Module 4 Summary: A Prompt Is Not a Magic Spell

Consolidate the module decisions and keep the reusable resource available for later work.

What you can do now

You can turn a vague request into a task specification that is easier to produce, review, and correct.

The specification fields

1. Outcome: What deliverable and change are required?
2. Audience: Who will use it, and what do they know?
3. Context: What background changes how the task should be done?
4. Sources: Which authorised material may support the result?
5. Constraints and boundaries: What must, must not, and cannot happen?
6. Format: What structure makes the result useful and inspectable?
7. Review criteria: How will a person judge the result?
8. Workflow and authority: Which stages, checks, owners, and approvals are required?
9. Stop conditions: When should the work pause or change method?

Main lessons

• A topic is not an outcome.
• More context is useful only when it is relevant and authorised.
• Examples show patterns but are not automatically factual sources.
• Constraints should prevent real failures, not decorate the prompt.
• Observable criteria are stronger than words such as excellent or perfect.
• Complex work needs stages that preserve human decisions.
• Diagnose the defect before revising the specification.
• Clear instructions improve work but do not guarantee correct output.

Before the knowledge check

The check has ten questions. You need 8 out of 10. Read the feedback before trying again.

Use the reusable Task Specification Template for future course activities and suitable real work.

What comes next

A good specification makes an output easier to inspect. It does not prove the output is accurate or complete.

Module 5 teaches a systematic review: what to check, how to verify material claims, and how to record an accept, revise, verify, or reject decision.

Keep this rule:

Improve the description of the work, then check the result against evidence.