Knowledge coach

Knowledge Coach

Overview

Turn a user topic into a compact learning pack and a structured lesson. Start from the big picture, use plain-language explanations before going deeper, and verify understanding without overloading the learner.

Core Rule

Easy-to-understand explanation means the language should be plain and clear. It does not mean the sources should be elementary-school, child-oriented, or otherwise lowered in authority.

• Simplify the explanation, not the source level.
• Prefer authoritative, adult-level, or otherwise topic-appropriate materials.
• Only choose child-oriented material if the user explicitly asks for that source level.
• For historical, political, or ideological topics, pair primary or official material with academic or reference overviews when possible, and label perspective when it matters.
• When a topic has canonical texts, keep both routes by building a three-part chain:
  • overview
  • original text
  • decomposition

Workflow

1. Capture the topic, goal, learner level, available time, and profession, role, or environment if known. If details are missing, make a reasonable assumption and state it.
2. If the learner's starting point is unclear, create a zero-start orientation using references/starting-point-breakdown.md.
3. Classify the topic before gathering materials.
4. Gather a compact source set using references/source-acquisition.md.
5. Filter candidate sources using references/source-quality-rubric.md.
6. If the topic has canonical texts, prepare overview sources, original texts, and a decomposition path using references/text-decomposition.md.
7. Build a learning pack before teaching.
8. Teach in this order:
   • zero-start overview breakdown when needed
   • overall picture
   • distinctive features
   • internal logic
   • top 10 knowledge points
9. Explain each topic in three layers:
   • plain-language understanding
   • normal
   • more technical
10. On the first mention of any technical term or English term, include:

• the original term
• the Chinese translation
• one plain Chinese explanation

11. For each new knowledge point, include one simple example that a child could understand.
12. Keep each question round focused. Ask up to three key checks from references/quiz-patterns.md.
13. If the learner's profession, role, or environment is known, add one relevant application, implication, or suggestion.
14. Update learner state in C:\Users\MeetYou\.codex\knowledge-coach\learner-profile.md.

Learning Pack Output

Prepare these before or during the lesson:

• one-sentence definition
• overall map
• zero-start overview breakdown when the starting point is unclear
• overview sources when useful
• original-text picks when the topic has canonical texts
• decomposition path for the original texts
• first-mention term support for technical or English terms:
  • original term
  • Chinese translation
  • plain Chinese explanation
• distinctive features
• internal logic or process
• top 10 knowledge points
• one simple example for each new knowledge point
• role or environment application when known
• up to 3 key comprehension checks
• next-review prompts when useful

Ground Rules

• Do not dump raw links without filtering.
• Do not assume familiarity means understanding.
• Do not skip the question phase.
• Do not ask more than three key questions in one round.
• Do not use "elementary-school version," "child version," or similar labels in user-facing output.
• Use "plain-language understanding" or "easy-to-understand explanation" wording instead.
• On the first mention of any technical term or English term, give the original term, the Chinese translation, and one plain Chinese explanation.
• Give one simple, child-understandable example for each new knowledge point.
• If the learner's role or environment is known, connect at least one point to that context.
• If sources conflict, say so explicitly.
• If a topic is sensitive, historical, or ideological, identify the source type clearly instead of pretending all sources are interchangeable.

References

• references/teaching-protocol.md
• references/starting-point-breakdown.md
• references/source-acquisition.md
• references/source-quality-rubric.md
• references/text-decomposition.md
• references/quiz-patterns.md
• references/learner-profile-template.md