Prompting 101
Prompting 101 teaches students and professors how to ask better questions of AI systems: scope, citations, revision loops, and academic integrity. Short lessons you can use in office hours or the first week of class.
Let me share a pattern that's transformed how I use AI for research, and it starts with a simple admission from the tool itself. When you ask most AI models to summarize a field, it will produce beautiful, confident…
Read full essayAfter three decades in higher education journalism, I've learned that the hardest criticism to hear is the kind that shows up after publication—when a reader catches the gap in your logic that you missed, or when a…
Read full essayIf you've ever asked an AI tool for help with a faculty memo, a budget justification, or a strategic planning document and received something that sounds like it came from a textbook rather than your campus, you're not…
Read full essayHere's something they don't tell you about working with AI: the first response you get is almost never the best one. That's not a failure of the tool—it's just how drafting works. The real skill isn't in crafting the…
Read full essayHere's something that took me years in journalism to learn, and it's exactly what trip up beginners with AI: the tool is incredibly agreeable. Show it a position—any position—and it will flesh it out, strengthen it,…
Read full essayHere's something that surprises most beginners: AI will produce a confident, well-structured argument for absolutely any position you give it. Tell it to defend, and it will. Tell it to defend the opposite, and it'll do…
Read full essayMost of us approach AI the same way we'd approach a human assistant: we ask it to draft something, then we edit what it produces. This works fine for simple tasks, but it's backwards for complex writing. The more…
Read full essayHere's something I see tripping up almost every newcomer to AI tools: they either dismiss AI entirely or hand over too much control. The sweet spot? Understanding that AI works best as a research assistant, not a…
Read full essayIf you've ever typed a long, detailed prompt only to get a muddled response, here's a simple technique that changes everything: break your request into smaller steps and send them one at a time. This is called chaining,…
Read full essayHere's something that took me a while to learn when I started working with AI tools: the response you get is never the final product. It's a conversation, not a command. The moment you treat AI output as a finished…
Read full essayHere's the truth most beginners don't realize: a bad prompt doesn't always fail visibly. Sometimes it gives you an answer that looks fine but misses the mark entirely. That's why prompt auditing, systematically checking…
Read full essayHere's something that surprises most people when they first learn it: the more you limit your AI prompt, the better the output tends to be. It feels backwards—you'd think giving a tool more freedom would produce more…
Read full essayHere's something that trips up a lot of people getting started with AI prompting: whether to give the AI examples of what you want, or just describe it in plain language. The good news is there's a straightforward…
Read full essayOne of the simplest ways to dramatically improve your AI results takes about five seconds to try: tell the system who you want it to be. This technique is called role-playing, and it's surprisingly powerful. Instead of…
Read full essayIn an era where artificial intelligence is becoming an integral part of various fields, understanding how to effectively engage with AI through prompting is crucial. Rather than viewing prompts as mere tools for…
Read full essayWeekly AI in higher education, curated by Chuck Hampton. Free for educators and administrators.
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