WSB Teaching, Learning & Assessment

Prompt Engineering & Skill-Building: Mastering the Interface

Effective AI use is fundamentally a communication skill. This theme focuses on Prompt Engineering, the intentional design of inputs to ensure AI outputs are accurate, relevant, and useful. The main consideration here is the transition from treating AI like a search engine to treating it like a highly capable, albeit literal, assistant. By mastering techniques such as “few-shot prompting,” role-assignment, and iterative refinement, you can significantly reduce “hallucinations” and unlock the tool’s potential for complex tasks like lesson planning, content summarization, and creative brainstorming.

Foundational Resources

Researching with AI: Ethics, Citation, and Strategy

A comprehensive UW Libraries roadmap covering the mechanics of How Chatbots Work, Citing Generative AI, and Ethics in Publishing. This campus guide provides instructors with the frameworks needed to manage Tools and Policies while ensuring student research remains credible and transparent.
Explore the Guide

Generative AI: Center for Teaching, Learning and Mentoring

The primary CTLM hub for evidence-based instruction. Access Syllabus Statement templates, a Step-by-Step Planning Guide for course integration, and guidance on Promoting Academic Integrity. It also serves as the registration portal for the Exploring AI in Teaching event series and campus-approved tool lists.
Visit CTLM

Skill Building

Mastering the AI interface is a journey from basic interaction to strategic partnership. This section provides a tiered approach to skill-building: start with the foundational mechanics of prompt construction, advance to professional-grade structural frameworks, and ultimately apply these skills to high-ROI workflows that reclaim your time and accelerate your instructional output.

Dive In & Create!

The AI Prompt Cookbook: Professional Prompts for Every Occasion

Move from curiosity to mastery with this collection of "Gold Standard" prompts adapted specifically for UW–Madison instructors. This cookbook deconstructs complex tasks into simple "ingredients," providing you with the exact language needed to generate accurate, high-quality course materials in seconds. It’s the ultimate shortcut for faculty who want to leverage AI without sacrificing quality or voice.