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What it is

The Living Learning Graph is a directed graph of 210+ skills where edges represent prerequisites. Every learner has their own mastery score for each skill — a number from 0 to 1 that reflects how well you actually know it. Unlike a course completion checkbox, mastery scores respond to how you perform, decay if you don’t revisit, and drive personalised recommendations for what to learn next.

Understanding your mastery score

ScoreWhat it means
0.0 – 0.3Not yet learned, or largely forgotten
0.3 – 0.6Developing — you know the basics, needs reinforcement
0.6 – 0.85Solid understanding
0.85 – 1.0Expert — ready to explain this to someone else

How scores update

When you complete a lab or review, your mastery updates using a weighted blend:
new_mastery = (old_mastery × 0.7) + (performance_score × 0.3)
This rewards consistency over cramming. A single perfect lab won’t shoot you to 1.0 — mastery builds through repeated, spaced practice.

Daily decay

Skills decay at 2% per day without review. This mirrors the forgetting curve and keeps your graph honest — so your skill scores always reflect what you can do today, not what you once learned.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The system surfaces the top 5 skills where you’re in your ZPD — the zone where you know enough to learn, but haven’t mastered it yet. A skill enters your ZPD when:
  • Your mastery is between 0.4 and 0.75
  • All its prerequisites have mastery ≥ 0.6
This prevents the graph from recommending skills you’re not ready for, and avoids wasting your time on skills you already know well.

The skill graph visualisation

On your /learning-graph page you’ll find an interactive force-directed graph:
  • Node size — reflects your mastery score (bigger = stronger mastery)
  • Node colour — reflects your track
  • Edges — show prerequisite relationships
  • Hover — shows skill name, mastery score, and last reviewed date
  • Click — opens the relevant module
Use it to spot skills that have decayed (small nodes), identify gaps in your prerequisite chain, and understand how your knowledge connects.