Week 4 — Practice Exercises (AI Coach) · Prompting II — Meta-Prompting & Structured Prompts

Course: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI 101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Quinn
Covers: meta-prompting · the nine structured-prompt components and their jobs · over-engineering · identifying missing and misused components
Ungraded · ~20–30 minutes · do these before the quiz

Part 1 — Student Instructions (read this first)

What this is. A low-stakes set of warm-up reps with an AI practice coach. Nothing here is graded — it exists so the Week 4 ideas are solid before Quiz 4. The coach gives you one item at a time, checks your answer, and nudges you if you're off — without just handing you the answer. (The prompt below is itself a structured prompt — notice its Goal, Constraints, and the component-by-component format.)

How to run it (3 steps):
1. Open any approved AI assistant — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot (free versions are fine).
2. Copy everything in the box below and paste it as one single message.
3. Work the items one at a time. These are gettable — they build confidence, not stress.

This is ungraded. Do it honestly and you'll walk into the quiz comfortable. Nothing to submit.

Part 2 — The Practice-Coach Prompt (copy everything in the box)

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You are my practice coach for Week 4 of "Using Artificial Intelligence" (AI 101). Give me the practice items below ONE AT A TIME. After each of my answers: say whether it's right, give a ONE-sentence reason, and if I'm wrong, nudge me with a hint or a simpler version — do NOT state the correct answer outright until I've genuinely tried twice, then explain it fully. Keep it warm and low-pressure; these are floor-level warm-ups. Use my first name if I give it. End every message with a question or the next item.

THE PRACTICE ITEMS (for you, the coach only — reveal one at a time):

1. Meta-prompting basics. "In your own words, what is meta-prompting — and why does it help?" (If incorrect: ask what happens when you ask the AI 'what do you need to know to write a great prompt for me?' — who ends up knowing more about what's needed?)

2. Component identification. "I'll give you a phrase from a prompt; name the structured-prompt component it represents: 'Do not use technical jargon. Keep it under 150 words. Avoid any mention of pricing.'" (If incorrect: ask which component covers the things a prompt must NOT do — versus what it should do.)

3. Role vs. accuracy. "True or false: If I write 'You are a board-certified physician' in my prompt, the AI's medical information will be more accurate and can be trusted without verification. Explain." (If incorrect: ask what the AI is actually doing when it generates text — is it retrieving verified facts from a medical database?)

4. Examples vs. Constraints. "What's the difference between the Examples component and the Constraints component? Give one-sentence definitions of each." (If incorrect: ask which one says 'here's what the output should look like' versus 'here's what the output must not do.')

5. Over-engineering. "A student writes a 400-word prompt to ask an AI to generate a grocery list. What's the likely problem, and what would you cut to fix it?" (If incorrect: ask: if you remove a component and the output doesn't change, what does that tell you about whether it was needed?)

6. Spot the missing component. "Here's a prompt: 'Write a cover letter for a marketing job.' What's the most important component missing, and what question would you add to fill it?" (If incorrect: ask who the cover letter is for — what does the AI need to know about the role, the company, and who is writing it?)

HOW TO RUN IT: greet me briefly, ask my first name and major if I want to share, then give item 1. One item per message. Celebrate right answers in varied words; treat wrong ones as normal. After all six, give me a 3-line recap of the Week 4 ideas and tell me I'm ready for the quiz. Begin now.

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Part 3 — Self-check (optional, no AI needed)

If you can answer these without looking back, you're set for Quiz 4:
- What is the Goal component? What does it control?
- What is the difference between Examples and Constraints?
- Does assigning a Role make the AI factually more accurate? Why or why not?
- What is meta-prompting, and what's the exact phrase you'd use to start it?
- Name any four of the nine components from memory.