Time Spent on the Feedback Screen and Whether Students Correct Their Errors in a Mathematical E-Assessment Platform

Feedback is central to formative e-assessment. How long students spend on it may itself be associated with whether they correct an error on a second attempt. This study examined the association between feedback-screen time (FST) and second-attempt accuracy (SAA) in mathematics, and whether it varies across items. We analyzed 8051 interactions from 1654 students following an incorrect first attempt on eight differential calculus items in the MathUP e-assessment platform. A generalized estimating equation, clustered by student, modeled SAA as a function of FST (a piecewise linear spline selected through a pre-registered, cross-validated protocol), feedback type (diagnostic plus worked-example vs. worked-example alone), and item identity. Predicted SAA rose steeply up to approximately 3.4 s of FST (61.0%) and changed little thereafter (69.1% at 640 s). Neither the FST × item nor the feedback type × item interaction improved out-of-sample performance. Item identity was associated with SAA. Feedback type showed only a marginal association, based on 143 self-selected worked-example-only interactions. Within one course and one institution, SAA was associated with FST mainly over the first few seconds. These observational findings do not establish causality and warrant replication in other contexts.