Author/s:
Zhao, Ningning*
Beijing Normal University, China
Gent University, Belgium (tintinning@gmail.com)
Valcke, Martin
Gent University, Belgium (Martin.valcke@ugent.be)
Desoete, Annemie
Gent University, Belgium (Annemie.desoete@ugent.be)
Sang, Guoyuan
Beijing Normal University, China (guoyuan.sang@gmail.com)
Zhu, Chang
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium (chang.zhu2010@gmail.com)
Abstract:
The present study explores the nature and quality of the social interaction and the questioning approach during mathematics lessons in Chinese primary schools. A sample of 601 students and 9 teachers participated in the study. A multilevel analysis of mathematics performance reveals that: (1) the interactions raised by teacher contribute to the mathematics performance, and the interactions between student-student in public and interactions between teacher and one student have significantly positive impact on students’ mathematics performance; (2) for the teacher questioning approaches, the evaluation and problem-solving play important roles on mathematics performance. The results suggest that the teacher-dominant interaction or student-dominant interaction have their own conditions under which they might have a positive impact. Questioning of the teachers should be focused on the cognitive thinking on the mathematics problems.
Keywords: interaction; questioning; teacher-centered; student-centered
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2014.729
*Corresponding Author