Utility value intervention in elementary science classes: analyzing temporal changes in utility value perception and individual interest in science

This study aimed to implement a utility value intervention in elementary school science classes and analyse changes over time in elementary students’ utility value perceptions and individual interest in science. We designed a utility value intervention based on (Hulleman, C. S., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2021). The utility-value intervention. In G. M. Walton, & A. J. Crum (Eds.), Handbook of wise interventions: How social psychology can help people change (pp. 100–125). Guilford Press) utility-value-intervention model and applied it to fifth-grade science classes for one semester (16 weeks). The study was conducted with a total of 194 students randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 97) and a comparison group (n = 97), with data collected at five time points. Latent growth modelling analysis revealed that the experimental group showed significant linear increases in both utility value perceptions and individual interest in science, while the comparison group showed minimal changes. Through multivariate latent growth modelling analysis, we confirmed that changes in utility value perceptions significantly predicted changes in individual interest in science. These findings empirically demonstrate that systematic utility value interventions can effectively enhance elementary students’ individual interest in science through improved perceptions of science’s utility value. This study contributes to understanding the developmental dynamics between utility value perceptions and individual interest in science, extending beyond simple pre–post comparisons in existing research.