Overview for Teachers

This lesson explores instructional prompts in generative AI, focusing on how specific commands can lead to more targeted and accurate responses from AI tools.

Important Note

Please ensure you adhere to your school’s approved guidelines and AI policy before introducing this lesson to your students. It is important for educators to be familiar with this technology and its challenges, including the following: 

• Many AI tools require students to be at least 13 years old, and may require parental consent for those under 18 years old. Read the terms of service and privacy policy before using any AI tool, app, or website. 

• It is important to teach students about the safe and responsible guidelines of using AI at the start of every lesson.

• Generative AI tools may occasionally produce inaccurate or fabricated content. Verify the accuracy of AI outputs using discretion and critical thinking. 

• The outcomes of exercises in this toolkit may differ from provided examples, as they depend on your specific inputs and the AI tools employed.

Before the Lesson

Teachers should prepare a relevant news article ahead of time for the independent exploration activity in this lesson.

Slide 1

Welcome the students to the class and briefly summarise the topic of prompt engineering in generative AI. Explain that today’s lesson is focused on how specific commands can lead to more targeted and accurate responses from AI tools.

Slide 2

Start by stressing the importance of ethical and responsible AI use. Encourage an open discussion on each of the guidelines presented, asking students for their input and any experiences they may have had with AI tools.

Slide 3

Ensure that all students have access to the necessary technological tools. Walk them through how to access and utilise the AI platforms that will be used during the lesson, offering assistance to those who might be less familiar with these tools.

*Note to Educators: you may choose any of the listed AI tools that is in line with your school’s policies.

Slide 4

Introduce the concept of instructional prompts, explaining their role in eliciting specific answers from AI tools.

Slide 5

Define instructional prompts, emphasising the importance of using clear instructional verbs in prompts, such as 'summarise', 'describe', 'compare and contrast', etc.

Slide 6

Present examples of instructional prompts, like summarising a book plot or outlining key historical events, to show how these prompts guide AI responses.

Slide 7

Discuss the application of instructional prompts in studying. Highlight the limitations of generative AI and the importance of fact-checking and applying critical thinking.

Slide 8

Conduct a group exercise where students try out the provided examples to see instructional prompts in action.

Slide 9

Encourage students to study the water cycle by asking the AI to help them revise. Discuss and share outputs to evaluate their usefulness. 

Provide prompts related to the water cycle, such as listing keywords, illustrating processes, and describing phenomena, for the students to try out.

Slide 10

Before the lesson: Teachers should prepare a relevant news article ahead of time for the independent exploration activity in this lesson. 

For this exploration task, students can choose to work in pairs or independently. Encourage students to use the skills they have learned in this lesson to complete the task ahead. 

Slide 11

Instruct students on an independent task to apply the skills they've learned. They will read an article, use AI to generate responses to instructional prompts, and then evaluate the AI's accuracy.

Detail the steps of the independent task, including reading the article, entering prompts into an AI tool, and discussing the outputs.

Slide 12

Invite students to share their findings from the independent task. Encourage discussions on the effectiveness of their prompts and the accuracy of AI responses.

Slide 13

Wrap up the lesson by summarising the key learnings from the lesson. Encourage them to continue practising using instructional prompts in different contexts.