Learning Goals
5 minBy the end of this lesson you can:
- Spot why a prompt is weak.
- Rebuild a weak prompt using the recipe and your prompt tools.
- Explain the fix you made and why it helps.
Warm-Up · What Went Wrong?
8 minYou now know the recipe, specifics, examples, tone and steps. Today we put them all to work as a repair kit.
A pupil typed "write" and got a confused answer. What do you think went wrong?
Reveal the thinking
Almost everything was missing — no role, no clear task, no details, no format. The fix isn't a better AI; it's a better prompt.
New Concept · The Prompt Doctor's Checklist
18 minWhen a prompt is weak, run through a quick checklist and add whatever is missing.
- Role? — who should the AI act as?
- Task? — is it crystal clear what to do?
- Details? — who is it for, what topic, how much?
- Format? — list, steps, paragraph, length?
- Tone? — funny, formal, gentle?
- Example? — would showing one help?
Here is a weak prompt for you to improve in your head:
make a poster
What's missing? Almost all of it — topic, audience, what text, what style. Next we'll fix one together.
When you improve a prompt, keep it school-friendly and free of personal details.
Worked Example · Before & After
18 minHere is Nurul's weak prompt and the weak answer it got:
facts
Facts about what? There are facts about almost everything — could you tell me the topic?
Run the checklist: no role, unclear task, no topic, no audience, no format. Now the repair:
You are a fun science teacher. Give me 5 surprising facts about the ocean, for a 10-year-old, as short bullet points.
• The ocean holds 97% of all the water on Earth. • The deepest part could swallow Mount Everest whole. • Most of the ocean has never been explored by people. • Some fish make their own light to see in the dark. • A blue whale's heart is as big as a small car.
Same AI, totally different result. We didn't fix the AI — we fixed the prompt.
Try It Yourself
20 minUse the teacher-opened chatbot.
For each weak prompt, list what's missing: "help", "quiz me", "write something nice".
Hint
Tick off the checklist: role, task, details, format, tone, example.
Take "quiz me" and rebuild it into a strong prompt. Test the weak and strong versions and compare.
Hint
Add the subject, how many questions, difficulty, and "tell me if I'm right".
Mini-Challenge · Prompt Clinic
12 minWelcome to the prompt clinic. Here is Arjun's weak prompt — diagnose it and write a strong cure.
tell me a story
It works if your improved prompt adds at least a role, details (who it's for, topic), a format (length) and a tone.
Show one cure
You are a kind storyteller. Write a gentle, funny bedtime story about a sleepy cat in a Penang kopitiam, for a 6-year-old, about 8 sentences long with a happy ending.
Recap
5 minWhen an answer is weak, the prompt usually is too. Diagnose with the checklist — role, task, details, format, tone, example — and add what's missing. Fixing prompts is a skill you'll use for life.
Vocabulary Card
- prompt debugging
- Finding and fixing what's missing from a weak prompt.
- diagnose
- To work out what the problem is before fixing it.
- iterate
- To try, improve, and try again.
Homework · Repair Two Prompts
≤ 20 minWrite two weak prompts, then repair each into a strong one. Under each, list which checklist items you added.
Sample · Repaired Prompts
Weak: "help me revise" → Strong: "You are a patient tutor. Quiz me with 5 easy questions on the water cycle for a 10-year-old, and tell me if each answer is right." (Added: role, task, details, format.)
Weak: "write a poem" → Strong: "Write a cheerful 4-line poem about durian for a 9-year-old." (Added: tone, topic, audience, format.)
Yours will be different — clear diagnoses and good repairs are what count.