Enhancing mathematics achievement through teacher support: The mediating role of student feedback literacy

Abstract

Teacher support has been widely recognized as beneficial for academic achievement, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Recently, student feedback literacy has gained attention as a key factor explaining how teacher support enhances academic outcomes. While teacher support creates a conducive environment, its effectiveness depends on students’ ability to use teacher feedback. This study examined the relationship between perceived teacher support and students’ mathematics achievement, focusing on the mediating role of feedback literacy. Participants were 230 students from southern China (ages 14–18, mean = 16.15, SD = 0.033). The results showed that teacher support affects students’ academic achievement both directly and indirectly. Feedback literacy among students showed statistical significance as it mediated effects attributable to teachers’ support on academic achievement. Our results highlight that enhancing students’ feedback literacy, especially their ability to grasp applicable feedback, strengthens the positive impact of teacher support on academic achievement.