09:30: "I understood the lecture until I tried the exercise"

Scene: Alex understood the lecturer's JavaScript example. Now the exercise looks different and the first attempt does not behave as expected.

Friction: recognising an explanation is not the same as applying it.

Surface: Copilot on GitHub.com. Time: 10 minutes.

Coding path

Predict the output before running this in a browser console or Node:

const tasks = [
  { title: "Read chapter", completed: true },
  { title: "Practise arrays", completed: false },
  { title: "Draft reflection", completed: false }
];

// Keep unfinished tasks so study time is not allocated to completed work.
const unfinished = tasks.filter((task) => task.completed);
console.log(unfinished.map((task) => task.title));
  1. State what you expected and what actually happened.
  2. Ask for a hint rather than a replacement solution.
  3. Correct the predicate and explain it to your partner.
  4. Apply the idea to a new example: select only tasks that are both unfinished and marked priority: "high". Use a tiny example you write yourself.

This prepares you for the planner feature later. The exercise snippet is deliberately wrong; it is not the production planner.

Non-coding alternative

Read the supplied study notes. Explain the difference between recognising an answer and retrieving it without looking. Ask Copilot to question you, then apply the idea to your own fictional study schedule.

Prompt to adapt

Here is the exercise and my attempt. I expected [prediction], but observed [result]. Give me one hint about my reasoning, not the finished answer. Let me try again. Then give me a different example to check my understanding.

For the reading path, supply the reading instead of the code and ask for one application question at a time. Do not ask for invented academic references.

Checkpoint

Explain the concept without reading Copilot's response. Your second example works, or your explanation accurately applies the supplied reading. Record one thing you still do not understand.

Reflection: could you repeat the task with Copilot closed?

Next: 11:00: the group meeting.