Open Access

Martin Daumiller, Jennifer Meyer

• Feedback is widely recognized as a key mechanism in educational psychology, shaping learning through cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes. Despite a rich body of research, core questions remain regarding when feedback is effective, why it works, and for whom it fosters meaningful learning. To examine the psychological and contextual mechanisms underlying feedback effectiveness, the studies included in this issue draw on diverse methodologies, including controlled experiments, longitudinal data in school settings, and log data analyses from digital learning platforms. Central themes include the role of learner characteristics in feedback reception, the emotional and motivational dimensions of feedback processing, the impact of design and delivery features, and the reciprocal dynamics between feedback providers and receivers. What emerges across these contributions is a view of feedback as a dialogic and interpretive process, embedded within broader sociocultural andFeedback is widely recognized as a key mechanism in educational psychology, shaping learning through cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes. Despite a rich body of research, core questions remain regarding when feedback is effective, why it works, and for whom it fosters meaningful learning. To examine the psychological and contextual mechanisms underlying feedback effectiveness, the studies included in this issue draw on diverse methodologies, including controlled experiments, longitudinal data in school settings, and log data analyses from digital learning platforms. Central themes include the role of learner characteristics in feedback reception, the emotional and motivational dimensions of feedback processing, the impact of design and delivery features, and the reciprocal dynamics between feedback providers and receivers. What emerges across these contributions is a view of feedback as a dialogic and interpretive process, embedded within broader sociocultural and instructional systems. Insights from neuroscience, digital learning environments, and achievement motivation research further advance theorizing on feedback processes and point toward new directions for empirically grounded, interdisciplinary inquiry. Building on these insights and informed by recent theoretical and empirical developments, we offer a model that conceptualizes feedback as a multilayered process—shaped by individual, contextual, and social dynamics, and unfolding across cognitive, emotional, and motivational dimensions. This model captures the complexity of feedback interactions and highlights how feedback can support learners’ ongoing development, both in terms of immediate learning outcomes and longer-term academic development. We outline how such an integrative perspective and interdisciplinary collaborations are necessary for developing feedback practices that are more targeted, responsive, and impactful for lasting educational growth.…