The Goal: Create a space where students can practice ethical and constructive “prompt engineering.” With ChatGPT, this means using writing to produce a nuanced complex output.

By completing this activity, students will practice:

➢ critical thinking

➢ communicating clearly and directly

➢ using a growth mindset

➢ reflecting on their progress

➢ analyzing

Here are the steps:

  1. Go into ChatGPT. (To do this, you can click here)
  2. Say hi. Be nice to the AI. (In case you’re curious, the system likes to be called “Assistant.”)
  3. Write these words: “Please write a 3-paragraph essay on an important social topic.” (Please stick to this wording. You are priming the system.) Hit enter.
  4. Read over what the system generates. Ask yourself the following questions:
    1. What did ChatGPT leave out?
    2. What can you push at to make the output better?
    3. Can you find an error in ChatGPT’s logic?
  5. Write a response to ChatGPT, using one of the following openings:
    1. “Thank you. But what do you think about…?”
    2. “Thank you. Please try writing this again, but make this change…”)
    3. “I disagree. Here’s why…”
  6. See what ChatGPT produces
  7. Keep performing steps 4-5 until you feel good about the output.
    1. This should take a bare minimum of 3 tries.
  8. Once you feel ready to stand behind the system’s output, hold down “Ctrl” and “P” to print the transcript. Click on “Save as PDF” and save it to your computer. Then, you’re ready to upload it to the course’s LMS.