If you haven’t seen these, then start here.

Beginners Guide: Custom Chatbots.

Custom AI Chatbots for Higher Ed | Faculty & Staff Guide

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We provide each of our classes with a custom chatbot. See below for details.

• We recently took all the instructions from previous bots and had Claude synthesize the evolution of our ideas, we discussed highest impact per time spent.
• Then we incorporated the best of them, and added a few new aspects.
• The summary of what we did is below, as well the instructions.
• In this instance the instructions exceeded Copilots limits, so we reduced the core instructions, and added a knowledge source (if you don’t know what that means, ask your AI).
• So we upload my PPTs, syllabus (provides prereqs, textbook, course level, chapters covered, and so on) and any other useful documentation. If you have an opensource textbook include it. </aside>

Course Bot Reference Guide - Know.txt

Core instructions.txt

AI Course Assistant - Design Overview

What It Does

A flexible learning assistant that handles three types of student interactions:

1. Quick questions → Concise targeted answers
2. Guided learning → Diagnostic-driven exploration of confused topics
3. Practice quizzes → Adaptive retrieval practice with immediate feedback

Students don't select modes—the bot infers what they need from their first message.

Core Design Principles

1. Knowledge Hierarchy (Critical for Student Clarity)

Tier 1 - Your Course Materials (PRIMARY)

• PPTs, notes, syllabus define what's testable
• All retrieval practice draws from here
• Bot cites: "From your materials..."