Teacher feedback represents an important determinant for students’ learning behavior in primary school science lessons. Feedback can be defined as an information transmitted by significant others (e. g., parents or teachers) with the objective to support students in their learning processes. This can be achieved in a variety of ways. For instance, teacher feedback can lead to a better understanding of the learning contents by students. Additionally, it is conceivable that teacher feedback leads to changes in students’ self-related cognitions (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). According to the self-efficacy model in achievement settings (Schunk & Pajares, 2009), students’ self-efficacy beliefs and their feeling of helplessness are important mediators concerning the correlation of teacher feedback and students’ interest. Bandura (1997) describes self-efficacy as a persons’ belief to perform a behavior successfully required for a specific outcome. Contrary to this, individuals with low self-efficacy beliefs often feel helpless in challenging situations. Interest, as a part of the intrinsic motivation, can be defined as a persons’ specific relationship to a certain subject. This subject can be either object- or activity-related (Krapp, 2018). Following the assumptions of Schunk and Pajares (2009), positive teacher feedback, understood as a reinforcement, has positive effects on students’ self-efficacy beliefs. Contrary to this, negative teacher feedback, as an expression of teachers’ displeasure, leads to an increase in students’ feeling of helplessness. The extent of students’ self-efficacy beliefs and the extent of their feeling of helplessness, then, affect their level of subject-specific interest in school lessons.

The current state of research shows numerous studies revealing promoting effects of positive teacher feedback on students’ self-efficacy beliefs (Duijnhouwer, Prins, & Stokking, 2010; Lam & Chan, 2017; Won, Lee, & Bong, 2017) and on their interest (Butler, 1987; Xu, Du, & Fan, 2017). In contrast to this, correlations of negative teacher feedback and students’ self-efficacy beliefs or interest have been studied much less frequently. In their studies, Butler (1987) and Morgan (2001) were able to show that negative teacher feedback inhibited students’ interest. There are currently no studies dealing with the correlation of negative teacher feedback and students’ self-efficacy beliefs. Likewise, no empirical findings are available concerning the effects of positive or negative teacher feedback on primary school students’ feeling of helplessness. Existing research findings (e. g., Shan & Zheng, 2018) indicate positive correlations of students’ self-efficacy beliefs and their interest. However, to date, it has not been investigated if students’ self-efficacy beliefs and their feeling of helplessness mediate the correlation of positive or negative teacher feedback and students’ interest. Although there are currently some studies on the effects of positive and negative teacher feedback on students’ self-efficacy beliefs and their interest in reading or mathematics (Duijnhouwer, Prins, & Stokking, 2010; Xu, Du, & Fan, 2017), there are hardly any science-specific studies. Thus, our study builds on several research desiderata.

Based on the self-efficacy model in achievement settings (Schunk & Pajares, 2009) and the presented empirical findings (Butler, 1987; Duijnhouwer, Prins, & Stokking, 2010; Lam & Chan, 2017; Morgan, 2001; Shan & Zheng, 2018; Won, Lee, & Bong, 2017; Xu, Du, & Fan, 2017), we assume correlations of positive and negative teacher feedback on the one hand and primary school students’ self-efficacy beliefs (H1), their feeling of helplessness (H2) and their interest (H3) on the other hand. Furthermore, we expect that primary school students’ self-efficacy beliefs and their feeling of helplessness are significant mediators concerning the correlation of their perceived positive and negative teacher feedback und their interest in primary school science lessons (H4).

In our study, N=669 third and fourth grade primary school students (317 boys, 352 girls) from Germany were asked to fulfill questionnaires. In detail, they were asked to provide information on their perceived positive and negative teacher feedback in primary school science lessons. Both scales, the perceived positive teacher feedback (6 items; M=2.74; SD=0.65; Min=1.00; Max=4.00; α=.90; e. g.: “How often do your teacher say these sentences to you after you have said something in a science class? – Well done.”) and the perceived negative teacher feedback (5 items; M=1.67; SD=0.57; Min=1.00; Max=4.00; α=.83; e. g.: “How often does your teacher say these sentences to you after you have said something in a science class? – That’s wrong.”) were adapted by Burnett (2002). Students’ response behavior was measured using four-point Likert scales (1=never, 2=rare, 3=often, 4=always). Additionally, students’ self-efficacy beliefs (5 items; M=3.04; SD=0.72; Min=1.00; Max=4.00; α=.85; e. g.: “I am convinced that I can also solve difficult problems in science lessons.”) and their feeling of helplessness (5 items; M=1.58; SD=0.70; Min=1.00; Max=4.00; α=.84; e. g.: “No matter what I do for the tasks in science lessons, I still can’t solve them.”) in science were assessed. Students’ self-efficacy was measured adapting an existing scale of Jerusalem and Satow (1999). A self-developed scale was used to survey students’ feeling of helplessness. In addition to the constructs mentioned above, the students were asked to rate their interest in primary school science lessons (5 items; M=3.08; SD=0.72; Min=1.00; Max=4.00; α=.86; e. g.: “I am really interested in science.”). The items used for this scale were developed by Wild, Remy, Gerber, and Exeler (2001) and adapted by us. Students’ self-efficacy beliefs, their feeling of helplessness and their interest were surveyed using 4-point response formats (1=disagree, 2=nearly disagree, 3=nearly agree, 4=agree). Regarding the verification of our research hypotheses, a structural equation model was calculated in Mplus. In detail, students’ perceived positive and negative teacher feedback formed the exogenous variables in the model to predict their self-efficacy beliefs, their feeling of helplessness (mediating variables) and their interest (endogenous variable). Additionally, students’ sex and their class level were used as control variables in the model.

The results of the calculated structural equation model reveal good model fits (χ2=692.253; df=331; χ2/df=2.09; CFI=.95; TLI=.94; RMSEA=0.04; pclose=1.00). Thus, the empirical model shows a good congruence with the theoretical data structure. Regarding the verification of our research hypotheses, it becomes apparent that hypotheses H1 and H2 can be accepted. Students’ perceived positive teacher feedback is a significant predictor for their self-efficacy beliefs (β=.50; p≤.001) and their feeling of helplessness (β=-.18; p≤.001). Likewise, differences in students’ self-efficacy beliefs (β=-.28; p≤.001) and their feeling of helplessness (β=.61; p≤.001) can be significantly predicted by their perceived negative teacher feedback. However, hypothesis H3 can only be partially verified. It becomes obvious that students’ subject-specific interest can be significantly explained by their perceived negative teacher feedback (β=-.14; p≤.05) but not by their perceived positive teacher feedback (β=.07; p=.17). Likewise, only parts of hypothesis H4 can be confirmed. On the one hand, students’ self-efficacy beliefs significantly mediate the correlation of their perceived negative teacher feedback and their subject-specific interest (βdirect=-.14; p≤.05; βindirect=-.12; p≤.001; βtotal=-.26; p≤.001). On the other hand, students’ feeling of helplessness is not a significant mediator regarding the correlation of their perceived negative teacher feedback and their interest. Additionally, the correlation of students perceived positive teacher feedback and their interest is neither mediated by students’ self-efficacy beliefs nor by their feeling of helplessness. Summarizing the main findings of our study, we can conclude that positive and negative teacher feedback are important determinants for primary school students’ self-efficacy beliefs and their feeling of helplessness. Furthermore, students’ self-efficacy beliefs are a crucial mediator concerning the correlation of negative teacher feedback and students’ interest in science. In future investigations, our study should be examined in a long-term perspective to analyze cause-effect-mechanisms.

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