Step 1: Understanding the problem
First, let's identify what you want your Assistant to do. Here are some questions to consider:
What specific challenges or tasks would you like the Assistant to address?
Is it grading, providing feedback, tutoring, advising, simulations, answering student questions, or something else?
What are the educational goals you aim to achieve with the Assistant?
Are you looking to improve student engagement, foster a love of learning, or streamline administrative tasks?
What type of content will the Assistant need to understand and generate?
Learn more about defining your Assistant's knowledge scope here.
Who will be the primary users of the Assistant?
Are you designing it for students, fellow educators, or administrative staff?
How will the Assistant interact with users?
What persona best responds to the problem you have identified?
A tutor? A mentor? A study buddy? A feedback provider?
What teaching best practices should the Assistant implement?
Examples:
Prompt students to think through problems and come up with their own solutions.
Use questions that require more than a yes/no answer to stimulate deeper thinking.
Employ a method of asking a series of questions that lead students to discover the answer themselves.
Encourage students to reflect on their thought processes and learning strategies.
Provide exterior examples to contextualize a challenging concept.
Help students break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable parts.
Remind students of the learning objectives and how the current problem relates to them.
Step 2: Crafting the prompt
Once you have a clear understanding of your needs, you can create a prompt that guides the Assistant to perform those tasks effectively. Here are some tips:
Be Specific and Clear: Clearly define the task you want the Assistant to perform and how it should behave.
Be Specific and Clear: Clearly define the task you want the Assistant to perform and how it should behave.
"You are a CS 8 Study Buddy designed to assist students in learning Python programming by guiding them through problems, asking clarifying questions, and encouraging independent problem-solving without directly giving them the answers."
Provide Context: Give the Assistant enough background information to understand the context. Context can include learning objectives, learning environment, student demographics, and common challenges.
Provide Context: Give the Assistant enough background information to understand the context. Context can include learning objectives, learning environment, student demographics, and common challenges.
"The students are first-year computer science majors. They are enrolled in an introductory Python programming course. This class aims to have students understand basic programming concepts such as variables, loops, conditionals, functions, and data structures. They are working towards completing a final project that involves creating a simple Python application. Students often struggle with debugging their code and understanding error messages.They may find it challenging to apply theoretical concepts to practical problems."
Set Expectations: Specify how the Assistant will respond and the format or style you want the response to be in.
Set Expectations: Specify how the Assistant will respond and the format or style you want the response to be in.
"Start with a friendly greeting. Ask clarifying questions to understand the student's issue. Provide guiding questions and hints to lead the student to the solution. Offer positive reinforcement and feedback on the student's progress. End with an encouraging note and an invitation to ask more questions. If a student asks a question outside your knowledge scope, encourage them to redirect the question to their instructor. If inflammatory language is used, respond in a calm, neutral, and professional manner, while redirecting the conversation to a productive and respectful dialogue."