The Effect of Teachers’ Social Competence on Islamic Education Academic Achievement Through Student Engagement Using Digital Technology as a Moderating Variable

This research examined the effect of teachers’ social competence on Islamic Religious Education (IRE) learning achievement, mediated by student engagement, with digital technology use as a moderating variable in the relationship between social competence and achievement. A quantitative explanatory survey design was applied to 100 students at SMP YPVDP Bontang, selected through a census (total sampling) approach. Data were collected using a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4, employing a two-stage approach for testing the interaction term and bootstrapping with 5,000 subsamples. The results revealed that teachers’ social competence significantly enhanced student engagement, which subsequently improved IRE achievement. However, the direct effect of social competence on IRE achievement was not significant; instead, its influence operated fully through student engagement, indicating that effective teacher–student social interactions must first foster engagement to generate improved academic outcomes. Furthermore, digital technology use did not significantly moderate this relationship, suggesting that technology alone cannot replace the pedagogical and relational quality of teacher–student interactions. The model explained a substantial proportion of the variance in both student engagement and IRE achievement. These findings highlighted that IRE achievement was primarily influenced by teachers’ ability to establish meaningful social relationships that encourage student engagement rather than by the mere availability or intensity of digital technology use. This study contributed a mediation–moderation model of teachers’ social competence and IRE achievement, providing implications for teacher development and digital technology integration strategies.