OpenAI, in anticipation of the upcoming academic year, has revealed how teachers can leverage ChatGPT to streamline the teaching process. In the article “Teaching with AI,” the company presents four specific prompt instructions that teachers can employ for lesson preparation, homework assessment in schools and universities, and independent student learning.
OpenAI researchers experimented with ChatGPT in the educational process and found it particularly proficient in:
- Crafting test assignments and quizzes to evaluate comprehension.
- Generating clarifying questions for homework checks.
- Providing feedback and identifying weak arguments.
- Serving as a translator assistant for students with limited English proficiency.
- Fostering critical thinking skills.
4 ChatGPT Prompts for Teachers
The article provides sample prompt instructions for teachers. Copy and paste these instructions into ChatGPT as is, and for conversations in Russian, prefix the prompt with “Общайся со мной на русском языке” (Communicate with me in Russian):
- Creating lesson plans;
- Explaining course material, providing examples and analogies on the topic;
- Role playing: learning by teaching. Following this instruction, the chatbot will attempt to apply the learned material in practice, while you critique its responses;
- Reviewing learned material.
Example
See how ChatGPT assists in explaining course material, using the example of preparing for an introductory physics lesson on the topic of “Pressure of Solids, Liquids, and Gases”:
1. ChatGPT received instruction (prompt #2 from the list above):
2. Following the instruction, the chatbot inquired about the topic of the planned lesson and what the students already know about it. For this example, the topic chosen was “Pressure in Solids, Liquids, and Gases”:
Upon receiving the response, it provided a concise explanation of the topic, two examples, and one analogy, as instructed. You can modify the instruction to request more examples or a more detailed explanation of the topic:
The response did not cover gas pressure, so a separate inquiry was necessary:
For a deeper dive into the topic, you can ask the AI assistant to elaborate on methods to increase and decrease pressure, units of measurement, and so on. Step by step, ChatGPT can elucidate any subject in the curriculum, providing examples and analogies as needed.
Researchers emphasize that ChatGPT may make errors, and it’s premature to fully rely on it for delivering the curriculum to students. Teachers must be aware of the risks and their responsibility, evaluating how useful the chatbot will be for teaching specific subjects.
