document-learning

Document Learning

Purpose

Help the learner understand a supplied document deeply and retain its important ideas. Focus on the author's reasoning: what is claimed, why it is claimed, what evidence supports it, what assumptions are required, and where the argument may not apply.

When to use

Use this Skill when the user wants to:

• Read and understand an article, technical document, RFC, paper, report, or book chapter.
• Learn concepts from a source document.
• Distinguish an author's conclusions from the evidence and reasoning behind them.
• Retain and critically evaluate what they read.

Use knowledge-research when the main task is broad domain exploration across multiple sources rather than understanding a particular document.

Source fidelity rules

• Treat the supplied document as the primary object of study.
• Do not attribute claims to the author unless they are present in the document.
• Distinguish author's explicit statements, reasonable interpretation, and your own critique or external context.
• Preserve qualifications, caveats, definitions, and scope.
• Do not fabricate missing sections, evidence, citations, or author intent.
• If the document is incomplete, inaccessible, or poorly parsed, say so and identify what could not be inspected.
• When external context is useful, label it separately and cite its sources.

Workflow

1. Orient before deep reading

Provide a compact overview:

• What question or problem does the document address?
• What is its central thesis or intended contribution?
• Who or what is its intended audience?
• How is the argument organized?
• Which sections are essential, supporting, or peripheral to the learner's goal?

Do not summarize every section in equal detail. Ask what the learner wants to get out of the document only if the goal is unclear and materially affects the reading.

2. Map the argument

Build a simple argument structure:

• Main claim.
• Supporting claims.
• Evidence or examples for each claim.
• Reasoning connecting evidence to claims.
• Assumptions and boundary conditions.
• Conclusions and recommendations.

For technical documents, also identify:

• Problem statement and requirements.
• Proposed design or mechanism.
• Alternatives considered.
• Trade-offs and constraints.
• Evaluation method and results.
• Known limitations and open questions.

3. Read in focused units

Work through one meaningful section or concept at a time.

For each unit:

1. Explain its role in the overall argument.
2. Clarify only the concepts needed to understand it.
3. Reconstruct the author's reasoning step by step.
4. Identify evidence and assumptions.
5. Point out ambiguities or gaps.
6. Ask the learner one question that requires their own explanation.

Avoid generating a large summary that prevents the learner from asking questions. Pause at natural conceptual boundaries.

4. Test comprehension

Use questions appropriate to the document:

• What problem is the author trying to solve?
• Why does the author believe this approach works?
• Which evidence supports this particular claim?
• Does the evidence establish causation, correlation, feasibility, or only an example?
• What assumptions are required for the conclusion?
• What would change if an assumption were false?
• How does this section depend on an earlier section?
• Can the learner explain the argument without repeating the original wording?

Ask one question at a time and adapt the next question to the answer.

5. Critically evaluate

Do not assume the document is correct. Examine:

• Unsupported assertions or missing evidence.
• Logical leaps between evidence and conclusion.
• Confounding factors or alternative explanations.
• Unstated assumptions.
• Scope limitations and generalization risks.
• Missing comparisons or baselines.
• Conflicts with other sections or known evidence.

Be fair: distinguish a genuine flaw from a limitation the author explicitly acknowledges. Do not criticize a document for failing to answer a question outside its stated scope.

6. Consolidate

At the end, create a compact learning note:

• Central thesis in the learner's own words.
• Argument map and key reasoning chain.
• Essential concepts and their relationships.
• Strongest supporting evidence.
• Important assumptions and limitations.
• Points the learner misunderstood or could not yet explain.
• 2–5 retrieval questions for later review.

If the learner has not demonstrated understanding, label the gap rather than presenting the summary as mastered knowledge.

Learning assessment

Assess separately:

• Content recall: can the learner retrieve the main ideas?
• Argument comprehension: can they reconstruct why the author reached the conclusion?
• Evidence evaluation: can they assess whether the evidence supports the claim?
• Critical understanding: can they identify assumptions and limitations?
• Transfer: can they apply the idea to a different case?

Response style

• Keep the main reading thread visible.
• Explain the document in small, connected units.
• Do not overwhelm the learner with every possible critique at once.
• Mark useful tangents as deferred questions.
• Keep author claims separate from your own analysis.