The association between teacher enthusiasm and students’ class-related boredom: A multilevel study

Abstract

The present study, using a multilevel analytical framework, examined the association between teacher enthusiasm and students’ class-related boredom. Teacher enthusiasm was defined as an enthusiastic emotion and measured from the perspectives of teachers and students respectively. A total of 43 teachers (74.4% female; Mage = 34.19, SD = 4.30) and 1693 undergraduate students (73.3% female; Mage = 20.13, SD = 1.20) were recruited from Chinese universities based on a multisite data collection approach. Teachers were asked to fill in the questionnaire assessing teacher enthusiasm, whereas undergraduate students completed a set of self-report questionnaires related to the perception of teacher enthusiasm and class-related boredom. Results of the multilevel structural equation modeling showed that teachers’ self-reported enthusiasm was negatively associated with students’ perceived teacher enthusiasm, which in turn was negatively associated with students’ class-related boredom at the class level. Moreover, at the student level, perceived teacher enthusiasm was negatively associated with class-related boredom. The implications for learning and teaching were discussed.