ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. STEM Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1636446
A Utility Value Intervention to Support the Academic Outcomes of Undergraduate Students
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States
- 2Adelphi University, Garden City, United States
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a utility value (UV) intervention on the academic outcomes of undergraduate students in online courses, compared to students in a control condition. A total of 1,243 students participated and were randomized to either UV (n = 589) or control (n = 654) conditions. The intervention had a positive effect, as UV participants engaged with and participated in their courses significantly more than students in the control condition. Utility value participants also wrote significantly longer essays, and used more pronouns, social process words, and cognitive process words than students in the control condition. Additionally, underrepresented minority (URM) status was a significant predictor of course grade; non-URM students had significantly higher course grades than URM students. Findings from this study can help institutions decide whether to adopt UV interventions in online courses.The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a utility value (UV) intervention on the academic outcomes of undergraduate students in online courses, compared to students in a control condition. A total of 1,243 students participated and were randomized to either UV (n = 589) or control (n = 654) conditions. The intervention had a positive effect, as UV participants engaged with and participated in their courses significantly more than students in the control condition. Utility value participants also wrote significantly longer essays, and used more pronouns, social process words, and cognitive process words than students in the control condition. Additionally, underrepresented minority (URM) status was a significant predictor of course grade; non-URM students had significantly higher course grades than URM students. Findings from this study can help institutions decide whether to adopt UV interventions in online courses.
Keywords: University, Underrepresented minority students, online courses, COVID-19, Utility value
Received: 27 May 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shillington, Lo and Hobbie. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Katie J Shillington, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States
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