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Updated: Sep 11, 2026
Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities
Published on: September 11, 2021
Unraveling the psychological and behavioral pathways connecting classroom instruction to mathematics achievement:
Weitong Liu1,2, Xinwei Chang3, Yuxuan Yan1
1School of International Education, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
Background:
Understanding the complex classroom pathways that underlie student learning outcomes is vital for pedagogical improvement. While prior scholarship highlights isolated instructional variables via survey methods, empirical insights regarding the simultaneous behavioral and psychological pathways in real classroom settings remain scarce.
Methods:
Using secondary data from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) Global Teaching Insights (GTI) video study in Shanghai, China (N = 85 mathematics teachers; N = 2,613 students), this study applies Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the concurrent associations among classroom management, teacher emotional support, and mathematics achievement via the distinct mediating mechanisms of classroom interaction (quantity/quality), cognitive engagement, and subject-specific self-efficacy.
Results:
The results reveal a dual effect of classroom management: while it improves the quality of interactions, it simultaneously reduces the frequency of interaction, thereby weakening students' efficacy and achievement. In contrast, emotional support from teachers enhances both the frequency and quality of classroom interactions, ultimately promoting cognitive engagement and academic performance. Moreover, interaction quantity and quality exert comparable influences on outcomes, with cognitive engagement and subject-specific efficacy functioning as key mediators.
Conclusion:
These findings shed light on the psychological and behavioral dynamics underlying classroom improvement, highlight the value of emotionally supportive and interaction-balanced teaching practices, and provide empirical support for both social-cognitive and constructivist theories of learning.
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