One embodiment provides a method, including: receiving input identifying a goal of a student, wherein the goal indicates (i) a target concept to be learned by the student and (ii) a desired expertise corresponding to the target concept; receiving input indicating constraints comprising (i) a time budget and (ii) an effort budget; and generating a syllabus for the student to reach the goal, wherein the syllabus comprises a sequence of sub-concepts to be learned for reaching the goal, by: producing a plurality of alternative sequences of sub-concepts for reaching the identified goal, each sequence of sub-concepts having both a determined, corresponding (i) effort cost and (ii) time cost, wherein determining the corresponding effort cost and time cost comprises identifying relationships between sub-concepts; and determining, from the plurality of alternative sequences, a particular one of the sequences that reaches the target concept at the desired expertise and fulfills the indicated constraints.
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