Dampening Effects of Perceived Teacher Enthusiasm on Class-Related Boredom in College Students: Longitudinal Mediation Effects of Perceived Task Value

Perceived Teacher Enthusiasm and Professional Commitment: The Mediating Role of Boredom and Learning Engagement

Introduction

Some students in current society do not pursue careers related to their majors after graduation, which may be the result of low professional commitment of college students, and the teaching enthusiasm of college teachers presented in the classroom may influence students' professional commitment. This study considered the effect of teacher enthusiasm on students' emotional state of boredom during class and its effect on students' engagement in learning. This correlational study aims to explore the relationship between perceived teacher enthusiasm and professional commitment as mediated by class-related boredom and learning engagement.

Methods

This study is a correlational design and adopts regression analysis. The respondents were college students (n=358; 68% female, 22% male) of different grades and majors from universities in Wenzhou, China. Questionnaires about perceived teacher enthusiasm, professional commitment, class-related boredom and learning engagement were adopted to measure the study variables.

Results

The results reveal that although there is no significant direct influence between perceived teacher enthusiasm and professional commitment, perceived teacher enthusiasm affects students' professional commitment through students' class-related boredom and learning engagement, and there is an indirect and statistically significant correlation between them.

Conclusion

This study provides insight into the facilitative effect of teachers' increased enthusiasm on students' professional commitment and how this facilitative effect is triggered through the mediating role of class related boredom and learning engagement. Future research should explore the theoretical and teaching significance and how to guide and enhance students' professional commitment.

Effects of Teacher Enthusiasm and Type of Text on the Motivation and Achievement of Schoolchildren

This study aims to analyze the effects of teacher enthusiasm and type of text on student motivation and achievement. The participants were 369 elementary school students. We used four videos showing a teacher presenting two texts (narrative or descriptive) in two conditions of enthusiasm (high or neutral). A MANOVA revealed additive effects due to enthusiasm and text type on motivation and achievement, but no interaction. Mediation analyzes indicated that enthusiasm showed direct and indirect effects through motivation only for descriptive text. Therefore, the motivational mediation between teacher enthusiasm and student achievement could be especially important when the text is descriptive.