EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND COGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT AS PREDICTORS OF STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS IN OWERRI EDUCATION ZONE

Abstract

Mathematics remains a core subject in the Nigerian secondary school curriculum, yet students’ achievement continues to be consistently low despite interventions such as curriculum revisions, teacher training, remedial classes, and provision of instructional materials. This study investigated the extent to which emotional intelligence and cognitive engagement, individually and jointly, predict mathematics achievement among Senior Secondary School Two (SSII) students in Owerri Education Zone of Imo State, Nigeria. A predictive correlational research design was adopted, with a population of 17,637 SSII students across 124 government-owned secondary schools. A sample of 882 students was selected using multi-stage random sampling. Data were collected using the Emotional Intelligence Inventory (EII) with reliability coefficients of 0.76, 0.87, 0.82, 0.81, and 0.82 for self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills, respectively; the Cognitive Engagement Scale (CES) with a reliability coefficient of 0.95; and a Mathematics Achievement Proforma. Analysis using Pearson correlation, coefficient of determination, and multiple regression revealed that self-awareness (R = .396, R² = .157), empathy (R = .207, R² = .043), motivation (R = .096, R² = .009), social skills (R = .087, R² = .008), and cognitive engagement (R = .085, R² = .007) significantly predicted mathematics achievement, while self-regulation did not (p > .05). Jointly, emotional intelligence and cognitive engagement predicted mathematics achievement with R = .536, R² = .287, and adjusted R² = .282, indicating that 28.7% of the variance in mathematics performance was explained. ANOVA confirmed the regression model’s significance (F = 57.894, p = .000). The findings emphasize that both emotional intelligence, particularly self-awareness and empathy, and cognitive engagement play substantial roles in enhancing mathematics achievement. It was recommended that schools should implement programmes to develop students’ emotional intelligence, while teachers should adopt strategies that promote active cognitive engagement to strengthen motivation, persistence, and academic achievement.