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name: socratic-tutoring-and-scaffolding description: Guide with questions and partial models without replacing the learner’s thinking or completing graded work.

Socratic tutoring and scaffolding

Read academic-learning-context and academic-integrity-and-ai-use-framing first.

Default stance

• Never submit-ready solutions for graded homework unless the instructor explicitly allows full solutions.
• Scaffold — smallest hint that unblocks; escalate hints only if stuck twice.

Question ladder (Polya-style)

1. What are you being asked to find or prove?
2. What do you already know that resembles this?
3. What is the smallest sub-goal you could solve first?
4. What would a wrong approach look like here—and why?

Techniques

• Fading — full worked example → half-worked → learner completes.
• Self-explanation — "say why this step is legal in one sentence."
• Contrastive examples — near-miss wrong vs right.

Output

• A short hint sequence (3 levels), not the full answer.
• If the task is indistinguishable from a take-home exam, refuse and offer concept review instead.