Learning engagement as moderator between self-efficacy, math anxiety, use of diagrams, and complex plane problem-solving

Previous research has shown that affect and heuristics influence mathematical problem-solving, but how learning engagement contributes to this process has yet to be thoroughly investigated statistically. This study examines whether learning engagement moderates the relationship between self-efficacy, math anxiety, use of diagrams, and complex plane problem-solving performance. This questionnaire-based survey involved 240 Japanese 11th-grade high school students. The results of the multiple-group structural equation modelling revealed that (1) self-efficacy was positively related to the use of diagrams and, directly and indirectly, positively associated with complex plane problem-solving performance despite learning engagement; (2) math learning anxiety was positively related to the use of diagrams and indirectly positively associated with complex plane problem-solving performance at higher levels of learning engagement; and (3) the use of diagrams was positively related to complex plane problem-solving performance despite learning engagement. The findings suggest that learning engagement moderates the associations between affect, heuristics and mathematical problem-solving.