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⇱ Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT | Coursera


Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT

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Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT

This course is part of multiple programs.

Instructor: Dr. Jules White

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.8

7,964 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule
2 weeks at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace
97%
Most learners liked this course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.8

7,964 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule
2 weeks at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace
97%
Most learners liked this course

What you'll learn

  • How to apply prompt engineering to effectively work with large language models, like ChatGPT

  • How to use prompt patterns to tap into powerful capabilities within large language models

  • How to create complex prompt-based applications for your life, business, or education

Details to know

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Assessments

7 assignments

Taught in English

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  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
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There are 6 modules in this course

ChatGPT and other large language models are going to be more important in your life and business than your smartphone, if you use them right. ChatGPT can tutor your child in math, generate a meal plan and recipes, write software applications for your business, help you improve your personal cybersecurity, and that is just in the first hour that you use it. This course will teach you how to be an expert user of these generative AI tools. The course will show amazing examples of how you can tap into these generative AI tools' emergent intelligence and reasoning, how you can use them to be more productive day to day, and give you insight into how they work.

Large language models respond to instructions and questions posed by users in natural language statements, known as β€œprompts”. Although large language models will disrupt many fields, most users lack the skills to write effective prompts. Expert users, who understand how to write good prompts, are orders of magnitude more productive and can unlock significantly more creative uses for these tools. This course introduces students to the patterns and approaches for writing effective prompts for large language models. Anyone can take the course and the only required knowledge is basic computer usage skills, such as using a browser and accessing ChatGPT. Students will start with basic prompts and build towards writing sophisticated prompts to solve problems in any domain. By the end of the course, students will have strong prompt engineering skills and be capable of using large language models for a wide range of tasks in their job, business, personal life, and education, such as writing, summarization, game play, planning, simulation, and programming.

What's included

5 videos1 reading1 assignment

5 videosβ€’Total 44 minutes
  • Motivating Example: Building a Meal Plan with a Fusion of Food from Ethiopia and Uzbekistan that is Ketoβ€’12 minutes
  • Overview of the Courseβ€’10 minutes
  • Motivating Example: Act as a Speech Pathologistβ€’8 minutes
  • What are Large Language Models?β€’10 minutes
  • Randomness in Outputβ€’4 minutes
1 readingβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Setting Up an Account and Using ChatGPTβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 60 minutes
  • Creating Your First Promptsβ€’60 minutes

What's included

9 videos5 readings2 assignments

9 videosβ€’Total 93 minutes
  • What is a Prompt?β€’13 minutes
  • Intuition Behind Promptsβ€’15 minutes
  • Everyone Can Program with Promptsβ€’7 minutes
  • Prompt Patternsβ€’4 minutes
  • The Persona Patternβ€’14 minutes
  • Introducing New Information to the Large Language Modelβ€’8 minutes
  • Prompt Size Limitationsβ€’8 minutes
  • Prompts are a Tool for Repeated Useβ€’13 minutes
  • Root Promptsβ€’11 minutes
5 readingsβ€’Total 50 minutes
  • Reading a Prompt Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Persona Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Learn More About Prompt Patternsβ€’10 minutes
  • Staying Connected & Learning Moreβ€’10 minutes
  • What to Take After or With this Courseβ€’10 minutes
2 assignmentsβ€’Total 120 minutes
  • Applying the Persona Patternβ€’60 minutes
  • Creating Prompts with New Informationβ€’60 minutes

What's included

4 videos4 readings1 assignment

4 videosβ€’Total 33 minutes
  • Question Refinement Patternβ€’6 minutes
  • Cognitive Verifier Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Audience Persona Patternβ€’9 minutes
  • Flipped Interaction Patternβ€’8 minutes
4 readingsβ€’Total 40 minutes
  • Format of the Question Refinement Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Cognitive Verifier Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Audience Persona Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Flipped Interaction Patternβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 60 minutes
  • Applying Prompt Patterns Iβ€’60 minutes

What's included

7 videos2 readings1 assignment

7 videosβ€’Total 65 minutes
  • Few-shot Examplesβ€’6 minutes
  • Few-shot Examples for Actionsβ€’6 minutes
  • Few-Shot Examples with Intermediate Stepsβ€’10 minutes
  • Writing Effective Few-Shot Examplesβ€’10 minutes
  • Chain of Thought Promptingβ€’12 minutes
  • ReAct Promptingβ€’12 minutes
  • Using Large Language Models to Grade Each Otherβ€’8 minutes
2 readingsβ€’Total 20 minutes
  • Learn More About Chain of Thought Promptingβ€’10 minutes
  • Learn More About ReActβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 60 minutes
  • Applying Few-Shot Examples Conceptsβ€’60 minutes

What's included

5 videos5 readings1 assignment

5 videosβ€’Total 59 minutes
  • Game Play Patternβ€’16 minutes
  • Template Patternβ€’12 minutes
  • Meta Language Creation Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Recipe Patternβ€’7 minutes
  • Alternative Approaches Patternβ€’14 minutes
5 readingsβ€’Total 50 minutes
  • Format of the Game Play Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Template Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Meta Language Creation Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Recipe Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Alternative Approaches Patternβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 60 minutes
  • Applying Prompt Patterns IIβ€’60 minutes

What's included

8 videos7 readings1 assignment

8 videosβ€’Total 54 minutes
  • Ask for Input Patternβ€’5 minutes
  • Combining Patternsβ€’5 minutes
  • Outline Expansion Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Menu Actions Patternβ€’8 minutes
  • Fact Check List Patternβ€’7 minutes
  • Tail Generation Patternβ€’7 minutes
  • Semantic Filter Patternβ€’8 minutes
  • Course Conclusion & Thank Youβ€’4 minutes
7 readingsβ€’Total 70 minutes
  • Format of the Ask for Input Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Outline Expansion Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Menu Actions Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Fact Check List Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Tail Generation Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Format of the Semantic Filter Patternβ€’10 minutes
  • Continue Learning About Prompt Engineeringβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 180 minutes
  • Creating a Prompt-based Applicationβ€’180 minutes

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Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.8 (3,143 ratings)

Top Instructor

Vanderbilt University
52 Coursesβ€’1,201,001 learners

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Showing 3 of 7964

RW
Β·

Reviewed on Jan 22, 2025

Dr. White does a fantastic job of breaking down the complexities of GenAI and delivers excellent coursework that provides the student with foundational tools for harnessing the power of ChatGPT.

CC
Β·

Reviewed on Jul 19, 2023

I really enjoyed this course. From knowing nothing about LLM's I am now confident that I can utilise ChatGPT to improve my business, optimise my time and increase my outputs at the same time.

JG
Β·

Reviewed on Apr 11, 2024

When I first listened to the 1st lecture I thought I had made a mistake, but then it dawned on me what the Dr White was trying to show, it blew my mind and I showed it to my wife and son!

Well done.

Frequently asked questions

You'll learn how to write effective prompts for ChatGPT and other large language models, understand why prompts change the results you get, and use those tools more deliberately. It starts with prompt basics and how language models respond, then builds into prompt patterns, few-shot examples, and more complex prompt-based workflows. Along the way, you'll practice tasks like refining questions, asking for structured output, and shaping responses for a specific audience.

No, you don't need programming experience to start. The course only assumes basic computer skills, such as using a browser and accessing ChatGPT, and it includes a short guide to setting up an account and choosing a model. It moves quickly into writing prompts, so it isn't trying to teach coding or general AI from scratch.

Yes, it's beginner-friendly if you're new to prompt engineering and want a clear walkthrough of how to work with ChatGPT. It begins with what prompts are, how large language models behave, and how to get more consistent results before moving into reusable prompt patterns. If you already build advanced AI workflows, the early lessons may feel introductory.

Plan on about 19 hours in total. At around 10 hours a week, that's roughly two weeks of study with a mix of lessons, readings, and practice work. The course includes graded assignments where you create and test prompts as you move through the material.

Yes, but the hands-on work is mostly guided prompt-writing assignments rather than coding labs or a large independent project. You'll create prompts, test them with ChatGPT or a similar model, and revise them using approaches like persona prompts or few-shot examples. The course also ends with a prompt-based application assignment, so you apply the ideas in a concrete way instead of only reading about them.

You'll cover the core skills behind getting better results from large language models: writing clear prompts, adding the right context, and improving outputs through iteration. The course also introduces prompt patterns such as persona prompts and few-shot prompting, along with ways to structure responses, fact-check outputs, and manage longer conversations. Overall, the emphasis is on building a reusable prompt toolkit for work, school, and everyday problem-solving.

After finishing, you should be able to write stronger prompts for ChatGPT, adapt them to different goals, and improve them when the first response isn't enough. You'll be able to ask for structured output, guide the model with a persona or examples, and combine prompts into a simple workflow. For example, you could create a reusable prompt that asks follow-up questions, plans a task, and returns the result in an organized format.

It's more focused on understanding how prompt engineering works, with guided practice built in. The lessons explain why prompts and patterns change model behavior, and the assignments let you try those ideas for yourself. It's a good fit if you want explanation and practice, not just a list of prompt templates.

This course stands out if you want prompt engineering taught as a set of reusable patterns rather than one-off tricks. Dr. Jules White starts with basic prompts and model behavior, then builds toward techniques like persona prompts, few-shot examples, and combining patterns into prompt-based applications. If you want a beginner-friendly course that explains the logic behind the prompts and gives you guided assignments to practice them, this is a better fit than a tips-only alternative.

Financial aid available,