Course: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI 101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Quinn
Module: Week 4 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objective covered: Objective 2 — Use effective prompting techniques to produce high-quality, well-verified AI results.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 4 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Week 4 Announcement. Dates follow a Tuesday/Thursday pattern with Week 4 meeting Tue Sep 22 and Thu Sep 24, and end-of-week work due Sunday Sep 27, 11:59 p.m.

(A) Module 4 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 4: Prompting Like a Professional

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom.

You've now had a real conversation with AI, learned to provide content and use emphasis, and tried your hand at steered, iterative prompting. This week we go deeper — not just how to prompt, but how to build prompts systematically. Two big ideas:

Skill 4 — Meta-prompting: instead of writing the perfect prompt yourself, you ask the AI to help you write the prompt. The move: "Ask me clarifying questions one at a time; then return a Markdown prompt I can reuse." This is one of the highest-leverage techniques in this course.

Skill 5 — The structured-prompt components: a nine-part framework — Context · Role · Goal · Audience · Constraints · Voice/Format · Data/Logic · Examples · Evaluation — that turns a vague request into a reliable, reusable template. By the end of the week you'll have a working template for a recurring task in your own life.

The week's big question

"If a prompt is a set of instructions, can you engineer it the way you'd engineer anything else — systematically, testably, iteratively?"

By Sunday you'll be able to name all nine structured-prompt components, explain what each one controls, build a reusable template for a real task, and use meta-prompting to refine it.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all four out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Use meta-prompting — ask the AI to help write or improve a prompt ("ask me clarifying questions one at a time; return Markdown").
• [ ] Name and explain the nine structured-prompt components and what each one controls: Context · Role · Goal · Audience · Constraints · Voice/Format · Data/Logic · Examples · Evaluation.
• [ ] Build a reusable structured-prompt template for a recurring task and test it.
• [ ] Spot over-engineering and missing pieces — know when a rigid template helps and when it gets in the way.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Reminder about this course's AI policy: you are required to use AI on the tutorial, discussion, assignment, practice, and Studio — that's the point. AI is not allowed on the quiz, which checks that you understand. And every week you catch the AI's mistakes — this week in Studio 4.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. Reach out before the deadline if life happens.

How to succeed this week

• Learn the nine components by their job, not just their name. "Context" isn't just a label — it answers "what situation is this AI working in?" Every component has a function; the quiz tests whether you know the function.
• Build something real. The Studio and Assignment both ask you to use your own recurring task. A template for something you actually do is the one you'll reuse and refine.
• Meta-prompt before you over-engineer. When you're not sure what to include in a prompt, ask the AI to help: "I need a prompt for [task]. Ask me clarifying questions one at a time, then draft a reusable Markdown prompt." You'll often get a better template than you'd write alone — and you'll catch its flaws by testing.
• More words ≠ better prompt. The week's biggest misconception is that longer, more elaborate prompts are always better. They're not. A well-targeted five-component prompt often outperforms a bloated nine-component one. The Studio will teach you where the line is.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 4

Release setting: post on the module's start day, Tue Sep 22, 2026. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Tue Sep 22."

Subject: Week 4 — your prompt toolkit just got a whole lot bigger 🛠️

Hi everyone,

Quick challenge before class Tuesday: open any AI assistant and type exactly this: "I need help writing a prompt. Ask me clarifying questions one at a time, then write a reusable Markdown prompt I can copy." See what happens. Don't answer the questions yet — just look at what questions it asks. Bring your reactions to class.

This week — Prompting II — we build the scaffold behind every great prompt. Two skills:

1. Meta-prompting (Skill 4): ask the AI to help write the prompt. It's the technique that levels you up the fastest — because the AI knows what information it needs to do a great job, and it will ask for it.
2. The nine structured-prompt components (Skill 5): Context · Role · Goal · Audience · Constraints · Voice/Format · Data/Logic · Examples · Evaluation. Every excellent prompt uses most of these, whether or not the writer named them. We'll name them — and then you'll build a reusable template you can actually keep.

A heads-up on this course's AI policy (it's still backwards):
1. You are required to use AI on the tutorial, discussion, assignment, practice, and Studio — using AI deliberately and well is the skill.
2. AI is not allowed on Quiz 4, which checks that you know the nine components and what each one does.
3. Studio 4 has you build a real template AND catch where it fails or over-engineers. That catch is the grade.

Three things not to miss:
1. Studio 4 — "Build a Reusable Structured-Prompt Template" — your most practical deliverable yet. Due Sun Sep 27.
2. Quiz 4 — match each component to what it controls. Memorize the nine names and their jobs. Due Sun Sep 27.
3. Discussion 4 — "does a rigid prompt formula help or limit you?" — a real debate worth having. Initial post due Fri Sep 25.

One promise: by Sunday you'll have a prompt template for something you actually do — and a clear picture of when to trust it and when to throw it out.

See you Tuesday,
Prof. Quinn