ALL Faculty Should Learn AI: Two Prompts to Get Started
Generative AI is here to stay. Barring some zombie apocalypse, AI is going to affect higher ed in significant ways. Its effects are already being seen on every college campus. I think this reality is rapidly moving from supposition to fact.
There are good reasons to not be overly pleased by the new state of affairs, but it's folly to ignore AI and hope it goes away. It absolutely is time to face reality. If you're reading this, you've probably already come to this conclusion, but, based on my observations, many of your colleagues haven't. It's time to help them.
There are numerous reasons faculty might be resistant to AI, some of them quite reasonable … increased workload in learning and adapting to AI, uncertainty given the rapid pace of AI development and how to respond, the learning curve … the list of legitimate concerns is long. But it's not enough to simply "resist" by ignoring AI or lamenting against it—effective resistance cannot come from a pace of ignorance. If you're in the "resist" camp, you really need to understand what you're resisting and the only way to do that with AI is to use it. Once you understand AI's capabilities and proclivities, you'll be much better positioned to create learning activities and assessments that are (mostly) AI proof. (I'm not sure any assignment is AI proof to a skilled student.)
In this article, I'm going to provide two simple prompts that virtually any professor can use. The prompts are directed at high return on investment tasks that deliver value with a minimum of effort.
All of the prompts follow the RIC(E) framework. The framework includes four elements:
Roles: Define who you want the AI to be (e.g., experienced professor, curriculum designer, writing coach)
Instructions: Clear, specific directions about what you want the AI to do
Context: Background information the AI needs to understand the situation and provide relevant responses
Examples (optional): Sample responses or formats to guide the AI's output style
This simple framework has proven to be highly effective in designing solid prompts. Let’s get started. I’m using ChatGPT 4o, but results would be similar in other chatbots.
Prompt 1: Syllabus Critique
The goal of the syllabus critique is to tighten your syllabus. If you're like me, you do not enjoy creating or updating syllabi. It's a pain, but it's necessary. We're going to assume that you have an existing syllabus. The prompt has two tasks: 1) to identify weak areas of the syllabus, and 2) to note where you might need to update dates or other information.
Before using the prompt below, be sure to attach the relevant syllabus. I used one from my undergrad core business class on information systems. The first sentence sets the role, the next two give specific instructions, and the last sentence provides some examples of things to look for. The syllabus provided the context. I could have added additional context, such as the fact that it’s a core class, but this didn’t seem necessary.
You are a professor of information systems. Please critique this syllabus for comprehensiveness and clarity. Identify any missing or unclear elements and suggest necessary and recommended changes. Also, list sections where information needs to be updated for a new term. For example, section number, meeting days/times and room might change.
Below is a portion of the response. Click here for the full session.
I really liked this table, which came at the end of ChatGPT’s response. That is one useful table!
You can see that it did a good job of identifying things that may need to be changed. It really didn’t like my AI Policy, which is interesting. I’ve started pushing more syllabus content to our learning management system (LMS) to keep my syllabi from getting longer and longer. That’s my choice and I’m fine with it, so I’ll just ignore ChatGPT here. This is important to remember. You’re always free to ignore AI, but that doesn’t make the critique any less useful. ChatGPT made a number of other suggestions, some of which I liked and some of which I would ignore. Here’s the thing: The entire process, including my evaluation of ChatGPT’s advice, took about five minutes, maybe less. Of course, I still need to make the changes, but AI probably saved at least 20 minutes for this task. That’s a small, but non-trivial time savings. More importantly, ChatGPT caught a few things I might have missed, such as a suggestion to add a list of required technology tools. That’s a solid suggestion.
Let’s look at a second example, one that’s more open-ended and gives ChatGPT a chance to flex its creativity muscles.
Prompt 2: Brainstorm class activities
Coming up with fresh class activities is a bit of a chore, although I find it at least somewhat enjoyable in that it's a chance to practice some creativity. The problem is often getting started. AI can be great at overcoming the "blank page" problem. Before entering this prompt, you may want to attach your class notes or slides to give the chatbot some context, but you can use the prompt without this by modifying it to describe the context rather than providing it through an attachment. Here's the prompt.
You are an expert in active learning. Attached is a slide deck for a class session for a third-year business core class in information systems. Your task is to create ten engaging, relevant in-class activities for this class session. Activities should take 10 to 20 minutes, including class discussion. Just describe the activities. I'll ask for more details for those I find the most useful.
You might notice that my instructions are much more detailed this time. This wasn’t absolutely necessary, but it will improve the results. One portion of the instructions that is really important is telling ChatGPT how long the activities should take. The bit about just describing the activities makes the process a little more efficient since it’s likely that you’ll like some, but not all of the suggestions. Remember: Prompting is iterative, so there’s no need to wade through a bunch of details for activities you don’t like. You can get the details in additional prompts.
The first three suggestions are shown below. The full session is available here.
I kind of like #1 and #3. The Knowledge Management Walkabout is interesting but would be challenging in my 90-student class. Three or four of the ten suggestions were worth pursuing further. I might take this a step further and ask for additional suggestions if I wasn’t completely wowed by any of the first ten. If I wanted to develop #1 and #3 more, I’d simply ask ChatGPT to provide more details, such as learning objectives, timings, materials needed … whatever I think would be helpful.
Remember that you can tweak these prompts to better fit your circumstances. The idea here is to jump start your thinking and cut the learning curve a little. Finally, I want to reiterate that prompts do not need to be perfect. I usually find it easier to give it my best shot quickly, then improve the results as I go along. If you want to make your initial prompts stronger, check out meta-prompting.
Wrap-up
These prompts offer an accessible entry point into using AI effectively in your academic work. They focus on common, high-value tasks that can demonstrate AI's practical benefits while requiring minimal time investment to learn and implement. By starting with these targeted applications, you can begin to understand AI's capabilities and limitations firsthand.
The goal isn’t to become an AI expert overnight; this will take time. Start small, experiment with these prompts, adjust them to fit your specific needs. Once you’re comfortable, expand your uses. Start expanding by identifying tasks that you don’t enjoy, then ask whether AI might help cut down the time you spend on these tasks. Slow, steady progress is the way. Before long, you’ll be using AI to free up time for more fulfilling tasks.
Whether you ultimately decide to embrace or resist AI's role in education, having direct experience with these tools will help you make more informed decisions about how to address AI in your courses. Your students are already using AI—shouldn't you understand what they're using and how it works?
Remember: The future of education will be shaped by those who understand AI, not those who ignore it. Which group will you be in?
Want to continue this conversation? I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you're using AI to develop critical thinking skills in your courses. Drop me a line at Craig@AIGoesToCollege.com. Be sure to check out the AI Goes to College podcast, which I co-host with Dr. Robert E. Crossler. It's available at at https://www.aigoestocollege.com/follow. Looking for practical guidance on AI in higher education? I offer engaging workshops and talks—both remotely and in person—on using AI to enhance learning while preserving academic integrity. Email me to discuss bringing these insights to your institution, or feel free to share my contact information with your professional development team.