FACULTY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
Teaching Smarter with AI
Hands-on with ChatGPT, Gemini & Claude — from first prompt to power user
For faculty of all departments · No technical background needed · Bring your laptop!
Today's Journey
1
AI & Its Role in Education
What AI really is, and where it fits in your teaching day
2
Meet the Three Assistants
Hands-on with ChatGPT, Gemini & Claude
3
Prompt Writing & Engineering
The skill that separates "meh" from "wow"
4
The Showdown
ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Claude — which works better?
5
Live Hands-on Labs
Prompt battles, lesson builders & a leaderboard
ICEBREAKER
Human or AI? 🤖
Three snippets are about to appear. Vote: written by a human teacher, or by AI?
A
“Photosynthesis is essentially a plant’s way of running a tiny solar-powered kitchen.”
B
“The mitochondria, often called the powerhouse of the cell, converts nutrients into energy.”
C
“Think of supply and demand as a seesaw at a playground that never quite balances.”
The twist: ALL THREE were written by AI — with three different prompts. The prompt makes the difference. That’s today’s big lesson.
PART 1
AI & Its Role in Education
From mysterious buzzword to everyday teaching assistant
What Is Generative AI, Really?
No jargon. One analogy.
An extremely well-read assistant
Which means…
Brilliant at drafting, explaining, summarizing, brainstorming
Works in seconds, tirelessly, in 100+ languages
Can confidently make things up (“hallucinate”) — always verify facts
Where AI Fits in Your Teaching Day
Lesson planning
Outlines, examples, real-world hooks — in minutes, not evenings
Quizzes & assessments
MCQs, case questions, rubrics — with answer keys
Feedback at scale
Draft constructive comments on student work, in your voice
Differentiation
The same concept at 3 difficulty levels, or for different learning styles
Admin & email
Notices, reports, letters of recommendation — first drafts done
Your own learning
A patient tutor for any topic YOU want to explore
The Promise — and the Fine Print
Why educators are excited
What to watch out for
PART 2
Meet Your Three AI Assistants
ChatGPT · Gemini · Claude — open your laptops, it’s hands-on time
The Big Three at a Glance
ChatGPT
by OpenAI
chatgpt.com
Gemini
by Google
gemini.google.com
Claude
by Anthropic
claude.ai
Your First 5 Minutes in Any AI Chat
1. Type a prompt
Ask in plain language, like messaging a colleague
→
2. Read the reply
Generated fresh in seconds — not copied from a website
→
3. Talk back!
“Make it shorter”, “add examples”, “now as a table” — it remembers the chat
The golden habit: treat it like a conversation, not a search box.
Google gets one shot. AI gets a dialogue — your second and third messages are where the magic happens.
PART 3
Prompt Writing & Engineering
The 20% skill that produces 80% of the results
Anatomy of a Great Prompt: R·T·C·F
R
Role
Who should the AI be?
“You are an experienced physics professor…”
T
Task
What exactly do you want?
“…create a 10-question quiz on Newton’s laws…”
C
Context
Who is it for? What matters?
“…for first-year engineering students who find friction confusing…”
F
Format
How should it look?
“…as a table: question, options A–D, answer, one-line explanation.”
Memory hook: “Real Teachers Craft Fine prompts.” Include all four parts and your results improve instantly — you’ll prove it in Lab 2.
Same Tool. Different Prompt. Different Universe.
The lazy prompt
“Make a quiz on Newton’s laws.”
You get: generic questions, random difficulty, no answer key, wrong level for your class.
Verdict: “AI is useless” — but it was never told what you needed.
The R·T·C·F prompt
“You are an experienced physics professor. Create a 10-question MCQ quiz on Newton’s laws for first-year engineering students who confuse mass and weight. Mix easy and tricky questions. Format: table with question, options A–D, correct answer, one-line explanation.”
You get: a ready-to-use quiz, right level, with answer key — edit for 5 minutes and done.
Four Power Techniques
Persona play
Assign a role — “act as a strict examiner”, “explain like a sports commentator”. Tone and depth follow the role.
Show an example (few-shot)
Paste one sample question or feedback comment in your style and say: “now make 10 more like this.”
Think step by step
For anything with logic or calculation, add “show your reasoning step by step” — fewer errors, and reasoning you can check.
Iterate, iterate, iterate
The first answer is a draft. “Simpler.” “Add an Indian example.” “Halve it.” Sculpt until it’s yours.
Five Mistakes That Kill Good Prompts
Being vague. “Help me with my course” → which course, help how, for whom?
Zero context. The AI doesn’t know your students, syllabus or level unless you say so.
One-shot thinking. Taking the first answer or giving up after it. Refine — that’s the workflow.
Blind trust. Shipping AI facts, dates and citations without checking. Always verify.
Kitchen-sink prompts. Ten tasks in one message. Break big jobs into steps — one thing at a time.
PART 4
The Showdown
ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Claude — which works better?
Head to Head
| ChatGPT | Gemini | Claude |
Personality | Versatile all-rounder | Fast, search-savvy helper | Thoughtful writing partner |
Shines at | Brainstorming, images, custom GPTs, general tasks | Current info, Google Docs/Gmail workflows, multimedia | Long documents, nuanced writing, careful analysis |
Great for teachers who… | want one tool for everything | live inside Google Workspace | work with papers, reports & feedback |
Free tier | Yes — generous | Yes — generous | Yes — generous |
Capabilities evolve monthly — treat this as a snapshot, and re-test often. Today YOU are the judge.
Which Tool for Which Job?
Quick ideas, quizzes, images, a bit of everything
→
ChatGPT
Anything needing fresh info or your Google Docs & Gmail
→
Gemini
Summarising a 60-page paper, polishing important writing
→
Claude
The real verdict: the best tool is the one that fits YOUR task — and they’re all free, so use all three. You’ll crown your own winner in Lab 4.
PART 5
Live Hands-On Labs
Open the Lab Manual — points, battles, and a leaderboard await
The Lab Lineup
1
First Contact Same 3 questions to all 3 AIs — spot the personalities
10 min
10 pts
2
The R·T·C·F Upgrade Turn a lazy prompt into a lesson-plan machine
15 min
20 pts
3
Assessment Studio Build a quiz + rubric for YOUR subject
15 min
20 pts
4
Prompt Battle ⚔ One prompt, three AIs — score them and crown a winner
15 min
30 pts
5
Creative Classroom Analogies, role-plays & activities students will remember
15 min
20 pts
Work solo or in pairs · Bonus challenges in the manual for speed-runners · Top score = Prompt Champion 🏆
Ground Rules for Responsible AI Use
Verify before you trust
Check every fact, date, formula and citation before it reaches students.
Protect privacy
No student names, marks, IDs or personal details in any prompt. Ever.
You are the expert
AI drafts; you decide. Your judgment, ethics and subject mastery stay in charge.
Be transparent
Tell colleagues and students when AI helped create a material — model the honesty we expect from them.
You’re Ready. Go Experiment!
This week’s homework: use AI for ONE real task — a quiz, a lesson hook, an email — and share the result with a colleague.