Using AI to Improve Your Course

A common question I get from folks enrolled in the PA Educator Master One course is how to include more active learning in courses that are, by nature, lecture-heavy. As I continue exploring AI, I’ve come to appreciate how helpful it can be, especially for new faculty still climbing the steep learning curve of teaching.

With medicine and education constantly evolving, course revision is part of the job. It doesn’t always mean a complete overhaul. Sometimes, it’s just a few tweaks here or there or cleaning up a lecture that didn’t go as well as you hoped. Maybe you want to introduce a new activity or assignment to better engage students.

The more I use AI, the more amazed I am by its potential. The key, of course, is clarity. You have to be specific about what you want it to do. That means learning to write effective prompts. But here’s the beauty of it—even if your prompt isn’t perfect, you can ask AI what it needs in order to give you a better answer.

At first, using AI felt like getting a slightly smarter Google result. But when I started asking for specific feedback or more targeted ideas, I understood why some folks say, “Just talk to it like a person.” Okay, that wigged me out a little—even as a diehard Star Trek fan. But now, I practically walk around my office like Captain Kirk, talking to my computer and telling her what I need.

But I digress.

The purpose of this article is to offer a few simple ways to use AI to help revise or enhance your course.

In a previous article, I wrote about crafting effective prompts. There are a few key components, though not every prompt needs every one:

• Task/Instruction: This is the heart of your prompt. It can be a command, question, or description of what you want AI to do. In essence, what do you want AI to do (task) and how (instructions), including specifics as needed (Saxena, 2025).
• Context and Constraints: This sets the stage. It includes background information that helps AI understand what you're asking for. For instance, if you’re revising a set of lecture slides, tell AI that it’s for first-year physician assistant students or clinical year students. You might also include course learning outcomes, specific instructional objectives (CIOs), or the resources you used when preparing the lecture. You can also add constraints, like a maximum number of slides or that you’re giving the lecture tomorrow and only want quick, actionable changes.

Using this structure, AI can help improve your existing materials. You’ll need to upload your presentation file or include a link to it when writing your prompt.

Here’s an example prompt:

“Using the lecture presentation I provided, please give feedback and suggestions on how to improve the slides to make them more engaging, based on evidence-based presentation principles. This lecture is for first-year PA students. I’ve included course learning outcomes and instructional objectives. Please don’t exceed 50 slides and only suggest changes to slides that need improvement. I’m delivering this lecture tomorrow.”

You could also ask for feedback slide by slide.

Beyond slide revisions, AI can also help brainstorm active learning strategies. Just be clear in your request.

Here’s a follow-up example:

“I’m looking for ways to add active learning to this lecture. Can you review the slides and suggest where I might incorporate short activities to better engage students? These activities should take no more than five minutes each.”

And if you’re unsure whether you’ve provided all the necessary context, you can include this in your prompt: “If you need more information to provide useful suggestions, please ask.” When I tried that, AI came back with a helpful list of follow-up questions: What’s the class size? What’s the room setup? How much total time do you have? What technology do students have access to?

It’s amazing—and yes, still a little scary.

Even if you're not AI-savvy (I’m certainly not!), these are simple, easy things to try.. They can save a surprising amount of time compared to making revisions entirely on your own.

Give it a try!

References 

Levy, D., & Albertos, A. P. (2025, January 2). Simple AI tips for revising courses: ChatGPT strategies educators can use today: Part 2. Harvard Business Impact. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/inspiring-minds/simple-ai-tips-revising-courses  

Saxena, S. (2025, January 21). What is an AI prompt and what are its components? Easymedia. https://www.easymedia.in/what-is-an-ai-prompt-and-what-are-its-components/