Exploring Parental Involvement, Beliefs, and Student Self-Regulation in Online Mathematics Learning: A Multivariate Analysis

Abstract

Parents’ involvement and beliefs in their children’s learning are external factors which can influence students’ online mathematics learning experiences and success. Student self-regulation, encompassing the capacity to monitor, seek feedback, and reflect on learning, plays a crucial internal role in success of learning mathematics online. This study employed multivariate analysis to examine the complex relationships among parental involvement (control and support), parental beliefs (instrumental and relational), and student self-regulation in online mathematics learning. The participants were 125 upper elementary students (grades 4–6, ages 9–12) and their mothers from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Students completed measures of perceived parental involvement and self-regulation; whereas, mothers reported their beliefs about mathematics learning. Exploratory factor analysis has revealed a two-factor structure for self-regulation, that is, feedback-seeking behavior and self-reflection, while confirmatory factor analysis has validated the two-dimensional structures of parental involvement and beliefs. Meanwhile, path analysis indicates that parental support fully mediated the relationship between instrumental beliefs and self-reflection (β = 0.135, p = 0.038), thus indicating that instrumental beliefs enhance reflective capacity specifically through supportive behaviors. Both control and support strongly predict self-reflection (β = 0.471 and 0.645, respectively, both p < 0.001). Relational beliefs negatively predict FSB (β = -0.210, p = 0.026). Moderation analysis has revealed no significant interaction between parental beliefs and involvement. Covariate analysis has shown a significant gender difference in perceived parental beliefs (p = 0.029), with females reporting higher levels than males. The findings highlight the importance of examining specific dimensions of parental involvement and beliefs, and suggest that interventions should focus on helping parents translate instrumental beliefs into supportive behaviors that foster students’ reflective capacity in online mathematics learning.