Abstract
This study investigated students’ activating positive affective experiences in mathematics
lessons, their antecedents, their cognitive and motivational consequences, as well as their
effect on achievement. The participants were 682 Grade 8 and 9 students from 37 classes
from Germany and Switzerland who participated in a video study of lessons on the
Pythagorean theorem. Control and value beliefs as well as autonomy support proved to be
relevant predictors of positive affective experiences. Moreover, positive affective experiences
were associated with more cognitive activity during the lessons, which for its part predicted
achievement in the posttest. In a follow-up test, there was also an indirect effect of positive
affective experiences on achievement, mediated by cognitive activity and expectancy of
success.
Buff, A