How to Teach This Curriculum

Who the material is for

Students get the most out of the material when someone guides them through it, so the lessons are not intended as self-study.

Order

The modules build on each other, so the natural approach is to teach them in the order they appear, and to present the material within each module in order as well. Context makes more sense once students know that a prompt is a program. Instructing by example builds on the idea that a large language model completes patterns, which the context module introduces. Personas combine instruction, context, and example, and the processing module uses all of it.

It is possible to skip a module if time is short, but the curriculum is designed for the full sequence, with students finishing one module before starting the next. A module fits comfortably in a week or can spread over two. The lesson comes first, the optional in-class practice second, and the assignment last.

Getting up to speed

The key to teaching this material is to have a firm handle on the examples. Read through each lesson and run every example in the AI tool the class will use.

The responses to the examples will not match the printed ones exactly. Large language models vary each time they produce a response.

Teaching the lessons

The lessons are meant to be taught live, with the AI tool on a shared screen. Typing the prompts in front of the class, reading the responses together, and asking students what they expect before a response arrives all help the concepts land. Students see the instruction, the input, and the result in the same conversation.

The assignments and grading

Each module ends with an assignment with numbered steps and a list of what to turn in, usually a set of prompts and sample conversations. It works as out-of-class work or as an in-class exercise in groups. You will need to provide additional instructions to students on how to turn in the prompts or conversations. Depending on the AI tool you are using, the easiest approach may be to have students share links to the conversations they created to complete the assignment.

Recognizing completion

A simple record of which lessons each student has been taught, which assignments they have turned in, and how each was graded is enough to track progress. A student who completes all of the material and assignments at a satisfactory level has earned recognition, such as a Certificate of AI Foundations from the school. The catalog of concepts and objectives in the appendix describes what a student at that level can do.