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Learning Outcomes And Review Rubric

Use this guide to evaluate whether the curriculum teaches real Azure skills instead of only showing copy-and-paste commands.

Learner Outcomes

Phase Lessons Learner can demonstrate
Workstation readiness 090 Optionally install and verify the full Windows contributor toolchain
Terraform foundation 100-160 Evaluate Terraform locally, verify Azure readiness without paid resources, then run the first deployment and learn state/locking
Network foundation 170-180 Design a VNet, subnets, address ranges, and NSG rules with explainable intent
Windows compute 190-270 Deploy Windows VMs, bootstrap IIS, use Bastion, configure load balancing, and scale VMSS workloads
Platform services 280-350 Add NAT Gateway, DNS, remote state, Key Vault, and private endpoints
Operations 360-390 Add monitoring, CI validation, Azure SQL private access, and a final reference architecture

Review Rubric

Area Strong evidence Needs work
Learning clarity The lesson explains what is being built, why it matters, and how to verify it Steps work but the reason behind them is unclear
Safety Secrets, public access, cleanup, and costs are called out before risky commands Learners could create resources without understanding exposure or cost
Terraform quality Code is formatted, validated, named consistently, and split only where it helps readability Code works once but is hard to review or repeat
Azure accuracy Resources match current Azure patterns and avoid obsolete defaults Resource choices are unexplained or likely to drift quickly
Windows path PowerShell commands are first-class and tested on the documented workstation path Windows users must translate from another shell
Documentation Diagrams, runbooks, validation, and cleanup sections are aligned with the code README content and Terraform behavior disagree
Operations CI, linting, scanning, and dependency updates are documented and repeatable Quality checks exist but are difficult to run or interpret

Evidence Checklist

Before calling a lesson ready, verify:

  1. The lesson README names the goal and expected result.
  2. The Terraform files pass terraform fmt -check.
  3. Lockfile-readonly, backend-free static validation passes; Azure plans remain explicit local/manual actions.
  4. The sample variables avoid real names, real credentials, and private tenant data.
  5. The cleanup path is clear and tested.
  6. Catalog-generated previous/next navigation is correct.
  7. Any diagram matches the deployed resource shape.

Phase Review Questions

  • Can a learner explain what changed from the previous phase?
  • Can a learner predict what Azure resources will be created before running terraform plan?
  • Can a learner identify which resources cost money while idle?
  • Can a learner explain which traffic is public, private, inbound, and outbound?
  • Can a learner recover safely from a partial apply or failed destroy?