Recipe Book status for this module
Module 4 is a mix of CORE and RECIPE — CORE-heavy in the conceptual lessons, with hands-on walkthroughs in Lessons 4.2, 4.3, and 4.5 plus the retrieval-tool sidebar in Lesson 4.1. Every recipe in this module was last verified 2026-04-17 and is on the next-review queue for 2026-07-17. If you find a step that has drifted from current reality (a renamed setting, a moved button, a screenshot a version behind), flag it to your instructor or to support so we can refresh the recipe before the quarterly cycle. That feedback is the highest-signal input to the 90-day refresh.
CORE blocks (the four moves of a research agent in 4.1, the five-part scoping brief in 4.2, the triangulation and open-before-cite rule in 4.3, the synthesis plan in 4.4, the three output shapes in 4.5) are tool-agnostic and will not need refreshing — they are the part of Module 4 that will still be true in three years.
Lessons in this module CORE + RECIPE
Work through these in order. Each lesson ends with a project checkpoint that adds to your research-brief log draft; Lesson 4.5 freezes the log.
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4.1 What a research agent actually is.
Mostly COREThe mental model that separates summarizing from research. The four moves of a research agent — scope, retrieve, triangulate, synthesize — with the director’s check laid over the top. Why fabrication risk is highest here and how to recognize the tasks a research agent is the right tool for (and the tasks it is not). Pairs with the Anatomy of a research task worksheet and the Research Surface capstone block.
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4.2 Scoping the research question.
Mostly COREThe five-part scoping brief — question, reader-and-decision, answer-shape, out-of-scope, constraints — that every research task starts with. Converting vague asks into bounded questions, using the agent as a scoping critic, and saving one scope per session. Ends by writing capstone-entry-1-draft.md, the scoping-brief draft for your Module 4 capstone.
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4.3 Source triangulation and fact-checking.
Mostly COREThe most important lesson in Module 4. The three source tiers (primary, secondary, tertiary), the three triangulation questions, the four fabrication patterns (invented source, fake quote, misrepresented finding, broken URL), the four-step open-before-cite checklist, and the five-section fact-check memo you will write as capstone-entry-2. Pairs with the Find the fabricated citation activity.
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4.4 Synthesis: from findings to a usable output.
Mostly CORESynthesis is not summary. The three synthesis failure modes (false voice, fact-free connector, single-source-as-consensus), the six-part synthesis plan, and the discipline of holding uncertainty near the claim rather than quarantining it in a postscript. Ends by drafting capstone-entry-3, the synthesis-brief draft for your Module 4 capstone.
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4.5 Shipping research outputs.
CORE + RECIPEThree output shapes — scoping brief, fact-check memo, synthesis brief — and the final open-before-cite audit that every brief passes before it ships. Polish pass plus freeze pass, in one sitting. Freeze /capstone/research-brief-log-v1.md — the fourth capstone artifact of the course — with the open-before-cite rule pasted verbatim at the bottom as the visible safety norm.
Module wrap-up
End-of-module check.
Ten questions across 15 points — six multiple choice, two short-answer, two applied. Closed-book for the recall sections; open-workstation for the applied pair, where you audit a real passage for source integrity under time pressure and scope a fresh research task end to end. Passing bar: 11.5 / 15 with full credit on at least one applied question. The parent scoring summary makes it straightforward to document as a module assessment on a transcript.
Resources for this module RECIPE
Eight printable companions and one interactive activity run alongside the lessons. Each printable is a print-to-PDF page that prints cleanly on letter paper. Use them in the order their lessons reference them.
- Anatomy of a research task — six-task printable worksheet for Lesson 4.1. Classifies each example along the four research moves and the strong-zone / tripwire axis, ending with a reflection line for the student’s own research history.
- Scoping brief template — the fillable template for Lesson 4.2. Five sections — question, reader-and-decision, answer-shape, out-of-scope, constraints — with a sidebar of the five-question self-test.
- Source-list template — the source-list.md scaffold you grow across Lessons 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5. Tier columns (primary / secondary / tertiary), a status column (not-yet-opened / opened-and-confirmed), and a what-it-says column for your own one-sentence paraphrase.
- Open-before-cite checklist — reference card for Lesson 4.3 and every subsequent module that touches research. Four steps on the front, four fabrication patterns on the back. Designed to tape to the side of your monitor.
- Find the fabricated citation drill — interactive HTML activity for Lesson 4.3. A staged briefing packet with real and fabricated citations mixed together, walked through question by question with reveal-on-click scoring.
- Fact-check memo template — fillable for Lesson 4.3. Five sections — claim, verdict, evidence, confidence, what-would-change-your-mind — with a sidebar on the four confidence tiers.
- Synthesis plan template — fillable for Lesson 4.4. Six sections — question, thesis, structure, evidence-map, uncertainty-ledger, reader-next — with a checklist of the three synthesis failure modes.
- Open-before-cite final audit — fillable for Lesson 4.5. The five-step end-of-brief audit worksheet used during the polish-and-freeze session.
- Research-brief log template — the capstone-file scaffold that assembles in Lesson 4.5 into your frozen research-brief-log-v1.md. Module-summary header, three entry blocks with metadata and reflection lines, open-before-cite rule pinned at the bottom.
What you should have when this module is done CORE
By the time you close out Module 4, you should be able to point to six concrete things on your machine and in your capstone folder:
- A topic folder (~/module-04/<your-topic>/) containing your sources organized by tier (sources/primary/, sources/secondary/, sources/tertiary/) and the three entry drafts.
- A saved source-list.md with every source tagged by tier and every status column marked opened-and-confirmed for the sources that made it into the final capstone.
- A saved synthesis-plan.md from Lesson 4.4 — the six-part plan your synthesis brief was built on.
- Your open-before-cite checklist printed and in sight of your workstation. If it is not physically visible to you, the habit has not landed yet.
- A frozen /capstone/research-brief-log-v1.md containing, in order: a one-paragraph module summary, three entries (scoping brief, fact-check memo, synthesis brief) each with metadata and a one-paragraph reflection, and the open-before-cite rule pasted verbatim at the bottom as the visible safety norm.
- The completed end-of-module check in your portfolio, scored at 11.5 / 15 or better with full credit on at least one applied question.
If any of these is missing, go back to the checkpoint that produced it and finish before moving on. Module 5 assumes the research-directing muscle is real — the email and calendar agents it teaches are the same loop on work that sees your inbox.
Coming next
Module 5 — Email & calendar agents.
The directing muscle transfers again. Module 5 picks up the same four-move loop on work that sees your inbox and your calendar: triage, drafting, meeting prep, and the safe patterns for letting an agent touch sensitive data. The operational safety norm this time is about permissions and data boundaries; the craft this time is brief, accurate, human-sounding prose under a time constraint.
Module 5 opens when the Module 4 portfolio is complete — the six items above, including the end-of-module check.