Exploring the link among educational ecosystem, mathematics interest, and academic performance of scholars

Abstract

This study investigated a model that explores the relationship among grade level, peer influence, school support, parent involvement, mathematics interest, and mathematics academic performance. This study utilized a quantitative research design. Two hundred fifty-one randomly selected scholars of Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus participated in the study. Google Forms was used to administer the research instruments which are Mathematics Interest Inventory (MII) and the Educational Ecosystem Inventory (EEI). The scholars' mathematics academic performance was classified as "good" when taken as a whole and when categorized by level of parent involvement, peer influence, school support, mathematics interest, and grade level. The scholars' mathematics interest was classified as "moderately interested" when taken as a whole and categorized by grade level and school support. Regardless of grade level, the level of parent involvement was classified as moderate. As a whole, the level of parent involvement, peer influence, and school support was classified as moderate. Significant and positive correlations between parent involvement and peer influence, parent involvement and school support, peer influence and school support, and school support and mathematics interest were also recorded. The students displaying greater interest in mathematics were more inclined to attain higher grades within the PSHSWVC grading system. There was a decline in parental engagement as scholars progress through higher grades. The results of path analysis showed that school support and mathematics interest independently contribute to the prediction of mathematics academic performance, while grade level, parent involvement, and peer influence did not significantly contribute when all other variables were considered. Moreover, peer influence and school support were significant predictors of parent involvement. Mathematics interest has a mediating role in the impact of school support on a scholar's mathematics academic performance.