AI Prompting Foundations

A Masters Capstone in Learning Design & Technology

Client: Bisk

The Challenge: Breaking the Initial Threshold

Generative AI represents a significant “threshold concept” for modern professionals. For many, the transition from viewing AI as a novelty to using it as a functional tool is blocked by anxiety or a lack of structured guidance.

Developed as a capstone for a Master’s in Learning Design and Technology, this project aimed to move education and corporate professionals past that initial hesitation. The goal was to provide a “on-ramp” to AI—equipping users with the confidence to start building effective prompts for their day-to-day job duties.

Design Under Constraint: The 30-Minute Reality

In the professional world, instructional design is often governed by rigid stakeholder requirements. For this project, the client necessitated a strict completion time of 30 to 40 minutes. This created a significant design challenge: how to provide enough depth to be useful without overwhelming the learner within a compressed timeframe.

Because the curriculum was required to hit a specific set of broad objectives, the instructional strategy shifted toward Minimal Viable Competency (MVC). The course focuses on providing the baseline skills and frameworks necessary to begin prompting immediately, acknowledging that deep philosophical or technical mastery would require a different, unconstrained learning environment.

The Ethics Module: A “Sleeper Hit”

One of the most revealing aspects of this project occurred during user testing. Originally, the instructional team considered omitting the ethics section to allow more time for “how-to” mechanics. However, client requirements kept it in.

Surprisingly, the Ethics of AI section—which covers responsible prompt usage, bias identification, and the limitations of Large Language Models—emerged as the most popular and engaging module in the entire course. This feedback highlights a critical gap in current AI training: users don’t just want to know how to use the tool; they are deeply hungry to understand the implications and responsibility of doing so.

Course Architecture and Practical Practice

The course utilizes a modular architecture to move learners through the cognitive stages of AI adoption:

• Foundations: Defining generative AI and distinguishing between effective and ineffective prompt structures.
• Prompting Practice: Hands-on scenarios tailored to specific professional domains, including Education, Business, and Administration.
• The Ethics Threshold: A guide to “thinking before you prompt,” identifying social bias, and maintaining human oversight.
• Knowledge Checks: Integrated assessments designed to ensure the learner has mastered the first steps before completing the course.

Experience the Course

This e-learning module was built using Articulate Rise and is hosted via GitHub Pages. It stands as a demonstration of high-quality instructional scaffolding delivered within professional corporate constraints.

(https://seraphits.github.io/AIPromptingCourse-full/)

Potential Blog Post Ideas for this Project

Applying Maintenance Capacities to Prompting: Using the RBEOS hierarchy to move users from “Gatekeeper Initiation” to “Adaptive AI Mastery.”

The Ethics of Talking to AI: Why the section I almost left out became the most popular part of the course.

Designing for the 30-Minute Limit: A case study on balancing broad client requirements with the need for instructional depth.

MVC in AI Literacy: Why getting someone to write their first five prompts is more important than explaining how the transformer architecture works.

From Anxiety to Agency: Strategies for helping non-technical professionals overcome the “Initial Threshold” of Generative AI.

Philosophy vs. Efficiency: How I would expand the Bisk AI course if I had 3 hours instead of 30 minutes.