivation

Abstract

Science writing, such as lab reports, allows students to form a meaningful understanding of scientific concepts. However, students often view scientific writing as unimportant and utilize surface level approaches when completing writing assignments. The current study implemented three experimental interventions (directly‐communicated, self‐generated, and hybrid) aligned with prior literature and designed to improve the utility value of lab reports in college settings. Participants (n = 1,002) were recruited from 43 lab sections of an introductory biology course at a large southeastern university. Measures of subjective task value (utility value, attainment value, cost, and intrinsic value) were collected pre‐, mid‐, and post‐intervention. The self‐generated and hybrid groups exhibited higher self‐reported utility value by posttest compared to the control group. Requiring students to generate their own utility value toward a task, followed by a written reflection, increases students' maintained and situational interest for biology laboratory reports.

Implementation of the utility value intervention: An adaptation of implementation science frameworks for higher education teaching and learning research

“…Researchers have also investigated the effects of utility value interventions with college students. In both laboratory and classroom settings, findings from intervention studies supported the idea that utility value interventions could be used to improve students' interest (Durik et al, 2015;Fritea & Opre, 2015;Geerling et al, 2019;Hulleman et al, 2010Hulleman et al, , 2017Kera & Nakaya, 2017;Shechter et al, 2011), perceived utility value of a particular course (Canning & Harackiewicz, 2015;Clinton & Kelly, 2017Curry et al, 2020;Fritea & Opre, 2015;Kosovich et al, 2019;Lindeman et al, 2018;Rosenzweig, Harackiewicz, et al, 2019), and performance (Canning et al, 2018;Canning & Harackiewicz, 2015). Importantly, the intervention appeared to work best for students who needed it the most: students with low expectancies for success, first-generation college students, and students from marginalized groups (Durik et al, 2015;Harackiewicz et al, 2016;Hulleman et al, 2017).…”

Highlighting Prosocial Affordances of Science in Textbooks to Promote Science Interest

“…As this study has demonstrated, science texts powerfully convey what kind of work is important within a particular field, which could help change the science culture. Adding value content and prosocial examples to science lectures should also help, but directly communicated connections from instructors are not enough on their own ( Canning and Harackiewicz, 2015 ; Curry et al. , 2019 ).…”

Utility value interventions: Why and how instructors should use them in college psychology courses.

“…In comparison, the evidence in support of using self-generated utility value interventions is more consistent. Self-generated utility value interventions lead to increased perceptions of value (Acee & Weinstein, 2010;Ivanov, 2017;Lindeman et al, 2018), interest (Hulleman et al, 2010 (Canning et al, 2018;Canning & Harackiewicz, 2015;Harackiewicz et al, 2016;Kosovich et al, 2019;Rosenzweig et al, 2020), or a combination of these variables (Canning et al, 2018;Curry et al, 2020;Hulleman et al, 2017;Rosenzweig et al, 2019).…”