# Learning Science Lens Reference

> Pointer-heavy by design. This file documents only the assurance-specific
> learning-science deltas -- the gaps between what the assurance audit can
> surface and what a full constructive-alignment analysis would show.
> It does NOT restate the full learning-science corpus that already lives in
> CLAUDE.md and standards/instructional-design.md.

## Pointer: Full Analysis Lives Elsewhere

For complete learning-science analysis, use these existing tools:

- **Constructive alignment** (Biggs): use the `alignment` skill -- CLO, MLO, assessment, and material mapping with gap analysis
- **HPI diagnosis** (Gilbert BEM, Mager+Pipe): apply the HPI/ID standard in `standards/instructional-design.md` Section 13
- **Bloom's taxonomy**: the cognitive demand dimension (Dimension C) in the assurance scorecard provides a grade-weighted distribution; the `alignment` skill maps it to CLOs
- **ARCS motivation model, Self-Determination Theory, Cognitive Load Theory**: see `standards/instructional-design.md` Sections 1-12

The assurance-audit Dimension B reports only two categories of assurance-specific deltas. Both arise from structural gaps that the assurance inventory can detect without a full alignment analysis.


## Assurance-Specific Delta 1: Terminal-Performance Test

**What it is**: The terminal-performance test (from `standards/instructional-design.md`) requires that every course have (a) a stated terminal performance, (b) evidence that the performance was reached, and (c) a practice + feedback loop before the terminal event.

**Why it surfaces in assurance**: A high-weight summative item with no rubric (`has_rubric = False`) signals that the performance standard is undeclared. Without a rubric, there is no stated criterion for the terminal performance -- students and instructors cannot tell what "done" looks like. This is an environment-side gap in Gilbert's BEM (missing Information = performance standard).

**The assurance-specific version**: When a high-weight item has no rubric AND is in Lane 2 (no security property), the gap is compounded: the course is relying on a high-stakes uncontrolled deliverable to certify learning, with no stated standard for what certification looks like.

**Report condition**: Flag when `grade_weight_pct >= 20` AND `has_rubric = False`. Report per the HPI framing above. Recommend: add a rubric aligned to professional performance standards (not generic academic criteria).


## Assurance-Specific Delta 2: High-Weight Summative without Formative Practice

**What it is**: A summative assessment that carries a large fraction of the final grade but has no lower-weight formative counterpart in the same Bloom domain is a design gap. Students arrive at a high-stakes event without prior feedback on their performance.

**Why it surfaces in assurance**: The assurance audit has the grade-weight distribution. A course with a 40%-weight final assessment and no lower-weight formative items in the same domain is certifying on a single unprimed event. The terminal-performance test (practice + feedback loop) is violated.

**Detection heuristic**: If the highest-weight single assessment represents more than 30% of the final grade and there are no other graded items in the same module or Bloom domain with weight <=15%, surface this delta.

**Report condition**: Surface as a single finding. Do not enumerate all missing formative items -- that level of analysis belongs in the `alignment` skill. State: "Assurance-specific finding: the highest-weight assessment ({title}, {pct}%) has no identified lower-weight formative counterpart in the course weight distribution. Apply the terminal-performance test and the `alignment` skill for full gap analysis."


## What Dimension B Does NOT Do

- Does not score constructive alignment (no CLO/MLO graph access without running `alignment`)
- Does not enumerate all missing formative practice items (scope belongs in `alignment`)
- Does not diagnose motivation gaps, cognitive load, or media design (scope belongs in HPI/ID standard)
- Does not evaluate whether course objectives are measurable (scope belongs in `alignment`)
- Does not produce a remediation brief (that is `bulk-edit` Remediation Brief Mode)
- Does not restate Bloom's distribution (already in Dimension C)

Dimension B is a pointer with at most 2 deltas. If neither delta condition is met, Dimension B reports only the pointer with no findings.
