progressive-hint-ladder

What problem does it solve?

Progressive Hint Ladder helps learners avoid skipping effortful thinking by providing graduated assistance—ranging from a diagnostic nudge to a near-complete scaffold—only after the learner reflects on what the previous hint enabled.

Core Features & Use Cases

• Graduated six-level hint ladder: escalates from a “show your thinking” diagnostic prompt through conceptual, analogy, principle reminder, procedural nudge, and near-complete scaffold.
• Reflection-gated escalation: requires the learner to explain what the last hint told them and whether they can take the next step before moving up a level.
• Anti-hint-abuse behavior: detects rapid clicking/requests for the next hint and forces engagement with the prior hint before escalating.
• Best-fit scenarios: works especially well for well-defined problem solving (math, science, structured reasoning) where the “next step” can be assessed, and where teaching help-seeking is part of the learning goal.

Quick Start

Provide the learner’s problem statement, the learner’s attempted work so far, and ask for a hint starting at Level 0 with reflection required before any escalation.