Association between teacher emotional support and deep learning among undergraduate students in physical education courses in Philippine higher education

This study employed a cross-sectional design involving 344 undergraduate students enrolled in PATH-Fit courses at a public higher education institution in the Philippines. Data were collected during the second semester of Academic Year 2024-2025 using adapted versions of the Teacher’s Emotional Support Scale and the Revised Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F). The constructs were validated through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4, and hypothesis testing was conducted using multiple regression analysis in SPSS. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the study investigated the association between perceived instructor emotional support and students’ engagement in deep learning within physical education courses. Results revealed no statistically significant associations between overall emotional support, or its subdimensions, and students’ deep learning outcomes. These findings suggest that emotional support alone may not directly predict meaningful cognitive engagement in physical education, and its role may be more indirect or mediated by other contextual or psychological variables. The study offers implications for higher education pedagogy, advocating for more holistic approaches that integrate emotional, motivational and cognitive supports. Furthermore, it contributes to global educational discourse by offering culturally grounded insights from the Philippine context, challenging assumptions of universal applicability in emotionally supportive teaching and learning