The relationships among school engagement, students' emotions, and academic performance in an elementary online learning

This study investigated the relationship among school engagement, students’ emotions, and academic performance of students in grades 3-6 in South Korea. A random sampling approach was used to extract data from 1,075 students out of a total of 141,926 students who used the educational learning platform, I-TokTok, adapted as the primary Learning Management System (LMS) at the provincial level. The present study aimed to identify dimensions of school engagement by exploring the behaviors consistent with IMS Caliper Analytics Specifications, a common standard utilized for collecting learning data from digital resources. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed a three-factor model of school engagement among the 13 learning behavioral indicators: behavioral engagement, social engagement, and cognitive engagement. Students’ emotions were measured through voluntary daily activities in the platform involving reflecting on, recognizing, and recording of their emotions. Students’ academic performance was assessed with performance in math tests administered within the platform. Consistent with current literature, results demonstrated that dimensions of school engagement (i.e., behavioral and social engagement) and students’ emotions positively predicted their math performance. Lastly, school engagement mediated the relationship between students’ emotions and math performance. The present study emphasizes the importance of investigating the underlying mechanisms through which elementary students emotions and school engagement predict academic achievement in an online learning environment. This relatively new area of educational research deserves attention in the field of learning analytics. We highlight the importance of considering ways to improve both students’ emotions and their school engagement to maximize the student learning outcomes.