The best prompt is specific, not vague. Tell the AI what you teach, who you teach it to, and what you want it to compare against.
Why Prompt Wording Matters
When you ask an AI a vague question, you get a vague answer. If you ask “What am I missing?” the AI has to guess what you mean by “missing.” Missing for whom? Missing compared to what? The AI has no reference point. But if you ask “What topics do educators typically teach on this subject that I haven’t covered?” you’re giving the AI a clear comparison target — the typical curriculum.
It’s like asking a teacher, “Is this lesson good?” versus “Is this lesson hitting the same topics as a typical high school chemistry textbook?” The second question is answerable. The first one leaves the teacher guessing.
The Prompt Structure That Works
Here’s a template you can copy and customize: “I teach [your topic] to [your audience]. My course includes [paste your outline here]. Compare my course to what educators typically teach on this topic. What topics are commonly covered that I haven’t included? What’s unusual or different about my approach?”
The key parts are: (1) what you teach, (2) who you teach, (3) your actual outline, (4) the comparison standard (what educators typically teach), (5) what you want to know. Don’t skip the audience part. An introductory course will have different gaps than an advanced course. When you tell the AI your audience level, the gap report becomes relevant to your actual students.
After you get the list, ask a follow-up: “For each gap, tell me if it’s critical for my students or optional.” That filters out the nice-to-have topics from the must-haves.
What This Means for Educators
A good prompt takes 30 seconds to write and saves you weeks of guessing. The AI will give you a relevant, prioritized list because you were clear about what you teach and who you teach it to. A vague prompt wastes both your time and the AI’s processing.
Copy This Prompt Now
“I teach [topic] to [audience level]. Here’s my course outline: [paste outline]. Compare my course against what’s typically taught on this topic. What topics are commonly covered that I haven’t included?” That’s it. Paste it into Claude or ChatGPT, fill in the brackets, and hit enter. You’ll have your gap report in seconds.