🤔 Think, Deeper!

📚 Knowledge builders

• Doom and Gloom → This Guardian article looks at how some English schools looking to dispel ‘doom and gloom’ around AI. Read it here:

  https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/mar/06/the-english-schools-looking-to-dispel-doom-and-gloom-around-ai

• Dragon Copilot → Microsoft released Dragon Copilot, a healthcare agent service to support doctors. Will ever a tool be available for educators? Read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/industry/health/microsoft-cloud-for-healthcare

🤖 Industry updates

• Copilot ‘Thinks Deeper’ → You can now use o3-mini without limit by clicking on “Think Deeper”. o3-mini is a reasoning model from open AI that performs better at STEM related tasks. The best way to access this model is by using the Copilot app logged into a personal account.

• NextGen AI → A consortium to advance research and education with AI. OpenAI is committing $50M in research grants, compute funding, and API access for a consortium with 15 leading research institutions dedicated to using AI to accelerate research breakthroughs and transform education.

✨ Fresh prompts

1. Copilot ‘deep thinking’ prompt → To prompt reasoning models well, it helps to have a clear framework. Here is one that you could use.

   Goal – Clearly states the objective.

   Return Format – Specifies how the output should be structured.

   Warnings – Ensures accuracy and reliability.

   Context Dump – Provides additional background for personalisation.

   Here is an example without context:

   Goal:
   "I need a structured lesson plan to teach [concept] to [grade level] students. The lesson should be designed using evidence-based strategies that enhance learning and retention."

   Return Format:

   • Lesson Title & Objective

   • Step-by-Step Instructional Sequence (including scaffolding strategies)

   • Checks for Understanding (formative assessment ideas)

   • Common Student Misconceptions & How to Address Them

   • Suggested Differentiation Strategies

   • Optional Extension Activities

   Warnings:
   "Ensure that the plan aligns with cognitive load theory, retrieval practice, and direct instruction principles. Avoid ineffective strategies like discovery learning or unstructured group work without scaffolding."

   Context Dump:
   "For context, my students have some background knowledge in [related topic], but they struggle with [common challenge]. I have [time duration] for this lesson and want to ensure engagement while maintaining rigor. My classroom has access to [technology/resources, if any]."

Goal:
"I need a structured lesson plan to teach evolution to Year 6 students. The lesson should be designed using evidence-based strategies that enhance learning and retention."

Return Format:
Lesson Title & Objective
Step-by-Step Instructional Sequence (including scaffolding strategies)
Checks for Understanding (formative assessment ideas)
Common Student Misconceptions & How to Address Them
Suggested Differentiation Strategies
Optional Extension Activities

Warnings:
"Ensure that the plan aligns with cognitive load theory, retrieval practice, and direct instruction principles. Avoid ineffective strategies like discovery learning or unstructured group work without scaffolding."

Context Dump:
"For context, my students have some background knowledge in inheritance and variation in living things, but they struggle with understanding how small changes over time can lead to significant evolutionary differences. I have 60 minutes for this lesson and want to ensure engagement while maintaining rigor. My classroom has access to a whiteboard, printed worksheets, and tablets for interactive activities, but no access to a science lab."

Here is some of the output

Objective:
Students will understand that evolution is a gradual process where small, heritable changes accumulate over generations to create significant differences in living organisms. They will be able to explain how these tiny modifications, built on inheritance and variation, drive the evolutionary process.

Step‑by‑Step Instructional Sequence

1. Introduction & Retrieval Practice (5 minutes)

• Warm-Up Prompt:
  Begin by asking, “What do you remember about inheritance and variation in living things?”
  Purpose: Activate prior knowledge using retrieval practice.

• Teacher Response:
  Record key student responses on the whiteboard to build a collective mind map.

• Scaffolding:
  Briefly review essential vocabulary (inheritance, variation, mutation) using simple definitions and visuals.

2. Direct Instruction on Evolution (10 minutes)

• Teacher Explanation:
  Clearly define evolution as the gradual accumulation of small changes in a population over generations.

• Visual Timeline:
  Use the whiteboard to draw a simple timeline showing incremental changes leading from ancestral species to a distinctly new form.

• Analogies & Examples:

  • Compare evolution to “building a mosaic” where many tiny pieces form a complete picture over time.

  • Explain that just as adding one more tile can gradually change the image, small genetic changes can lead to major differences.

• Scaffolding Strategy:
  Pause frequently to check for understanding using short, targeted questions.

5. Recap, Retrieval Practice, & Closure (5 minutes)

• Rapid Fire Q&A:
  Ask several quick, targeted questions:

  • “What is evolution?”

  • “How can small changes build up over generations?”

• Scaffolding:
  Provide sentence starters on the board (e.g., “Because of small changes, over time, …”).

Checks for Understanding (Formative Assessment Ideas)

• Verbal Q&A: Throughout the lesson, ask brief recall and explanation questions.

• Whiteboard Responses: Use the whiteboard to record key points during the warm‑up and guided discussion.

• Worksheets: Review completed worksheets to assess the accuracy of student notes.

Common Student Misconceptions & How to Address Them

• Misconception 2: "Small changes cannot have a big impact."
  Address: Demonstrate with step‑by‑step examples (e.g., improvements in a favorite game or skill) that show how incremental improvements lead to significant outcomes over time.

• Misconception 3: "Evolution is an individual change rather than a population‑level process."
  Address: Clarify that while individuals show variations, evolution affects entire populations across generations. Use clear visuals that represent groups of individuals over time.

Suggested Differentiation Strategies

• Visual Learners:

  • Use annotated diagrams, timelines, and graphic organizers.

  • Provide color‑coded worksheets that differentiate vocabularies (inheritance vs. variation).

• Verbal Learners:

  • Incorporate discussion and verbal explanation.

  • Use think‑pair‑share during the guided practice.

As we can see, we still have a ‘learning styles’ issue here. This tells us that perhaps AI is not quite ready to be fully replace teachers just yet…

For the full output click here on a mobile device: https://copilot.microsoft.com/shares/URGak1URqci6BWDJqiTj9