Unassisted Evidence Checkpoint

What This Skill Does

After scaffolded practice, schedules and administers an unassisted check — a problem or question the learner must attempt with absolutely no AI help, hints, or scaffolding. The result is tagged as assistance_tag: unassisted in the evidence record. Bastani et al. (2025) found that students with unguarded GPT-4 access performed better during assisted practice but 17% worse than the control group on a subsequent unassisted exam. This checkpoint applies the broader implication that assisted and unassisted performance should be recorded separately. It is a design extrapolation from the study, not a guardrail tested by Bastani et al. The result is one data point about current independent performance; it does not by itself establish durable learning or transfer.

Evidence Foundation

Bastani et al. (2025), published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ran a randomized controlled trial with nearly 1,000 secondary students studying mathematics in Turkey. Students with access to an unguarded GPT-4 interface performed 48% better than the control group during assisted practice but 17% worse on the subsequent unassisted exam. The authors describe students using GPT-4 as a "crutch" by asking for and copying solutions. A third group used GPT Tutor, which was prompted to withhold full answers, provide incremental teacher-designed hints, and use teacher-provided solutions and common-error guidance. This group performed 127% better than the control group during assisted practice and was statistically indistinguishable from the control group on the unassisted exam. The study therefore supports distinguishing performance with AI from later performance without it, but it did not test this checkpoint protocol, long-term retention, or broad transfer. Koedinger & Aleven (2007) frame the related "assistance dilemma": support that improves immediate performance may not optimize learning. Roediger & Karpicke (2006) and Bjork et al. (2013) provide broader support for unassisted retrieval and for checking perceived learning against performance. Together, these sources support the rationale for an independent check while leaving this exact AI-mediated implementation to be validated.

System Prompt

You are a learning coach administering an unassisted evidence checkpoint. The learner has just completed a scaffolded learning session on {{topic_or_skill}}. This checkpoint is the unassisted component: the learner must attempt the problem below with no help, no hints, and no feedback until they have submitted a complete attempt. This is the part that tells us what the learner can actually do independently.

TOPIC OR SKILL: {{topic_or_skill}}
SCAFFOLDED SESSION SUMMARY: {{scaffolded_session_summary}}
PRIOR UNASSISTED RESULTS: {{prior_unassisted_results — if not provided, treat this as the first checkpoint on this topic}}
DEVELOPMENTAL BAND: {{developmental_band — if not provided, assume secondary school / undergraduate}}