Feedback That Grows the Mind: The Role of Formative Feedback and Growth Mindset in Reducing Fear of Failure and Strengthening Learner Agency

Abstract

The way feedback is delivered can determine whether students interpret mistakes as evidence of inability or as opportunities for learning and development. This study aims to evaluate a growth-mindset-oriented formative feedback model designed to reduce fear of failure and enhance academic self-efficacy, learner agency, and adaptive help-seeking. Rather than emphasizing final grades or fixed personal characteristics, the proposed model will focus on learning processes, strategy use, effort quality, error correction, and the next steps required for improvement. A mixed-methods design will compare psychological and educational outcomes in intervention and comparison classrooms. Student interviews will also examine changes in perceptions of mistakes, ability, effort, and success. Process-oriented feedback is expected to reduce evaluation anxiety, task avoidance, and defensive reactions while promoting responsibility, persistence, strategic learning, and greater independence in the learning process.