Teaching Notes

Short, reflective essays on the pedagogical choices behind the materials.

Most decisions in these materials are not obvious. The notes explain the choices an instructor would otherwise have to reverse-engineer, especially the ones about sequencing, omission, and what gets graded.

Use these notes alongside the course framework and exercises to understand why the materials are sequenced this way, what tradeoffs they make, and how to adapt them for different teaching settings.

Notes are organized around recurring instructional decisions: sequencing, ethics, verification, tool-neutrality, and workflow design.

Note 01

Evaluate before you rely

Why the course leads with evaluation exercises and saves tool fluency for later. The order matters more than instructors typically expect.
Pillar 1: Foundations
7 min read
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Note 02

Confidentiality belongs before prompting, not after

Why we teach client-data sanitization in week two, not week ten, and what gets sacrificed by waiting.
Pillar 2: Confidentiality & Ethics
6 min read
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Note 03

Verification is a professional act, not a chore

Framing authority-checking as where lawyering happens, not as the boring step after the real work. Reframing this is half the battle.
Pillar 5: Verification & Workflow
7 min read
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Note 04

Why these materials name no tools

The course intentionally avoids naming products. Here's why, and how to adapt these materials for a setting that does require tool specifics.

Coming soon
Note 05

Designing hybrid workflows that hold up

Not every research question wants the same human-AI handoff. A small taxonomy that's served well across formats.
Pillar 5: Verification & Workflow
8 min read
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