Previous research is unclear regarding whether utility value writing would be more advantageous than summary writing. We conducted two randomized experiments (n = 107 for Experiment 1 and n = 116 for Experiment 2) on Chinese university students. We compared utility value writing to summary writing and a control condition (video restudy in Experiment 1 and picture description in Experiment 2). The results of both experiments revealed that learners who received utility value writing intervention had higher retention and transfer scores and higher competence beliefs than their peers in the control conditions in both experiments. These findings are discussed regarding their implications, limitations, and future directions.