The Mediating Effect of Student Environmental Literacy on the Relationship between Factors of Academic Performance and Engagement in Science

Abstract

Aims: To determine the significance of the mediating effect of student environmental literacy on the relationship between factors of academic performance and student engagement among junior high school students in a public high school. Study Design:  Quantitative, non-experimental, correlational study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Education, Baganga, Davao Oriental, Philippines during the school year 2022-2023. Methodology: A total of 286 students were calculated as a sample from the entire population of 998 using Slovin's formula with a 5% margin of error. The 286 students were chosen using stratified random sampling. Data were collected using adapted and researcher-made survey questionnaires. For the environmental literacy, a 63-item researcher-made questionnaire, based on Gheith (2019). For student engagement, a 20-item adapted questionnaire from Veiga (2016) was used. For factors of academic performance, a 23-item adapted questionnaire from Shahzadi and Ahmad (2011). Responses for all three instruments were categorized using a five-point scale ranging from Very High (4.20-5.00) to Very Low (1.00-1.79). Moreover, the adapted questionnaires were reviewed by the research advisor and expert validators. Pilot tests with 30 students (5 per grade level) was conducted to establish validity and reliability. Revisions were made based on feedback and pilot test results before final data collection. Results: High levels of all three variables and significant relationships between academic performance factors and both student engagement and environmental literacy, as well as between environmental literacy and student engagement were found. It also found partial mediation, meaning academic performance factors influenced student engagement both directly and indirectly through environmental literacy. Conclusion: Fostering environmental literacy directly boosts student engagement and acts as a key pathway for academic performance factors to influence engagement. The results supported the Environmental Education Theory (EET), which emphasizes using the environment as a learning context to enhance environmental literacy and improve academic outcomes.