Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies

This study examined the mediating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between collaborative problem-solving and mathematics engagement among first-year BSED- Mathematics students. A total of 126 first-year BSED-Mathematics students from two state universities and one local college in Davao del Norte were selected through stratified sampling. Three adapted questionnaires were employed. Mean, standard deviation, Pearson r, regression analysis, and the Sobel test were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that collaborative problem-solving in terms of interest, learning style and readiness was observed.  Mathematics engagement of students in terms of social engagement, cognitive engagement, emotional engagement and behavioral engagement was strongly evident. Students’ emotional intelligence in terms of social awareness, relationship management, self-awareness and self-management is manifested most of the time. The results revealed a significant relationship between collaborative problem-solving and mathematics engagement, emotional intelligence and mathematics engagement, and collaborative problem-solving and emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence was found to significantly mediate the relationship between collaborative problem-solving and mathematics engagement of students with partial mediation as indirect-to-total ratio of 0.215 suggests that roughly 21.5% of the total impact of collaborative problem-solving on mathematics engagement is partially mediated by emotional intelligence. The study's conclusions highlight the value of emotional intelligence and collaborative problem-solving in enhancing student engagement with mathematics. Therefore, the Commission on Higher Education and college administrators are urged to fund initiatives and training that strengthen teachers’ capacity to implement socioemotional and collaborative learning strategies in mathematics classes.