Improving performance and retention in introductory biology with a utility-value intervention.

Abstract

One way to encourage performance and persistence in STEM fields is to have students write about the utility value (UV) or personal relevance of course topics to their life. This intervention has been shown to increase engagement and performance in introductory courses. However, questions remain about the longevity of the effects and how best to implement the intervention in terms of dosage and timing. We tested a UV intervention in the first semester of a two-semester introductory biology sequence. For each of three units across the semester, students (N = 577) were randomly assigned to receive either a UV writing assignment, in which they explained why course material was useful to them personally, or a control assignment, in which they summarized course material. This fully crossed design tested the effect of UV dosage level (0, 1, 2, or 3 UV assignments) as well as the effect of timing (e.g., UV first, control first). We found that students exposed to any dosage of UV earned higher grades in the course, were more likely to enroll in the second course of the biology sequence, and were less likely to abandon their STEM major than students who did not receive any UV assignments. In terms of timing, students with a history of poor performance benefitted from writing a UV essay in the beginning of the semester, whereas higher-performing students benefitted from a UV essay at the end of the semester. Recommendations for practice are discussed.

Improving Student Outcomes in Higher Education: The Science of Targeted Intervention

“…Careful attention has been paid in these studies to targeted motivational processes in these studies, with evidence for mediation of intervention effects by the targeted process of perceived utility value and other processes such as positive expectancies and engagement. Finally, the results of Canning et al (2018) and Rozek et al (2017) document some recursive effects from the targeted outcomes (course grades and high school course taking) to more distal outcomes, illuminating important pathways for the long-term effects of utility-value interventions.…”

“…Canning and colleagues (2018) tested the utility-value intervention in three sections of an introductory biology class for STEM majors but varied the number of utility-value assignments (from zero to three) to examine the effects of intervention dosage on performance. They also followed students to see whether they enrolled in the second course in the biology sequence and whether they abandoned plans to major in STEM (93% of students entered the course with plans to major in a STEM field), as measures of STEM persistence.…”

“…Many studies of course-specific task value interventions also found effects on field-level outcomes, such as interest in the field (Hulleman et al 2017), intention to major in the field (Hulleman et al 2010), retention in a STEM major, or course taking in a field (Canning et al 2018). In addition, some task value interventions targeted field-level outcomes directly.…”

“…A consistent pattern of results has emerged across a variety of contexts and modes of intervention delivery; these interventions have proven most effective for students who struggle in courses. However, there is also evidence of main effects in almost all of these studies; in other words, some utility-value interventions have had positive effects for all students on average (Harackiewicz et al 2012, 2016a; Brown et al 2015; Canning et al 2018; Hulleman et al 2017), and it will be important to clarify when and why task value interventions should work for all students versus only for those who struggle (Schwartz et al 2016). Careful attention has been paid in these studies to targeted motivational processes in these studies, with evidence for mediation of intervention effects by the targeted process of perceived utility value and other processes such as positive expectancies and engagement.…”

“…Indeed, we did not find any task value interventions targeting college-general outcomes (e.g., cumulative GPA). However, the evidence indicates that task value interventions can increase motivation at the field level both directly, in a single-session laboratory study (Brown et al 2015) and a semester-long biology course (Canning et al 2018), and indirectly, over a span of five years, by promoting STEM course taking and test performance in high school (Rozek et al 2017). Furthermore, recent work (Brown et al 2015, Harackiewicz et al 2016a) suggests connecting specifically to helping-oriented goals might be a powerful intervention technique (Thoman et al 2015, 2017).…”