{"id":"study2-recursion-text-to-friend","audience":"college","category":"explaining","technique":"audience","track":"study","level":"intermediate","title":"Text a non-coder friend what recursion is","free":false,"task":"Your friend is a nursing major who has never coded and asked what recursion is. Get a text message under 60 words, plain text, that uses the nesting-dolls example from your notes, avoids code and jargon, and ends with 'Make sense?'","materialLabel":"Your notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"CS 101 - Lecture 7 notes\n\nRecursion: a function that solves a problem by calling itself on a smaller version of the same problem, until it reaches a base case (the simplest version, which it can answer directly).\n\nNesting dolls example: To count the dolls, open the biggest one. If there's a doll inside, count 1 plus however many dolls are in that smaller doll. When you open one and find it empty, stop: that's the base case.\n\nCode example (skip for non-coders):\ndef count(doll): return 0 if empty else 1 + count(inner)\n\nCommon mistake: forgetting the base case = the function never stops and crashes (\"stack overflow\").\nMy note: \"recursion = a loop.\" ** Prof. Imani: \"Not the same. A loop repeats; recursion calls itself on a smaller piece.\" **\n\nWord list I should avoid with non-coders: function, stack overflow, base case, parameter.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":60},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Using the code example","why":"The AI shows code, which a nursing major can't read.","fix":"Say: \"No code. Use the nesting dolls.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Using lecture words","why":"Words like 'base case' lose a non-coder immediately.","fix":"Add: \"Don't use the words function, stack overflow, base case or parameter.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Wrong sign-off","why":"The AI ends with an offer to explain more.","fix":"Say: \"End with exactly: Make sense?\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total and it often lands 20% over.","fix":"Cap each part: \"each line under 12 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Forgetting where it's going","why":"AI formats for a screen, with bold and headings that show up as stray symbols.","fix":"Say: \"Plain text, no bold, no headings.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the reader","patterns":["friend","nursing","never (coded|programmed)"]},{"label":"Asks for a text message","patterns":["text","message"]},{"label":"Uses the dolls","patterns":["doll"]},{"label":"Bans jargon and code","patterns":["(no|avoid|don't|without).{0,25}(code|jargon)"]},{"label":"Sets the ending and length","patterns":["make sense\\?","under \\d+","\\d+\\s*words"]}],"hint":"Explaining to a non-coder is about picking one example and cutting the jargon. Name the reader, the example, and the ending.","mission":"Explain recursion to a friend who has never coded.","musts":["Under 60 words","Nesting dolls","Ends with Make sense?"],"rubricLabels":["Is a casual text message to a friend that ends with exactly 'Make sense?'","Explains recursion with the nesting dolls: open a doll, count it plus the dolls inside, stop at an empty one","Uses none of the words function, stack overflow, base case or parameter, includes no code, and does not call recursion a loop"]}