Teacher–Student Interaction and Chinese Students’ Mathematics Learning Outcomes: The Mediation of Mathematics Achievement Emotions

This study aimed to investigate secondary students’ mathematics achievement emotions and their mediating effects on the relationships between classroom environmental characteristics, namely, teacher–student interactional styles (i.e., teacher leadership and student freedom styles), and students’ mathematics learning outcomes in mainland China. A sample of 1423 Grade 7 to 9 junior secondary students responded to a questionnaire that comprised three sets of scales for assessing students’ perceived teacher–student interactional styles, mathematics achievement emotions, and cognitive and affective learning outcomes. The results indicated that students’ mathematics learning outcomes were positively associated with both teacher leadership and student freedom styles. Moreover, students’ mathematics achievement emotions mediated the relationships between these two interactional styles and their mathematics learning outcomes. These results highlight the importance of mathematics achievement emotions in student learning, and provide implications for the improvement of mathematics classroom environments.