Interest and Performance When Learning Online: Providing Utility Value Information can be Important for Both Novice and Experienced Students

As part of the Regulating Motivation and Performance Online Project (RMAPO), students completing an online HTML programming lesson demonstrated higher quiz scores and greater post-lesson interest when initially provided information about how the skills could be used (personal or organizational applications). These effects were mediated by higher levels of engagement with optional examples and exercises during the lesson. This paper examines whether the benefit from adding utility value information was limited to students with no prior experience creating web pages. Results show that, regardless of prior experience, the added information was associated with higher engagement levels, which were associated with higher lesson interest and quiz scores. Because prior experience was related to lower engagement levels overall, results suggest that experience had an indirect negative effect on motivation and performance outcomes that was offset by enhanced engagement when value was added. Implications for the Self-Regulation of Motivation Model (SRM) and online instructors are discussed.