Should I grade or should I comment: Links among feedback, emotions, and performance

This paper explored links among three key constructs pertinent to student learning: performance feedback received, emotions elicited as a result of such feedback, and student performance on a writing task. A sample of 464 university students (age: M =18.91, SD = 2.51) were asked to write an essay and then were encouraged to revise it based on feedback presented to them. Path mediation models showed that overall negative affect, as well as discrete negative emotions, mediated the relation between receiving feedback and student performance on the final version of the essay. Furthermore, the direct effect of receiving a numeric score negatively predicted students' performance on an essay exam and positively predicted the experience of negative emotions. The indirect effect was positive, suggesting that the experience of negative emotions may have served as a motivational factor in students' desire to improve performance. More research is needed to further explain this relation and the reciprocal causal role emotions play in different feedback mechanisms and performance. •We explored links among performance feedback, emotions, and subsequent academic performance•Discreet negative emotions mediated the relation between receiving grades and student performance•Presentation of grade resulted in students' decrease in pride•The direct effect of receiving a numeric score negatively predicted students' performance•Negative emotions may serve as a motivational factor in students' desire to improve performance