Utility-value interventions enhance perceived utility value, engagement, performance, and persistence in introductory college science courses¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · checked against its sources 2026-10-22 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? UVIs enhance students' perceptions of utility value and task engagement in introductory college science classes and consequently improve course performance and likelihood of persisting in the field, as reported by the review citing Harackiewicz and colleagues. → Carol Sansone 2026

Evidence¶

Carol Sansone 2026¶

Carol Sansone, K. Ann Renninger, Judith M. Harackiewicz. (2026). Motivating Self-Regulation: Utility Value, Interest Development, and the Potential for Intervention. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10142-7

q2 · i? · review · r2

Narrative review attributing this finding to Harackiewicz et al. (2016) and subsequent studies (Asher et al. 2023; Canning et al. 2018; Hecht et al. 2019a, b). The review reports UVIs enhance perceived utility value and engagement, improving performance and persistence; the underlying studies' designs are not described here.

"Harackiewicz and colleagues have shown that these interventions enhance students' perceptions of utility value and task engagement in introductory college science classes (Harackiewicz et al., 2016) and consequently improve course performance and likelihood of persisting in the field"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Interest — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Interest-enhancing strategies predict persistence for students lower in conscientiousness but not those higher in conscientiousness — related
• UVIs are more effective when students generate their own examples of utility, invest more engagement, and are given choices — 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
• Performance benefits of UVIs may be limited to the perceived-useful content unless usefulness generalizes or interest develops — related
• College students' attributions of motivation problems to lack of value and interest strongly predict lower intention to take additional classes in the field — related
• Attribution reframing interventions improved outcomes for struggling students (review-reported) — related
• Utility-value interventions improve grades, with the largest gains for first-generation and underrepresented minority students, and can improve STEM persistence years later — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Class-aggregated perceived teacher value messages positively predict students' subsequent expectancy and utility value, but not lower effort cost — related
• End-of-course interest in biology and introductory biology grades each predicted lower likelihood of leaving biomedical fields — related
• Students' expectancy, intrinsic value, and utility value decline significantly while perceived psychological and effort costs increase during the first half of gateway math courses — related
• Perceived communal goal affordances in STEM roles positively predict later persistence intentions among Indigenous STEM students, controlling for baseline — a narrower finding that bears on this claim