Environment matters: exploring the relationships between the classroom environment and college students’ affect in mathematics learning in China

Abstract

This study explored the relationships between Chinese college students’ perceptions of the classroom environment and some affective aspects in the study of mathematics. A total of 2529 students responded to three measures that were specifically designed to assess college students’ perceptions of the mathematics classroom environment, their emotional experiences and values of studying mathematics. Comparatively, the students had a higher score on the value of mathematics but lower scores on their emotional experiences of mathematics learning, and the characteristics of the classroom environment had some significant effects on the students’ emotional experiences and values of studying mathematics. The eight classroom environmental factors were categorised into three groups according to the nature and extent of their effects on students’ affect in mathematics learning. Although most classroom environmental factors had a positive impact on college students’ emotional experiences and values in the study of mathematics, the effects of two environmental factors, the difficulty of studying mathematics and teacher support, were of particular interest. Given these results, instructors are encouraged to leave more room for student autonomy, to adopt some innovative learning approaches to promote student collaboration and to pay close attention to the difficulty of the mathematics curricula and competition among students.