Title: From student to system change: The evolution of the Unity-Value Intervention

Abstract: In this talk, I discuss the evolution of the utility-value intervention, a set of classroom-based activities designed to enhance students' motivation by engaging them in making personal connections between the learning materials and their lives. I explore the intervention’s evolution across three stages: early implementations targeting individual student motivation, adaptations that incorporate instructor and contextual supports, and current applications at institutional and system levels. Using a problem-inspired and user-centered approach to research, utility-value interventions have shown to be particularly effective for students from historically marginalized and underserved backgrounds in education, such as racially marginalized and first-generation college students, leading to increased course engagement, performance, and persistence. I further present an updated utility-value logic model that incorporates individual and contextual moderators to account for heterogeneity in intervention effects. This evolution underscores the potential of utility-value interventions to promote equitable educational outcomes and highlights the importance of adapting and customizing the intervention to specific contexts to maximize impact. Finally, I consider how broadening student-focused interventions to include entire educational systems can establish a foundation for long-term, sustainable change, making education more relevant and equitable across diverse contexts.