Giving students a choice between self-focused and other-focused utility-value assignments produced higher course grades than fixing the assignment type¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Students given a choice between UV assignment types earned higher grades than students in fixed-type conditions (β = 0.06, p = .040). → Priniski 2019

Evidence¶

Priniski 2019¶

Priniski, S. J., Rosenzweig, E. Q., Canning, E. A., Hecht, C. A., Tibbetts, Y., Hyde, J. S., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2019). The Benefits of Combining Value for the Self and Others in Utility-Value Interventions. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000343

q3 · i? · causal · r2

In the same RCT's performance analyses, the choice contrast compared the choice condition with the four fixed-type conditions. The quoted sentence reports the significant effect, "β = 0.06, p = .040", and the printed means for both sides of the comparison.

"There was also a main effect of the choice contrast on course performance, β = 0.06, p = .040, such that students who were given a choice between UV assignment types earned higher grades in the course (M = 3.06, SD = 0.59) than students in the four conditions in which UV assignment types were fixed (M = 2.95, SD = 0.75)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Choice increased task engagement and end-of-semester interest, and task engagement mediated the effect of choice on course performance — a broader claim this one bears on
• In a college biology course, students assigned a variety of self- and other-focused utility-value assignments earned higher course grades than students who wrote the same assignment type three times — related
• Students in the self-first variety condition articulated higher utility value than students in the other-first variety condition, indicating quality of utility connections depends on assignment sequence rather than type — related
• UV writing assignments showed more personal focus, more social and cognitive process content, and higher articulated utility value than control summary assignments — related
• Among students with low performance expectations, self-first variety (a self-focused essay followed by other-focused letters) produced higher grades than other-first variety — related
• In replication analyses, the variety conditions were particularly beneficial for students with low prior GPAs, while the same-type-only conditions had negligible effect sizes — related
• The overall intervention contrast comparing all UV conditions to control was not significant, and no individual UV condition significantly outperformed control in the dummy-coded model — related
• Learners invest more effort in tasks they perceive as interesting, personally important, or useful to their future goals. — a broader claim this one bears on