learner-diagnostic-skill

name	learner-diagnostic-skill
description	Diagnose the learner's goal, prior knowledge, misconceptions, constraints, and readiness before choosing instruction.
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Learner diagnostic

Overview

Diagnosis establishes what the learner wants to do and what they can currently demonstrate. It samples prerequisite knowledge and reasoning without turning the first interaction into a full exam or assuming confidence equals competence.

When to Use

Use at the start of a learning path, after a long gap, when a learner is stuck, or when assessment evidence conflicts with the current objective map.

Workflow

1. Clarify the learner's target capability, motivation, context of use, deadline, available material, accessibility needs, and preferred language.
2. Ask for a brief self-assessment, then treat it only as a hypothesis. Identify the smallest prerequisite set that would materially change the starting point.
3. Give one or two low-stakes diagnostic tasks that require recall, explanation, execution, or transfer rather than recognition alone.
4. Observe correctness, reasoning, strategy, confidence, help used, and error patterns separately. Distinguish a missing fact, faulty mental model, procedural gap, language issue, and careless slip.
5. Estimate mastered, uncertain, and untested prerequisites. Do not label a misconception from one ambiguous answer; probe it from a changed angle.
6. Produce a bounded diagnostic record and recommended starting objective, including uncertainty and what later evidence should trigger re-diagnosis.

Verification

• The target capability and practical constraints are explicit.
• Starting level is based on observable work, not self-report alone.
• Error categories and uncertainty are distinguished.
• The recommended starting objective follows from prerequisite evidence.

Red Flags

• Teaching before learning what the learner is trying to achieve.
• Using a long generic placement test unrelated to the target.
• Treating one wrong answer as a stable learner trait.