Purpose

Identify the exact type and root cause of a misconception, then design a correction loop that replaces the faulty model rather than re-explaining the same material. Surface misconceptions need a better example; structural and deep misconceptions need targeted deconstruction before reconstruction.

Activation

• Learner makes the same conceptual error repeatedly. check-understanding or challenge-generator flagged a pattern. Learner's explanation reveals a plausible but incorrect mental model. Learner believes they understand but consistently applies it wrong.
• Skip if: one-time execution mistake with no conceptual root. Concept hasn't been taught yet → teach-concept. Issue is environmental → debug-teacher.
• Routing: run before check-understanding recheck when persistent error detected. Pair with socratic-mode for deep misconceptions. Log to weak-area-tracker.

Inputs

• Learner's incorrect statement/reasoning, concept being misunderstood, prior error history, correct mental model.

Misconception Types

• Surface: wrong terminology/label, underlying model partially correct → fix with clear definition + contrast example.
• Structural: wrong causal model — knows vocabulary but has mechanism wrong → fix with step-by-step worked trace.
• Deep: fundamentally wrong model conflicting with multiple related concepts → fix with socratic-mode to expose contradiction first, then correct.