Learning & explaining21 categories
Work through an example, showing the decisions
When you understand a technique in the abstract but not how to apply it.
Work through a concrete example of the technique below. Structure: 1. Set up a realistic problem, not a toy one. State the inputs explicitly. 2. Solve it step by step. At every step, say what you are doing and why you chose that over the alternative you also considered. 3. Mark the steps that are mechanical and the steps that require judgement. The judgement ones are what I need. 4. Show one place where a beginner would plausibly go wrong, and what the result would look like if they did. 5. Give me a second problem of similar difficulty, with the answer hidden until I ask, so I can try it myself. Technique: Context I care about:
Making it yours
- Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
- Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
- If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.
Practice, not reading. Worked examples, exercises and Socratic sessions that make you do the thinking.
Related prompts
Teach me by asking, not tellingA concept you want to actually internalise rather than skim.Turn reference docs into a tutorialDocumentation that lists every option but never shows you how to start.Practice problems, answers withheldReading has stopped working and you need to actually do it.Make me predict firstWhen you want the explanation to stick rather than slide past.Explain this at three levels of depthFirst contact with a concept, when you don't yet know how deep you need to go.What is the one idea that unlocks this?A subject where you have learned the parts but it still hasn't clicked.
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