MATHEMATICAL BELIEFS, ENGAGEMENT, AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS OF GRADE 9 STUDENTS

The purpose of this quantitative study, which used descriptive and correlational designs, was to investigate the mediating effect of student engagement on the relationship between mathematical beliefs and problem-solving skills in Mathematics among students. One hundred thirty-eight Grade 9 students from four public secondary schools in Davao del Norte Division, School Year 2023-2024, were selected as respondents using stratified random sampling. This study used two adapted survey questionnaires to determine students' mathematical beliefs and engagement and a validated researcher-made test to assess their problem-solving skills in mathematics. Mean and Pearson-r were used to calculate numerical data. The results of this study revealed that the level of mathematical beliefs and engagement of the students is high. Additionally, the level of student’s problem-solving skills in terms of test scores is average. Moreover, there is a significant relationship between mathematical beliefs and student engagement. However, results showed no significant relationship between mathematical beliefs and students' problem-solving skills. Further, mediation analysis was initially intended to be conducted as a part of the study; however, it was not executed since the conditions were not met. Additionally, future researchers may utilize the findings to analyze the study's variables and look into other variables or characteristics that mediate the relationship between mathematical beliefs and problem-solving abilities. KEYWORDS: problem-solving skills, mathematical beliefs, student engagement, grade 9 students, descriptive-correlational approach, Pearson-r, Kapalong, Davao del Norte, Philippines