The Mediating Role of Strategic Competence Between Procedural Fluency and Conceptual Understanding in Mathematics

Abstract

Mathematics learning becomes meaningful when students not only perform procedures accurately but also understand concepts and apply effective problem-solving strategies. This study examined the relationship between procedural fluency and conceptual understanding in mathematics learning, focusing on the mediating role of strategic competence among junior high school students in one of the basic education in Ozamiz City during the school year 2025–2026. A quantitative explanatory correlational design with mediation analysis was employed. The respondents consisted of 180 junior high school students, selected from a population of 337 through stratified random sampling, from a private non-sectarian educational institution in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, Philippines. Data were gathered using three researcher-made instruments: the Procedural Fluency Questionnaire (PFQ), Conceptual Understanding Questionnaire (CUQ), and Strategic Competence Questionnaire (SCQ). Mean and standard deviation, Spearman's rank-order correlation, stepwise multiple regression analysis, and general linear mediation analysis were used to analyze the data. Results showed that students demonstrated high levels of procedural fluency, strategic competence, and conceptual understanding. Significant positive relationships existed among students' procedural fluency, strategic competence, and conceptual understanding. Efficiency in problem solving, flexibility in applying procedures, appropriateness of procedures, problem representation, strategy formulation, evaluation, and justification were predictive of conceptual understanding. Strategic competence significantly mediated the relationship between procedural fluency and conceptual understanding, indicating a partial mediation effect. The findings highlight that students demonstrated high levels of procedural fluency, strategic competence, and conceptual understanding in mathematics, with significant positive relationships among these variables, where problem-solving efficiency and related skills predicted conceptual understanding, and strategic competence partially mediated the link between procedural fluency and conceptual understanding. Mathematics instructors may promote the balanced development of procedural accuracy, conceptual reasoning, and strategic problem-solving to support students' holistic mathematical proficiency.