Perceived Utility Moderates Motivational Intervention Effects in Learning to Teach Responsibly with GenAI

Synthesis: Boos, Eder, and Lachner (2026) test whether a scaffolded utility-value intervention improves pre-service teachers' integration of technological, pedagogical, and ethical knowledge (GenAI-TPEK) for responsible AI use in teaching, in an experimental field study of 158 pre-service teachers assigned to a utility-value intervention, a scaffolded utility-value intervention, or control. The interventions produced no general effects on knowledge acquisition or integration, but exploratory moderation analyses showed the utility-value intervention was actually detrimental to knowledge integration for learners who already began with high perceived utility-value.

Key Findings

• A utility-value intervention produced no significant overall effects on pre-service teachers' knowledge acquisition or knowledge integration in an experimental field study (N = 158).
• Adding scaffolds to the utility-value intervention did not change outcomes.
• Exploratory moderation analyses revealed the intervention was detrimental to knowledge integration among pre-service teachers who entered with high initial perceived utility-value.
• Findings point to aptitude-treatment interactions: motivational support should be tailored to learners' individual prerequisites rather than applied uniformly.

Implications for AI in Education

The study cautions against assuming motivational interventions automatically support learning to teach responsibly with AI. Because the utility-value intervention helped some learners but actively hurt those already high in perceived utility, it underscores the value of diagnostic, adaptive approaches to teacher professional development for AI. For Professional Development programs, the finding connects to AI Literacy and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) debates about how to scaffold integrated technological-pedagogical-ethical knowledge, and suggests Motivation support should be matched to individual starting points.

Connected Concepts

• Professional Development
• AI Literacy
• Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)
• Motivation
• Ethics
• Workplace Learning

Connected Articles

• [intelligent-tpack-ethics-teachers-trust-distrust-2026] — ethical and trust dimensions of Intelligent-TPACK
• [liu-ai-literacy-interventions-meta-analysis-2026] — meta-analytic evidence on AI-literacy interventions

Citation

Boos, J., Eder, T., & Lachner, A. (2026). Perceived utility moderates motivational intervention effects in learning to teach responsibly with GenAI. Computers and Education Open, 10, 100324.