Paperlab Curriculum Prerequisite Graph

PaperLab Curriculum Prerequisite Graph

When to Use

USE WHEN: reviewing a whole technical book for curriculum flow, especially when chapters are written by multiple passes or imported from course material.

Pair with:

• paperlab_student_readability for chapter-level learner friction,
• paperlab_book_knowledge_graph for graph output and visualization,
• paperlab_learning_objective_matrix for objective-level coverage.

Concept States

Track each concept in these states:

Workflow

1. Extract concepts from headings, objectives, summaries, glossary entries, equations, figure captions, and exercises.
2. Normalize synonyms and acronyms.
3. Identify the first introduction, first use, first computation, and first assessment for each concept.
4. Create prerequisite edges from prerequisite concept to dependent concept.
5. Flag:
   • use before introduction,
   • assessment before worked example,
   • missing bridge paragraph,
   • duplicate first explanations,
   • glossary terms not used in chapters.

Output Schema

{
  "book": "book-slug",
  "concepts": [
    {
      "id": "hydrate_margin",
      "label": "hydrate margin",
      "introduced_in": "ch10#section",
      "first_used_in": "ch08#section",
      "state": "assumed",
      "issue": "used-before-introduction"
    }
  ],
  "edges": [
    {"from": "phase_envelope", "to": "hydrate_margin", "type": "prerequisite"}
  ]
}

Pass Criteria

• Core concepts are introduced before calculation or assessment.
• Glossary and acronym entries match chapter usage.
• Capstone cases reference earlier theory instead of re-teaching it at length.
• Bridge paragraphs or cross-references exist for necessary jumps.

Safety Rules

• Do not force a strict linear path when the book intentionally supports lookup.
• Do not flag every acronym as a concept; prioritize teaching-critical terms.
• Preserve confidential case anonymization in graph labels.