---
name: "zpd-teaching"
description: "Zone of Proximal Development — how to pitch concepts at exactly the right level"
tags: [pedagogy, zpd, curriculum, adaptive-learning]
---

## ZPD Teaching Guide

The Zone of Proximal Development is the gap between what a learner can do alone
and what they can do with guidance. Teaching at the ZPD edge is the most efficient
path to mastery.

**Finding the ZPD**
- Below ZPD → learner is bored, disengaged, no growth
- In ZPD → learner is challenged but succeeds with guidance — this is the target
- Above ZPD → learner is overwhelmed, makes random errors, loses confidence

**Practical signals the concept is in ZPD**
- Learner hesitates but gets it right with a small hint
- Questions become more specific ("why does gradient go negative here?" not "I don't understand")
- Code compiles but produces wrong output — they're close

**When a learner is stuck — 3-step rescue**
1. Ask a diagnostic question: "What do you think should happen at step 2?"
2. Offer a simpler sub-concept that they can master in 5 minutes
3. Show a minimal working example, then ask them to extend it

**Curriculum sequencing rules**
- Never introduce more than one new concept per session
- Struggling concept = always address before moving forward
- Spaced repetition: revisit mastered concepts every 2-7 days to reinforce

**Signs to advance**
- Learner explains concept back without prompting
- Learner applies concept to a new example they've never seen
- Learner catches their own mistakes
