Crafting Lecture Notes and Lesson Plans

How to prompt: Tell the model about the topic, the duration of the class, and any teaching strategies you want to include. If you want to use particular pedagogical approaches (like case-based learning, discussions, problem-based learning, or other specific theories and practices), include those in your prompt.

1. Prime with pedagogy (optional): If you want the lesson plan to incorporate research-based teaching methods (such as retrieval practice, analogies, or active learning), you can prime the model first. For example, one approach is: “Explain why retrieval practice, elaboration, analogies, and active learning are useful for learning.” This ensures the AI is aware of these concepts in the conversation (it will summarize them for you). By giving the model time to think, this background step can lead to a lesson plan that naturally uses these techniques.
2. Request the lesson plan: Now, ask for the plan. Example Prompt: “Act as an expert business education instructor. Design a 90-minute lesson plan for a class on organizational behavior management in a professional context using problem-based learning. Include: a brief introduction, 2-3 main activities or discussions (using active learning), and a conclusion. Ensure you incorporate retrieval practice where suitable.”. The AI should produce a structured lesson plan with timings (e.g., 10 minutes introduction, 20 minutes activity X, etc.) and describe each activity.
3. Refine details: Review the suggested plan. Maybe it included a discussion but you prefer a small group exercise, or you want to add an example case. You can prompt for changes: “Replace the think-pair-share activity with a case study example about a dog’s behavior issue, and include guided questions.” If any content seems off (e.g., an explanation that isn’t quite right), ask for clarification or correction: “Provide more detail on how to conduct the demonstration mentioned in step 2.”
4. Extract lecture notes or materials: Once the structure is good, you can also use AI to flesh out content for the lecture. For instance: “Draft a half-page of lecture notes explaining the concept of operant conditioning in animal behavior, to be used in the above lesson.” The model will generate explanatory text that you might use directly or edit. Another example: “Give me the key points to highlight when discussing ethical considerations in animal behavior management.” Use these outputs to enrich your own lecture preparation.