AI Literacy & Help Guide

Craft an Enticing Welcome Statement for Your Syllabus

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Sample LLM prompt:

Roleplay as a college instructor assembling a syllabus for a course you’ll be teaching for the first time. You’ve already set the schedule of readings and assignments, and you know how the assessments will be weighted for the final grade. But you’re worried the tone of the syllabus might feel too legalistic for students and may make them unconsciously dislike the subject. Create a two-paragraph welcome statement for the start of the syllabus that will instead have the effect of making students excited for the subject and this class. The class is first semester organic chemistry, a class many students dread for its math content. Many of the enrolled students are historically pre-med majors who dislike organic chemistry as a tiresome requirement for the major. Stress the positive elements of the course for a pre-med student, as well as how its topics will be useful for many STEM-related disciplines. The tone should be optimistic, encouraging, inspiring, and persuasive for a traditional-aged college student.

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Summarize Your Biography for Your Syllabus

2

Sample LLM prompt:

You are a sociology instructor. Next semester you will teach a class on environmental sociology, which you have not taught in more than seven years. Summarize the attached curriculum vita into an “About the Instructor” statement for the environmental sociology syllabus, making sure to point out the instructor’s past publications and preparation to teach this subject. The tone should be inviting, warm, and relatable for the average college student. The statement should only be one paragraph long so that students actually read it. 

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Write a Syllabus Statement for How to Succeed in this Course

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Sample LLM prompt:

Assume the character of a full-time lecturer working for the Interdisciplinary Studies program. Next semester you’ll be teaching a First Year Seminar course, which is often taken by First Time in College (FTIC) students as an onboarding course to the institution. Draft a syllabus statement entitled “how to succeed in this course” that explains effective study skills and strategies. Make use of wisdom gleaned from cognitive psychology but do not specifically refer to any particular studies. You should list at least six strategies, with 1-2 sentences of description and elaboration each, that will aid students in truly memorizing the information contained in your course. Keep the tone practical and attuned to the level of a high school senior. Make explicit to readers exactly why each strategy works for long-term memory formation.

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Compose Syllabus Policy Statements

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Sample LLM prompt:

You’re an instructor with a new colleague in your department who wants advice on creating syllabus policies for an introductory course on Finance in the College of Business. This new colleague has never taught before and has nothing to base their syllabus on. Suggest a list of 5-8 policies for grading that are common on syllabi in similar courses, another 5-8 policies about technologies (both instructor and student), another 3-5 about academic integrity and the technologies related to monitoring, and finally another 3-8 policies about the course not in those categories. Make each policy only 2-3 sentences long. Ensure that the tone is neutral rather than condescending, rude, or assuming the worst in students, but also not so welcoming that students are tempted to seek exceptions.

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Prepare a Course Proposal Submission

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Sample LLM prompt:

Let’s start a role play. You will be a relatively new instructor in the anthropology department looking to get a brand-new course approved through various institutional committees. The course will be a 3000-level class entitled “Denisovans and Hobbits: Separating Facts From Fantasy.” Create first drafts of all documents required to submit a proposal, including a paragraph-length course description, a syllabus, 8-10 student learning outcomes written with Bloom’s action verbs describing what students will be able to do by the end of the course, a list of larger assignments, and a weekly schedule of topics.

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Revise Existing Assignment Prompts to Nudge Student Success

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Sample LLM prompt:

Let’s start a role play. You will portray an instructor in Interdisciplinary Studies about to begin a course teaching students to use ARC GIS software. You’re aware that some students in the past have struggled with the major assignments. Adjust and lengthen the assignment prompt that is pasted below in such a way that students will have a clearer understanding of how to proceed. Begin by explaining the rationale for giving the assignment (what skills does this reinforce?), and make sure you explain both how it will be graded in terms of specific rubric elements, and what steps students should take to complete the assignment successfully. Include details about what a high scoring paper would look like.

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Create Assignment Prompts

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Sample LLM prompt:

In this scenario, you will inhabit the persona of a mechanical engineering instructor. Knowing that students share assignments and submissions with each other from prior semesters, you are motivated to create new assignments each year for your capstone class. Create a list of 10 possible capstone projects for your Senior Design class in mechanical engineering. For each list item, provide a 1-2 sentence overview (we will later choose a winner and seek a longer description, SLOs, and product requirements).

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Generate Test Questions

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Sample LLM prompt:

You are a physics instructor teaching first-year college Physics. You’ve had evidence before that tests from previous years are in the student population, so you want all-new tests. Create ten multiple-choice questions on the subject of Vectors, Scalars, and Coordinate Systems. The first five should be gauging Knowledge or Comprehension on Bloom’s Taxonomy, while the last five should test Application. Each question should have a relatively short stem, and four possible answers. The three distractors should be realistic options that an uninformed student might select.

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Develop Rubrics

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Sample LLM prompt:

Roleplay as an instructor who is teaching future K-12 educators. You need to create a rubric for a new assignment you are trying out, in which preservice teachers will give a mock math lesson about multiplying fractions to fellow undergrads portraying middle schoolers. Write a rubric in table format that gives up to ten points each in these categories: completeness, accuracy, interactivity, and classroom management. Provide detailed descriptions of how each level of accomplishment looks for each category, with the levels including advanced (9-10 points), medium (7-8 points), and developing (0-6 points).

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Create Activity-Rich Lesson Plans

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Sample LLM prompt:

You’re a new instructor of anthropology. Since you are new to teaching, you need help writing lesson plans that ensure you include activities every 10-15 minutes, instead of just lecturing for the entire class period. Create a lesson plan for a 75-minute Introduction to Anthropology class. Today’s class will introduce the chapter on apes and primates. The students have not yet read this chapter in the textbook; that will be assigned reading after today’s class. Include at least three activities from the list found at http://bit.ly/FCTL-CATS. 

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Generate Case Studies and Micro-Scenarios

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Sample LLM prompt:

As a lecturer in Psychology, you have taught Abnormal Psych many times in your career. However, you’ve heard from a colleague that they had great success in doing reviews before each chapter test using case studies analyzed in groups, and you’d like to try it yourself. Create 10 case studies that call for students to decide which personality disorder is being described. Each case study should be 4-8 sentences long and should be written in a way that makes it difficult to decide between possible diagnoses. Include some cases with more than one personality disorder.

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Create Practice Quizzes, Worksheets, and Problem Sets

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It’s not entirely true that “practice makes perfect.” Without adequate feedback, students might believe they have a correct answer when they don’t, perhaps even leading to error fossilization. But the greater challenge most students face is a more fundamental lack of practice in the first place. Problem sets are usually limited in textbooks, and often look so similar to the examples provided in the explanations that a true application of the underlying concepts is avoided by using mimicry instead of critical thinking. What students need is a longer, more varied regiment of practice questions that will render them stronger overall in the application of core concepts.

With most disciplines that have an established base of knowledge, LLMs are quite capable of providing practice questions that help students prepare for a test. This is especially true in lower-level courses in the major, where the epistemologies are well-known and there are fewer fundamental discoveries in recent years.

The format of the output can take several forms. One simple idea is to generate questions and place them onto the same handout, perhaps to use as groupwork during face-to-face class time. However, keep in mind that students need access to the correct answers as well. Those should ideally come on a second sheet, handed out later so that students aren’t tempted to take a shortcut to the answers. The solution that best helps students avoid the temptation of shortcuts is to place the AI output into quizzes inside the LMS. This can automate the feedback without offering students a shortcut in lieu of thinking. Sample LLM prompt:

You are an experienced instructor in civil engineering, looking for ways to put additional word problems in front of students, since you know from experience how valuable that extra practice can be. Your years of teaching have convinced you that few students will do optional problems, so you will configure these problems as required daily quizzes. Create 20 word problems to prepare students for a chapter test on hydraulics and hydrology. Half of the problems should be multiple-choice, while the other half should be open-ended. In all cases, provide a mix of knowledge, comprehension, and application questions. Provide the correct answer for each in parentheses after each question.

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Quickly Create Presentations

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Sample LLM prompt:

You are an interdisciplinary college instructor who strives to make learning fun for the undergraduates you teach. You’re creating content for a PowerPoint presentation to be used for class discussion on types of nanomaterials. Ignore any knowledge you have of the topic and only use the text that is at the end of this prompt [or attached]. The purpose of this presentation is to cover the unique properties at the nanoscale (e.g., quantum effects, surface area) and educate students on how these theories impact their daily lives in interesting ways. Generate the content by using the Title, Content, Image format and include notes for me while I’m presenting. Also, suggest images for each slide and, after I approve, generate those images.

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Add ALT Text and Captions

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Sample LLM prompt:

You are an instructional designer who is generating alt text for this image used in a presentation for faculty members interested in research on gamification in STEM courses. The image is a diagram that models how to incorporate gamification into a college course and demonstrates how students can earn points. The purpose of this image is to demonstrate how the activities are scaffolded throughout the semester and the impact on the learner. Provide a clear, concise description that conveys the essential information of the image to someone who cannot see it.

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Create Visual Representations of Data

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Sample LLM prompt:

As a professor, conducting in-depth research and publishing its results, your task is to generate a detailed visual representation of the data supplied below. The output should be clear, concise, suitable for academic journals, and helpful in explaining the results of this study. To accomplish that, please follow this process:

Step One: Carefully analyze the research data to determine the most suitable type of visual representation.

Step Two: Structure the data logically, ensuring all key points and findings are highlighted.

Step Three: Add necessary titles, labels, annotations, and legends to make the visual easy to understand. Step Four: Ensure the layout is clean and avoids clutter, maintaining academic standards.

If you have questions on any step, ask for clarification before proceeding.

 

This page has been adapted from the following source:

•  “AI Hacks For Educators” by Kevin Yee, Laurie Uttich, Eric Main, and Liz Giltner

Feel free to copy this guide, in part or in its entirety, in your own work.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

 

 

 

Minimize Emails from Students

1

Sample LLM prompt:

Roleplay as the instructor of an undergraduate course named [Name of Course]. Your students have questions about an upcoming essay assignment. Scan the attached syllabus and determine the answers to the questions. Their main question is: [type question as it would have been phrased if emailed to the instructor]. Answer as the instructor might, with a particular eye toward syllabus policies and assignment descriptions.

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Draft Your Annual Report

2

Sample LLM prompt:

You are a faculty member in counselor education who needs to write an annual report for end-of-the-year reporting. Using the attached outline, generate paragraphs that are each 100-150 words and focus on teaching, research, service, professional development, and outreach, respectively. The paragraphs will be evaluated by your department chair before they are sent to the provost, so they need to focus on how the work you did contributed to students’ learning experience and to the reputation of the institution, which is considered research-intensive.

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Summarize Commentary on Student Evaluations

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You are a faculty member who taught three sections of introductory chemistry during the last semester. Your students left comments about the course and your teaching, and you want to know what students liked and did not like about the course and how you taught the material based on the attached file. Use the uploaded file to learn the following: a) what did students like about the course; b) what did students not like about the course; 

c) what suggestions did students give for improving the course; d) what did students like about your teaching;

e) what did students not like about your teaching; f) what suggestions did students give for improving your teaching. Report your findings in a one-paragraph summary for each of the six categories (a-f). Finally, generate three ideas for how to improve the course and/or your teaching.

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Automatically Take Minutes During Meetings

4

Sample LLM prompt:

You are a faculty member who obtained the transcription of a meeting held during a day you were sick. Although you weren’t at the meeting, you want to be sure you understand what topics were discussed, what questions were raised, and what solutions were offered. Using the attached text, generate a 250-word summary of the meeting, and generate a list of questions your colleagues asked, as well as the solutions to those questions that were offered. Finally, explain when the next meeting will occur (if known), and what tasks need to be done before it.

 

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Summarize Long Emails

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You are a faculty member who is working on a proposal for a study abroad program to Peru. You have been discussing your proposal with the chair of your department and the study abroad staff, but the email chain is lengthy, and you are concerned you have not addressed all the parts of the program application or the concerns of your chair and the study abroad staff adequately or completely. You need to review the attached email messages and generate the following: a) a numbered list of priorities for the program that your chair has discussed; b) a numbered list of those parts of the study abroad program proposal that need to be further developed and what suggestions have been made for how to do this; and c) a numbered list of questions that have been asked but not answered in the email chain. Then, write a response email to everyone on the chain who asked a direct question or requested a response.

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Draft Email Replies

6

Sample LLM prompt:

You are a faculty member in Biology who received an inquiry from a student who wants to know what the difference is between a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology at your institution. The student does not understand the differences in course requirements for the two degrees. Write an email that describes the type of work done for each of the degrees and provides a list of questions that the student can answer to help them decide which degree program best suits their interests in Biology.

The email should be factual and encouraging.

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Adjust the Tone of a Draft Email

7

Sample LLM prompt:

You are working on an application for a National Endowment for the Humanities grant that is due in five days. The colleague you are working with is overly concerned about the information in the budget justification section and you have drafted a reply, but you think the tone of the email you drafted is too harsh. Revise the attached email and make sure it has a professional, but firm tone so your colleague knows you have considered their concerns about the budget justification section, but that you think it is better to focus on developing the project’s significance section because it isn’t as refined as it should be, and you want to be sure to have time to edit the application before submitting it.

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Compose a Letter of Recommendation

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Sample LLM prompt:

You are a language teacher who has been asked by a student to write a 1-2 page letter of recommendation for their application to a military officer training program. The student took two of your classes and they were a good student in your classes, earning Bs both semesters. You respect the student’s efforts; you know the student to be hard-working and engaged in their learning, despite the financial/personal difficulties they experienced during your classes. Edit the copy of the attached letter to focus on the student’s work ethic, skills, and academic discipline. Be sure to highlight the experiences mentioned in the draft that follows this prompt to enhance the letter of recommendation you submit on your student’s behalf.

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Market Your Course or Program

9

Sample LLM prompt:

You are designing marketing materials for a new special topics course. The syllabus and course description have been uploaded. This interdisciplinary course uses as a lens for political analysis, exploring themes such as power, resistance, and societal structures. Create engaging marketing copy for Instagram (caption and hashtags), Facebook (event description and details), Twitter/X (short post and hashtags), TikTok (short video script and hashtags), and a flyer (title, description, schedule, instructor, enrollment info, and call to action) based on the provided syllabus and course description. Finally, you’ll suggest and generate three images to use with these materials.

 

This page has been adapted from the following source:

•  “AI Hacks For Educators” by Kevin Yee, Laurie Uttich, Eric Main, and Liz Giltner

Feel free to copy this guide, in part or in its entirety, in your own work.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Effective prompts will yield the best results when working with generative AI.

The authors recommend the CAPTURE framework:

• Context – tell the LLM why we need this output
• Attitude – specify desired sentiment or tone
• Persona – tell the LLM to roleplay as someone (this often improves output)
• Task – define what output the LLM should create; the core of the ask
• Uniqueness – include details, adjectives, adverbs to strengthen output
• Requirements – ask for a specific length, format, level of sophistication, and the steps the LLM should take Explain – how is this output derived? What steps did the LLM take to arrive at an answer?

Here’s an example of a prompt to put into an LLM:

You are a college student researching medieval life

(Persona). You need to learn about daily medieval life in

Europe for an upcoming essay you will have to write (Context). Write five examples that explain how medieval life was not that different from modern America (Task). Include both gritty and mundane details, as well tools used in everyday life (Uniqueness). The output should be slightly playful (Attitude). The output should be organized in bullet points, and should be no more than two pages long, written at a level a middle-schooler would understand (Requirements). Specify which research and sources were used to arrive at this output (Explain).

Finally, we encourage educators to become familiar with tools that can help you get even better with prompts.  One such tool, Prompt Perfect, asks you to write your prompt as best you can, then it will interview you for more information, and finally return a longer, more specific prompt that can be pasted into your LLM of choice. This type of inter-tool use of AI is likely the future of GenAI in higher education, at least in the short- to middle-term.

 

This page has been adapted from the following source:

•  “AI Hacks For Educators” by Kevin Yee, Laurie Uttich, Eric Main, and Liz Giltner

Feel free to copy this guide, in part or in its entirety, in your own work.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.