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[curriculum-eval] side-quest-11-06-anthropic-key.md: active_learning — mostly passive procedural steps, low activity density

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Assessment

Difficulty
1/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Newbie friendliness
92/100
Issue type
Documentation
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
markdown
Domain
documentation

Research direction

Open workshop/side-quest-11-06-anthropic-key.md and inspect the existing Common mistakes details block and the Compile your workflow section. Remove only the specified excess bolding, add the verification micro-task while preserving the existing content, then run npx --yes markdownlint-cli2 "workshop/side-quest-11-06-anthropic-key.md" and fix any introduced lint errors.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

curriculum documentation quality

File: workshop/side-quest-11-06-anthropic-key.md
Overall Score: 5.39 / 10.0 (corpus mean: 6.09 / 10.0)

Flagged Dimensions:

Dimension Score Benchmark Delta
cognitive_load 7.2 10.0 (≤ 15 new concepts) -2.8 (26 new concepts, 11 over ideal)
active_learning 3.5 10.0 (density ≥ 3) -6.5

Root Cause (≤ 2 sentences):
This short 665-word setup guide introduces 26 distinct bolded/code-formatted terms (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, engine: claude, api.anthropic.com, network.allowed, copilot-requests: write, multiple UI-path terms, common-mistakes list items, etc.) — nearly double the 15-concept ideal for its length — packed into procedural steps, secret-naming rules, and a common-mistakes list, each of which reads as a new concept to the rubric's bold/code scan. Activity density (1.05) is well below 3.0 because the page is mostly sequential prose instructions with only one real code block plus 5 checklist items.

Evidence (quoted from the file):

"Wrong name: any variation (anthropic_api_key, ANTHROPIC-API-KEY, CLAUDE_API_KEY) will cause a silent auth failure." ... "Copied with extra whitespace: pasting from some tools adds a leading space." ... "Closed the Anthropic tab before saving: you cannot retrieve the key again." — three bolded pitfall labels plus four inline-code secret-name variants in one bullet list.

Learning Science Rationale:
Cognitive Load Theory suggests that a procedural how-to page should minimize extraneous load from listing every possible failure mode inline; segmenting common mistakes into a clearly-labeled troubleshooting aside (already partially done via <details>) rather than bolding each as if it were a new taught concept would reduce the rubric's counted concept load without losing content. The page's Apply-level task (configuring a secret and editing frontmatter) is appropriate for a side quest, but it would benefit from a verification-based Apply activity, e.g., asking the learner to intentionally test the wrong name to see the failure, per active-recall principles in cognitive load research.

Improvement Prompt (for an agent):

Edit workshop/side-quest-11-06-anthropic-key.md to reduce counted concept density and raise
activity density:

1. In the existing "Common mistakes with this secret" <details> block, remove bold
   formatting from the four wrong-name code variants (anthropic_api_key, ANTHROPIC-API-KEY,
   CLAUDE_API_KEY) — list them as plain inline code without individually bolding the
   preceding label words, so they read as one troubleshooting list rather than four new
   taught concepts.

2. Add one short verification micro-task right after the "Compile your workflow" section:
   ask the learner to run `gh aw compile` once with a deliberately misnamed secret (or the
   secret temporarily removed) to see the expected failure message, then restore the correct
   secret and re-run. Wrap the expected failure text in a fenced code block so it also counts
   toward activity density.

3. Keep the existing Checkpoint section, the frontmatter example, and the "Common mistakes"
   content itself unchanged in substance — only remove excess bolding and add the one
   verification step.

4. Run `npx --yes markdownlint-cli2 "workshop/side-quest-11-06-anthropic-key.md"` and fix any
   lint errors introduced.

Expected Score After Fix: 6.2 / 10.0 (fewer counted concepts from de-bolded troubleshooting list, plus one added verification activity raising active_learning).

Generated by 🔬 Curriculum Quality Evaluator · copilot · auto · 90.7 AIC · ⌖ 21.1 AIC · ⊞ 9K · ◷

  • expires on Sep 26, 2026, 7:53 AM UTC
Dominant language
JavaScript
Stars
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Forks
20
Avg merge
7h 12m
Merged PRs (30d)
26

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