Have it fade the worked examples
Full example, then examples with one missing step, then two, then a bare problem. AI builds the whole staircase from one solution.
Aug 25, 2026 · 1 min read
The jump from studying a worked example to solving alone is where novices fall. Fading bridges it: successive examples with more and more steps removed, so completion demands grow gradually; faded sequences outperform the abrupt example-then-problem switch (Renkl & Atkinson, 2003). Producing four versions of every example used to be too much prep. It's one prompt now. (Manning's worked-example-fading-designer skill formalises the same move.)
In practice
prompt.txt
Take this worked solution and produce a fading sequence:
Version A: fully worked.
Version B: final step blank.
Version C: last two steps blank.
Version D: problem only.
Keep numbers different in each version but difficulty identical.- Fade from the end backwards: students complete the last step first, which keeps them finishing rather than starting stuck.
- Check the AI's arithmetic in every version before printing (see "Verify AI output like a student answer").
Quick takeaway: don't jump from example to problem. Generate the staircase between them.