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Generative artificial intelligence: Use at University

CLEAR prompt design

Adapted from Lo. L. S., 2023, 2024.

  • Brief with no unnecessary details
  • Clarity i.e., it needs to make sense
  • Natural progression of tasks
  • Context and relationship between ideas is clear
  • Precise instructions and specific
  • Audience e.g. public, academic, marketing team, etc.
  • Reading level e.g. primary school, first year undergraduate, experienced researcher, etc.
  • Tone e.g. humorous, professional, academic
  • Output format e.g. table, graph, image, essay, bullet list, etc.
  • Scope e.g. brief vs detailed
  • Sources e.g. journals
  • Discipline specific terminology
  • Give it examples to follow
  • Be flexible in your approach as it is an iterative process
  • Revise and experiment
  • Critically evaluate output using the CRAAP test
  • Fact-check using scholarly sources e.g. peer-reviewed journal articles via the library

C.L.E.A.R. Framework H5P with examples

C.L.E.A.R. Framework for Prompting by L. S. Lo, 2023 is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Content adapted from: Lo, L. S. (2023a). See: Guide references tab.

Common mistakes

Adapted from Giray, 2023.

Prompt is too general lacking specific instruction or examples.
Reinforcing stereotypes, assumptions, sexism, etc.
Too specific limiting variety and diversity in output.
Not giving enough background so that GenAI can generate a more detailed and relevant response.
Promoting illegal and/or dangerous activities.
Take care when developing complex prompts as GenAI may get confused and generate an unexpected response.
When developing prompts be aware of the limitations of the GenAI that you are using.

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