The linkages between Chinese children's both cognitive engagement and emotional engagement and behavioral engagement: Mediating effect of perceptions of classroom interactions in math

Abstract

AbstractStudent engagement not only improves student achievement but also affects the dropout rate. Positive classroom interaction between teachers and students enhances student engagement. The interaction between teachers and students is bidirectional, and student engagement can also affect teachers' classroom teaching behavior. Both student engagement and classroom interaction are multidimensional structures, and each dimension is interrelated and mutually influenced. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between perceived mathematics classroom interaction and various dimensions of student engagement. In this study, we recruited 1298 students from grades three to five and seven to eight from 36 classes and 15 schools in China participating in a web‐based survey. The results show that cognitive engagement is positively related to behavioral engagement, and emotional support, classroom organization and instructional support play a mediating role between cognitive engagement and behavioral engagement; Emotional engagement is positively related to behavioral engagement, and emotional support and instructional support play a mediating role between emotional engagement and behavioral engagement.