The Relationship Between Student Perceived Cognitive Activation Strategies and Mathematics Academic Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model

Using data from six East Asian countries and regions participating in the PISA2022 test, a sample of 34,968 middle school students aged 15 and above was selected to explore the complex relationship between student perceived cognitive activation strategies and their mathematical achievement. Descriptive statistical method, independent sample testing, and analysis of variance were used to analyze the characteristics of independent variables, mediating variables, moderating variables, and dependent variables, and the mediated moderating effect was tested using the Bootstrap sampling method. The results showed that: (1) Boys performed better in perceiving cognitive activation strategies, had stronger problem-solving perseverance, lower mathematical anxiety, and performed better in mathematics academic performance than girls. Meanwhile, children from medium to high-level socioeconomic status families have significant advantages in perceiving cognitive activation strategies, problem-solving perseverance, and academic performance, and their mathematical anxiety is relatively lower (2) The perceived cognitive activation strategies of students are significantly positively correlated with problem-solving perseverance and mathematical academic performance, but negatively correlated with their mathematical anxiety (3) Perseverance has a significant positive predictive effect on the middle school student’s mathematical achievement (4) Perseverance has partial mediating contribute to the impact of student perceived cognitive activation strategies on their personal mathematical academic performance (5) compared with low-level mathematical anxiety, higher levels of mathematical anxiety have a more significant inhibitory effect on the positive impact of individual perceptual cognitive activation strategies on their perseverance. In the future, providing students with sufficient opportunities for mathematics learning in classroom teaching, cultivating their problem-solving perseverance to enhance their cognitive activation level, and minimizing their academic burden both inside and outside the school to alleviate their mathematics anxiety are important ways for East Asian middle school students to improve their mathematics academic progress.