What is prompt engineering?
Quick answer
Prompt engineering is the practice of writing instructions that get a reliable, specific result from an AI model, using context, constraints, examples and a clear description of the output you want.
Students compare a weak prompt and a strong prompt side by side on the same task, then write a short rationale for the changes they made.
In context
A vague prompt returns vague output. A prompt that names the audience, the format, the constraints and one worked example returns something usable, and that difference is teachable in a single lesson.
Treated well, it is really a writing and specification skill: say precisely what you want, in the right order, with the right context.
In a NASCA classroom
Students compare a weak prompt and a strong prompt side by side on the same task, then write a short rationale for the changes they made.
Related terms
Generative AI
Generative AI produces new text, images, audio or code by predicting what should come next, based on patterns learned from very large amounts of training data.
AI literacy
AI literacy is the ability to recognise where AI is being used, understand roughly how it works, judge its output, and decide when using it is appropriate.
Hallucination
A hallucination is when a generative AI states something false as though it were fact, usually because the model is predicting plausible language rather than retrieving verified information.