Enjoyable Mathematics Lessons Can Be Contagious

The current study explored the reasons for students' preferences for the teach-first and task-first lesson structures, and whether students' preferences were influenced by their perceptions of the teacher's preference. Students (n=18) from two composite Year 3 and 4 classes (aged 8-10 years) completed a post-lesson drawing task and participated in a semi-structured interview following a series of lessons. Findings indicated students had a variety of reasons for their preference of lesson structure. Most focus students reported noticing aspects of the teacher's enjoyment during instruction. The results have implications for the way teachers inadvertently influence their students' own enjoyment of and preferences for instructional approaches.