Module 03 Knowledge Check
5 questions. Pass mark 4 out of 5. Answer every question before checking the answer key below, then retry after reading the feedback.
1. A sequential process is the right default because…
- A. It is fastest
- B. It is predictable and easy to debug
- C. It uses fewer agents
- D. It needs no manager
2. In a hierarchical process, the manager agent…
- A. Does the work
- B. Delegates to specialists and decides when the objective is met
- C. Stores state
- D. Runs tools
3. The main risk of hierarchical delegation is…
- A. Slower startup
- B. Unbounded delegation loops that never converge
- C. Fewer tools
- D. Larger prompts
4. When one task's output feeds the next, a failure mode is…
- A. Faster completion
- B. Errors compounding - a weak first output degrades everything downstream
- C. Lower cost
- D. Better grounding
5. Parallel task execution requires care because…
- A. It is slower
- B. Tasks that write shared state can conflict or produce order-dependent results
- C. Agents cannot parallelise
- D. Costs double
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Answer Key and Explanations
Check these only after attempting every question.
1. B - It is predictable and easy to debug
Start deterministic; add dynamic delegation only when a real need appears.
2. B - Delegates to specialists and decides when the objective is met
Separating routing from execution keeps each role small and inspectable.
3. B - Unbounded delegation loops that never converge
Delegation needs iteration limits and an explicit terminal condition.
4. B - Errors compounding - a weak first output degrades everything downstream
Validate intermediate outputs; do not wait until the end to discover the first step was wrong.
5. B - Tasks that write shared state can conflict or produce order-dependent results
Parallelism is only safe where the tasks are genuinely independent.
Practical Check
Apply this module to your own work: complete the module activity for *Sequential and Hierarchical Processes*, then write one sentence naming what your result shows and one naming what it does not.
Strong Answer Pattern
A strong answer names the task, the evidence used, the check performed, and the remaining limitation. It avoids "proved", "guaranteed", or "always" unless the evidence genuinely supports it.