"Useful to know": Effects of a directly-communicated utility value intervention on students' motivation and performance

Based on the expectancy-value theory, expectations and subjective values in school are important resources for motivation and performance. Previous studies show that directly-communicated utility value information can increase motivation and performance in science, although studies have mainly been conducted in the context of university education. Against this background, this study investigated whether a directly-communicated utility value intervention in biology has a positive effect on students' performance in a knowledge test and whether this effect can be explained by expectancy and subjective value. The utility value intervention consisted of a text with utility value information about a biological subject. 11th grade students (N = 141) were randomly assigned to the utility value condition or to a control condition. After the intervention, students' perceptions of utility value and performance expectations were asked and performance was determined by a final knowledge test. The utility value intervention increased performances (d = .47) and performance expectations (d = .50). As predicted, the effect of the utility value intervention on performance was mediated by performance expectations. However, the utility value could not explain the increase in performance. The results show that a short and one-time intervention with utility value information has positive effects on motivation and performance of students in biology, thus expanding the findings on utility value interventions in science subjects.