Practical Prompt Engineering – Reliable Workflows for Human Users
Lesson 3: Examples, Patterns, and Prompt Chaining
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
- Use examples to show the AI a desired pattern.
- Split a large task into a chain of smaller prompts.
- Add checkpoints between prompt steps.
Lesson Content
Examples are powerful because they show the AI what "good" looks like. If you want the AI to classify customer messages, include two or three sample messages with the label you expect. If you want a certain writing style, show a short sample and explain what should be copied from the style, such as clarity or structure, without copying private or protected text.
Prompt chaining means turning one big job into smaller steps. Instead of asking for a full course page in one prompt, you might ask for:
- Identify the target learner and learning promise.
- Draft the outline.
- Expand one section.
- Check for vague claims.
- Rewrite for clarity.
This gives you review points. It also helps students learn what changed between versions.
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