Before
"Make week 4 of my nursing pharmacology syllabus about dosage calculations."
No outcome, no learners, no evidence: the AI guesses at all three.
Faculty development workshop · 90 minutes · bring one course
Write AI prompts that start from what students should be able to do.
Generic prompts get generic course materials. In this hands-on session you will turn a learning outcome into a prompt that drafts a syllabus section or a five-minute microlearning activity you can actually use, then check the draft before it reaches students.
Why start with the outcome?
An AI tool cannot know what success looks like in your course unless you tell it. When a prompt names a measurable outcome, the learners, and the evidence you will accept, the draft has something to align to, and you have something to check it against.
- Topic-first prompt
- "Write a syllabus for intro statistics."
- Outcome-first prompt
- "Students will be able to choose an appropriate test for a two-group comparison and justify it in two sentences. Draft the week 6 syllabus entry that builds toward this."
The six-part prompt
Work through the parts in order. The first three come from your course design; the last three shape what the AI hands back.
- 1
Outcome
One measurable outcome, starting with an observable verb: explain, compare, calculate, design, critique. Avoid understand or know.
- 2
Learners
Who they are, what they already know, and anything that changes the approach: first-year, online, working adults, multilingual.
- 3
Evidence
How students will show the outcome: a short answer, a worked problem, a peer critique. Ask the AI to design toward it.
- 4
Format
The exact material you want: a syllabus week, a reading guide, a five-minute micro-lesson, three check questions.
- 5
Constraints
Length, reading level, accessibility, your institution's AI and syllabus policies, and what must not be invented.
- 6
Check
Ask the AI to map each part of its draft back to the outcome and list anything it assumed or could not verify.
Your prompt
Paste it into the AI tool your institution supports. Never paste student records or other protected information.
Before and after
After
"Outcome: students will be able to calculate a weight-based pediatric dose and check it against a safe range. Learners: second-year BSN students, comfortable with ratio and proportion. Evidence: five timed practice problems and one error-spotting case. Format: the week 4 entry in our syllabus template (topics, readings, activities, assessment, due dates). Constraints: under 250 words, no invented readings, mark any reading I must supply as [ADD READING]. Check: map each activity to the outcome and list your assumptions."
Before
"Create a short lesson on writing good thesis statements."
"Good" and "short" mean different things to every reader, including the AI.
After
"Outcome: students will be able to revise a vague thesis into one that makes an arguable, specific claim. Learners: first-year composition students on phones between classes. Evidence: one revised thesis, checked against a three-point list. Format: a five-minute microlearning activity: a 60-word explanation, one worked example, one practice item with feedback for right and wrong answers. Constraints: reading level grade 9, no images required, works without audio. Check: say which part of the activity produces the evidence."
Agenda
- 0:00
Welcome and one course
Pick the course and the one outcome you will work on today.
- 0:10
Outcomes first
Rewrite your outcome with an observable verb and a clear piece of evidence.
- 0:25
Draft a syllabus section
Use the six-part prompt to draft one week or unit, then compare drafts with a partner.
- 0:50
Draft a microlearning activity
Turn the same outcome into a five-minute activity with a quick check.
- 1:15
Review and share
Run the review checklist, fix what it finds, and share one prompt with the group.
Review before you use it
AI drafts are a starting point. Work through this list before anything reaches students. Your progress is kept on this device when your browser allows it.
0 of 6 checked