UV writing assignments showed more personal focus, more social and cognitive process content, and higher articulated utility value than control summary assignments¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Compared with control summaries, UV assignments used more first- and second-person pronouns (β = 0.56, p < .001), more social processes content (β = 0.37, p < .001), more cognitive processes content (β = 0.28, p < .001), and higher articulated utility value (β = 0.66, p < .001). → 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 · r3

Exploratory content analyses in the RCT used LIWC dictionaries and hand-coded articulated utility value (interrater κ = 0.88). All four contrasts favoring UV writing were significant as quoted. Choice did not significantly influence writing style or content (βs < 0.06).

"UV writing assignments had a more personal focus (i.e., used more “I” and “you” pronouns), β = 0.56, p < .001, included more content related to social processes, β = 0.37, p < .001, and cognitive processes, β = 0.28, p < .001, and contained higher levels of articulated value, β = 0.66, p < .001, than control assignments"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Giving students a choice between self-focused and other-focused utility-value assignments produced higher course grades than fixing the assignment type — 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
• 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
• 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
• A personal utility prompt in journal writing improves learning motivation and comprehension — related
• The UV manipulation check: UV assignments elicit higher-quality utility-value connections than control summaries, and quality rises with more UV essays — a narrower finding that bears on this claim