3 ChatGPT Prompts for Extending Learning with Successful Students

Despite the concerns about cheating and—more existentially—about being replaced by artificial intelligence, teachers can save a lot of time and effort by using generative A.I. tools like ChatGPT to help create teaching materials. It's the perfect melding of our expertise with the efficiency of large language models.

ChatGPT can be used to make content for any step in a learning cycle, from assessing student prior knowledge to delivering content to measuring student mastery after the lesson. Here, however, I will share three prompts I've used quite a bit to help me create enrichment lessons for students who show mastery at an early stage. These lessons can benefit those students directly, but also can sometimes free me up to remediate with students who need some extra help.

"Give me a brief explanation of __________. Include some errors in your explanation."

One of the more advanced skills that students develop when learning a new topic is the ability to recognize and correct errors in other’s work. We know that A.I. models can sometimes "hallucinate", generating inaccurate details, but we can actually tell the chatbot to include mistakes. In this way, students build a deeper understanding of a topic by critiquing A.I.-produced text, looking for and correcting mistakes.

"Create 3 real-world word problems that require students to show that they know how to ___________."

When students reach a solid level of mastery early on in a learning cycle, it’s important to keep their interest and motivation rolling by giving them activities and resources that extend out from where they are. Applying their knowledge to real-world situations is a great way to build relevance.

"Create a game for advanced students to learn more about ________."

Games and puzzles are a fantastic way to provide extra reinforcement while pushing learning further in a fun way. Consider tweaking this prompt to make specific types of games or to modify the length of the game.

As you try out these prompts, don't be afraid to modify them and adjust them to include descriptors about the age-level of your students or the specific content standards that you are teaching. And—most of all—share what works and doesn't work for you and your students.