Going Goal-Free During Formative Assessment

An approach from a teacher where they are removing the scaffolding from questions to enable pupils to engage with more retrieval.

"I’m making a simple modification to some of my formative assessment this semester. I’m incorporating the goal free effect. The concept behind this effect isn’t very tricky at all. Basically, instead of asking questions this way:

1. List and describe the function(s) of the following parts of the eye:

1. Iris
2. Cornea
3. Retina
4. Lens

I’ll simply ask this in this manner:

2. Tell me everything you can about vision.

"

For those students unable to make a start with this, then a 'cheat-sheet' is given:
My potential solution to this problem: After a few minutes, supply a ‘cheat sheet’ of sorts with terms they should have used. This will provide an opportunity for students to make sure they’re on the right track and allow those who are out of ideas a prompt to get them working again. I plan on encouraging those who are going strong to avoid looking at the cheat sheet…if they don’t need the crutch, they shouldn’t use the crutch. 

This approach takes more time, but may allow for higher quality retrieval and improved learning as a result.

Full blog post: https://theeffortfuleducator.com/2020/01/09/ggf/