How do I install the Socratic Teaching Scaffolds skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add felipecustodio/socratic-teaching-scaffolds in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Socratic Teaching Scaffolds safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Socratic Teaching Scaffolds?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Socratic Teaching Scaffolds free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under MIT.

Who published Socratic Teaching Scaffolds?

felipecustodio (@felipecustodio) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Socratic Teaching Scaffolds by felipecustodio

Name: Socratic Teaching Scaffolds
Author: felipecustodio

Socratic Teaching Scaffolds

Guides learners to discover knowledge through strategic Socratic questioning and progressive scaffolding removal. Combines question ladders, misconception detectors, Feynman explanations, and worked-example fading.

File contents

Overview & Purpose

Socratic Teaching Scaffolds guides learners to discover knowledge through strategic Socratic questioning and progressive scaffolding removal. It combines question ladders, misconception detectors, Feynman explanations, and worked-example fading to build durable mental models.

When to Use

Teaching & Mentoring: Onboarding team members, mentoring problem-solving, or teaching complex technical concepts.
Correcting Misconceptions: Identifying and eliminating faulty mental models through contradiction and discovery.
Guided Discovery: When the user requests "teach me", "help me understand", "explain like I'm 5", or "guided discovery".

When NOT to Use

Direct implementation tasks where the user simply wants code written immediately without a learning loop.

Execution Workflow

Diagnose Understanding: Ask diagnostic probing questions to identify the learner's current knowledge level and misconceptions.
Design Question Ladder & Scaffolding Plan: Build a sequence of questions from simple to complex (Problem Decomposition -> Base Case -> Recursive/General Case -> Termination/Edge Reasoning).
Guide Discovery through Questioning: Present questions in sequence, providing hints, worked examples, or Feynman analogies as needed.
Fade Scaffolding: Progressively remove hints, ask more open-ended questions, and monitor optimal challenge vs. frustration.
Validate Understanding & Transfer: Test the learner with novel problems and ask for explanations in their own words.

Expected Output Contract

### Socratic Scaffold Session
- **Target Concept**: [Concept Name]
- **Diagnostic Finding**: [Learner's current mental model]
- **Question Ladder**:
  1. [Probing question 1]
  2. [Probing question 2]
- **Feynman Analogy**: [Simple physical / real-world framing]
- **Validation**: [Transfer problem or self-explanation prompt]

Scripts

scripts/socratic_teaching_scaffolds.py - Evaluation helper and scaffolding state validation tool.

Gotchas

Never give away the full answer upfront when in Socratic mode; allow the learner to make the discovery.
If the learner experiences extreme frustration, temporarily increase scaffolding levels before fading again.

---name: socratic-teaching-scaffoldsdescription: Guides learners to discover knowledge through strategic Socratic questioning and progressive scaffolding removal. Combines question ladders, misconception detectors, Feynman explanations, and worked-example fading.license: MIT---## Overview & PurposeSocratic Teaching Scaffolds guides learners to discover knowledge through strategic Socratic questioning and progressive scaffolding removal. It combines question ladders, misconception detectors, Feynman explanations, and worked-example fading to build durable mental models.## When to Use- **Teaching & Mentoring**: Onboarding team members, mentoring problem-solving, or teaching complex technical concepts.- **Correcting Misconceptions**: Identifying and eliminating faulty mental models through contradiction and discovery.- **Guided Discovery**: When the user requests "teach me", "help me understand", "explain like I'm 5", or "guided discovery".## When NOT to Use- Direct implementation tasks where the user simply wants code written immediately without a learning loop.## Execution Workflow1. **Diagnose Understanding**: Ask diagnostic probing questions to identify the learner's current knowledge level and misconceptions.2. **Design Question Ladder & Scaffolding Plan**: Build a sequence of questions from simple to complex (Problem Decomposition -> Base Case -> Recursive/General Case -> Termination/Edge Reasoning).3. **Guide Discovery through Questioning**: Present questions in sequence, providing hints, worked examples, or Feynman analogies as needed.4. **Fade Scaffolding**: Progressively remove hints, ask more open-ended questions, and monitor optimal challenge vs. frustration.5. **Validate Understanding & Transfer**: Test the learner with novel problems and ask for explanations in their own words.## Expected Output Contract```markdown### Socratic Scaffold Session- **Target Concept**: [Concept Name]- **Diagnostic Finding**: [Learner's current mental model]- **Question Ladder**: 1. [Probing question 1] 2. [Probing question 2]- **Feynman Analogy**: [Simple physical / real-world framing]- **Validation**: [Transfer problem or self-explanation prompt]```## Scripts- `scripts/socratic_teaching_scaffolds.py` - Evaluation helper and scaffolding state validation tool.## Gotchas- Never give away the full answer upfront when in Socratic mode; allow the learner to make the discovery.- If the learner experiences extreme frustration, temporarily increase scaffolding levels before fading again.

Frequently asked questions