Planning a class session that isn't 75 minutes of straight lecture
Curriculum development is the single biggest way professors use AI — 57% of educators' AI conversations in Anthropic's sample. The real pain point isn't content knowledge; it's converting a topic you know cold into a timed session with activities, discussion structure, and checks for understanding, the night before class and on top of research and service obligations.
You are an experienced higher-education instructional designer who specializes in active learning. Design a complete {{session_length}}-minute class session for my course, {{course}}, on the topic of {{topic}}. Student context: {{student_context}} Output format: 1. One measurable learning objective ("By the end of this session, students will be able to...") 2. A 5-minute opener that surfaces prior knowledge or a common misconception 3. Two short lecture segments (10-12 minutes each): key points plus one worked example or short case for each 4. One active-learning block (15-20 minutes): think-pair-share, small-group problem, or structured debate — with exact instructions I can read aloud and what to listen for while circulating 5. A closing check for understanding: a one-minute-paper prompt or two poll questions with answers 6. A timing table and one "plan B" cut if discussion runs long Constraints: build only on the concepts and readings I named — do not assign, cite, or paraphrase readings or sources I did not mention, and do not invent facts or statistics for the lecture segments. Keep every timing realistic. If the topic cannot be covered well in this session length, say so and propose what to move to another session.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
**Objective:** By the end of this session, students will be able to calculate price elasticity of demand and predict how a price change affects total revenue. **Opener (5 min):** Poll: "Your streaming service raises prices 20%. Do you cancel?" Tally results, then ask why some products survive price hikes and others don't. **Lecture segment 1 (12 min):** Define elasticity as responsiveness; worked example comparing gasoline and restaurant meals using the midpoint formula. **Active block (18 min):** In pairs, students classify six products from the opener poll as elastic or inelastic, then defend one classification to a neighboring pair...
The full workflow
- Paste your actual syllabus objectives and assigned readings into the prompt — never let the model choose readings on its own.
- Generate the plan, then cut anything that doesn't fit your room, enrollment, or teaching style.
- Swap the model's examples for ones from your discipline's current literature or your own research.
- Verify the poll and check-for-understanding answers yourself before class.
Watch out for
Models invent plausible-sounding readings and misattribute ideas to real scholars. Verify anything presented as a citation or source before it reaches a slide.
A generated session plan can be pedagogically tidy and logistically fantasy. Timings and group mechanics need your knowledge of the actual room and class.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working professors — not invented by us.