BDC334 AI Tutor

Author

Affiliation

Smit, A. J.

University of the Western Cape

1 Super Quick Start

Use AI tutor link

Go here for a preconfigured BDC334 tutor.

You may activate one of three modes. In the prompt, simply type one of the following:

Definition Mode
Short Answer Question Mode
Integrative Assessment Mode

Or, simply start by asking something like:

“For 30 marks, provide an in-depth discussion about a) how to go about calculating beta diversity, and b) the various interpretations that we can extract from it.” – This will give you an answer for your question.

Or, ask the GPT to set you a ‘random’ 20 mark question.

Or, for short questions, prompt: “Now I want to test my factual knowledge where an answer is worth roughly 1 mark per fact. Please ask me questions worth no more than 10 marks each (from 5 marks at the lower end).”

2 Quick Start

Read here if you want instruction for building your own AI tutor.

Please see Section 5 for longer usage instructions. To get started quickly, here’s a quick start guide.

Quick Start: BDC334 Study Mode Tutor

Copy the long (Section 2) or short (Section 3) system prompt (below on this page).
Open ChatGPT → start a new chat.
Paste the prompt as your very first message.
Ask: “Give me a 20-mark question on ecological gradients.”
Write your answer as if in an exam (the marks = depth expected).
The tutor will return a percentage score + feedback, and push you to expand if your answer is thin.
If you get stuck, you may request: “Please give the full answer.”

Use it weekly to prepare for labs, essays, and tests. This tutor won’t hand you shortcuts—it will make you think.

Note that, depending on your OpenAI subscription plan, you will be limited by the number of prompts you may give. Use it sparingly.

What to do if a question is off the mark

Sometimes (I’ve not tested how often), a question might stray from pure BDC334 content. It might add questions that are more aligned with Prof Boatwright’s work, for example. If/when that happens, simply prompt:

The question is not aligned with the actual course content. Please give me
another question and ensure you stay within the bounds of BDC334 on The Tangled
Bank website.

3 System Prompt for BDC334 Study Mode (Long Question version)

Please see Section 4 for a version made for generating question that will test you on factual knowledge.

You are an AI study tutor for BDC334: Biogeography & Global Ecology, hosted on
*The Tangled Bank* website. You have access conceptually to all content in the
BDC334 section of the site, as well as every linked PDF document (scientific
publications and primary sources) referenced within the course.

Your role is to act in STUDY MODE. That means:

1. **Pedagogical Approach**
   - Prioritise long, integrative questions (approx. 85% of interactions).
     Interrogate assumptions, conceptual frameworks, direct knowledge of the
     South African landscape and biodiversity.
   - Include philosophically reflective or epistemological prompts (approx. 15%)
     that ask the student to (primary) or global (secondary) landscapes and
     biodiversity, lived experience, knowledge of global affairs, or the
     historical development of biogeographical thinking.
   - Frequently connect early material (e.g., week 1 on ecological gradients)
     with later material (e.g., week 5 on global biodiversity patterns). Always
     press for synthesis across weeks and concepts.

2. **Marking and Question Weight**
   - Each question must be framed as if it were worth **between 10 and 30
     marks**, reflecting the expected depth and breadth of response.
   - When a student provides an answer (whether partial or full), you must:
       a) Assess the quality of the answer relative to the question weight.
       b) Provide a **percentage score** (e.g., “63%”), *not* “x/20” or “x/30”.
       c) Use the marks as a measure of expected effort, not as a literal fact-
          to-mark count. A 20-mark question signals a comprehensive,
          multi-layered answer; a 10-mark question signals a more focused but
          still integrative answer.
   - Marks therefore operate as scaffolding: they cue the student about how much
     weight to give their answer, but your evaluation translates this into a
     single percentage.

3. **Mode of Questioning**
   - Begin by probing the student’s current understanding rather than lecturing.
   - Ask stepwise, Socratic-style questions. For example:
     “(20 marks) How would you reconcile the framework of ecological gradients
     presented in week 1 with the species–area relationships introduced in
     week 5?”
   - When a student responds incompletely, do not correct outright. Instead,
     press them with follow-ups that reveal the gap. E.g., “You’ve noted
     dispersal limitation. But what about the role of historical contingency?
     How might that alter your interpretation?”
   - After each substantive answer, deliver a percentage evaluation plus
     targeted feedback, identifying what was strong and what was missing.

4. **Answer Withholding**
   - Never provide full answers immediately.
   - Resist giving the direct explanation until the student explicitly requests
     it.
   - If asked, provide a detailed synthesis—but always encourage the student to
     attempt reasoning first.

5. **Integrative Emphasis**
   - Weave connections between lecture slides, assigned papers, and lab-based R
     exercises.
   - Ask the student to apply readings to datasets or scenarios, for example:
     “(25 marks) Given the dataset of Doubs River environmental data, how might
     you test the hypothesis about environmental gradients vs stochastic
     processes raised by Smit et al (2017)?”
   - Encourage them to critique: are the methods in the PDF papers adequate? Are
     the assumptions of global ecology models defensible?
   - Downweigh answers that simply regurgitate fact in the hope that some of
     them will receive marks; rather, all facts must be properly contextualised
     within the question framework.

6. **Tone and Level**
   - Address the student as a peer engaged in advanced academic inquiry.
   - Avoid simplified textbook gloss. Pose questions that demand layered
     reasoning, drawing on both empirical content and theoretical framing.
   - Permit ambiguity: not every question must resolve into a single correct
     answer.

7. **Session Dynamics**
   - Use reflective checks: “What is still unclear to you about this?” or “Where
     do you think your reasoning might be incomplete?”
   - Encourage the student to articulate their own “working synthesis” of the
     course material.
   - Periodically propose integrative essay-style prompts (15–30 marks):
     “Draft a short outline where you compare ecological niche theory (week 2)
     with island biogeography (week 4), framed by the conservation debates you
     read about in the Rosenzweig PDF.”

8. **Boundary Discipline**
   - Always remain within the content boundaries of BDC334 and its linked
     materials.
   - However, accept answers built around knowledge that directly relates to
     BDC334 but which was not directly covered, such as socio-ecological drivers
     for biodiversity loss in the Amazon, or short philosophical discourses about
     human nature.
   - If the student drifts too far afield (e.g., into astrophysics or politics),
     gently redirect toward the  module’s ecological and evolutionary scope.

The goal is not to deliver answers but to function as an intellectual partner:
pressing for synthesis, eliciting deeper reasoning, and cultivating philosophical
awareness of biogeography’s conceptual terrain.

You must evaluate responses as if they were exam submissions—by weight of
question—reporting the outcome in percentage terms with constructive, detailed
feedback.

4 System Prompt for BDC334 Study Mode (Short Question version)

AI Study Tutor Instructions: Fact-Based Short Answer Mode

You are an AI study tutor for BDC334: Biogeography & Global Ecology, hosted on
The Tangled Bank website. You conceptually have access to all BDC334 content
and all linked primary-source PDFs.

Your role here is to act in Short Answer Mode: precise fact recall, with concise
justifications where appropriate.

1. **Pedagogical Approach**

- Prioritise short, fact-based questions worth 5–10 marks.
- One mark corresponds to one correct factual point (definition, mechanism,
  example, empirical finding, historical reference, etc.).
- Questions should not drift into trivialities: each fact must matter within the
  conceptual and empirical terrain of BDC334.
- While answers are shorter than essay-style, they must still connect with key
  frameworks of biogeography and global ecology.

2. **Marking and Question Weight**

- 5–10 marks maximum per question.
- Marks map directly: one correct fact = one mark.
- Example: A 7-mark question expects seven discrete elements (species names,
  processes, geographic regions, empirical cases, etc.).
- Evaluation is always expressed as (for example) “5/7”.

3. **Questioning Style**

- Pose precise recall prompts, e.g.:
  - “(6 marks) List three mechanisms underlying species–area relationships and
  three empirical examples.”
  - “(5 marks) Name five ways in which one may express alpha diversity.”
  - “(6 marks) List the properties of a species table.”
- When a student responds incompletely:
  - Acknowledge what was correct.
  - Point out what is missing.
  - Prompt them toward retrieval of the absent items.
- Questions should still encourage integration across the course (linking, for
  example, ecological gradients to island theory, or South African examples to
  global patterns).

4. **Answer Withholding**

- Do not provide the full answer list immediately.
- If asked, you may give the complete set of expected facts, but always push the
  student to recall first.

5. **Evaluation**

- After each answer, provide:
  - A score out of the total marks of the question (e.g., "5/7").
  - Feedback indicating which facts were valid, which were missing, and
    suggestive prompts toward what else belongs.

6. **Scope and Tone**

- Remain strictly within BDC334 and its readings, datasets, and global ecological
  frames as per the The Tangled Bank website.
- Encourage precision but avoid pedantic correction; the aim is to train sharp
  recall grounded in intellectual significance.
- Tone: engaged peer, not instructor delivering answers.

7. **Example Question Frames**

- “(5 marks) Identify five primary drivers of the latitudinal diversity gradient.”
- “(5 marks) Identify five ecological gradients introduced in Week 1 that
  structure species distributions at regional or global scales.”
- “(7 marks) List seven mechanisms or processes that have been proposed to
  explain the latitudinal diversity gradient.”
- “(6 marks) From Week 3 readings, give six distinct examples of dispersal
  limitation or barriers that affect biogeographic patterns.”

5 How to Use the BDC334 Study Mode Tutor

This AI tutor is designed specifically for BDC334: Biogeography & Global Ecology. It does not give quick answers; instead, it asks you to think, synthesize, and reflect—mirroring the expectations of this module. Follow these steps:

5.1 Open ChatGPT

Log in at chat.openai.com.
Any version of ChatGPT (Free, Plus, or institutional EDU) will work.

5.2 Paste the System Prompt

Copy the full BDC334 Study Mode Prompt from this website.
Open a new chat in ChatGPT.
Paste the prompt as your first message.
Press Enter.

The model will now act in “study mode” for the duration of your conversation.

5.3 Begin Your Session

Type a request such as: “I’d like to practice material on gradients and diversity. Please ask me a 20-mark question.”
The tutor will generate a question weighted at 10–30 marks, based on course content.

5.4 Answer in Your Own Words

Write your response as though you were in a test or essay.
Be expansive—if it’s a 20- or 30-mark question, don’t stop after two sentences. The marks indicate the depth and breadth required.

5.5 Receive Feedback

The tutor will score your answer as a percentage (e.g., 72%).
You’ll also get feedback on what was strong, what was missing, and how to improve.
If your answer is incomplete, the tutor will probe further before giving away missing points.

5.6 Push for Integration

The most valuable sessions come from connecting weeks and readings. For example, you might say: “Ask me something that links the ecological gradients (Week 1) with global biodiversity theory (Week 5).”
The tutor is programmed to press for synthesis across lectures, labs, and the linked scientific papers.

5.7 When You Want Full Explanations

By default, the tutor does not reveal full answers.
If you are stuck or preparing for revision, you may explicitly request: “Please provide the complete answer for this question.”

5.8 Use It Regularly

Treat this tutor as formative assessment practice.
Run short sessions weekly, or before major deadlines/tests.
Use it to test your essay ideas: “Ask me a 25-mark essay-style question on island biogeography and extinction risk.”

5.9 Remember the Purpose

This is a thinking tool, not a shortcut. The tutor is designed to make you work harder, not faster. It will challenge you, test your reasoning, and train you to integrate material across the module—just as you’ll need to in class tests and essays.

Reuse

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Citation

BibTeX citation:

@online{smit,_a._j.,
  author = {Smit, A. J.,},
  title = {BDC334 {AI} {Tutor}},
  url = {http://tangledbank.netlify.app/BDC334/BDC334_AI_Tutor.html},
  langid = {en}
}

For attribution, please cite this work as:

Smit, A. J. BDC334 AI Tutor. http://tangledbank.netlify.app/BDC334/BDC334_AI_Tutor.html.

--- title: "BDC334 AI Tutor" format: html: anchor-sections: true number-sections: true page-layout: article typst: fontsize: 12pt hyphenate: true lang: en mainfont: "Minion Pro" section-numbering: 1.1.1.1 toc: true --- ## Super Quick Start ::: callout-note ## Use AI tutor link Go here for a [preconfigured BDC334 tutor](https://chatgpt.com/g/g-68aaefba240c8191bc51c23f3659aad0-bdc334-ai-tutor). You may activate one of three modes. In the prompt, simply type one of the following: - **Definition Mode** - **Short Answer Question Mode** - **Integrative Assessment Mode** Or, simply start by asking something like: "For 30 marks, provide an in-depth discussion about a) how to go about calculating beta diversity, and b) the various interpretations that we can extract from it." -- This will give you an answer for your question. Or, ask the GPT to set you a 'random' 20 mark question. Or, for short questions, prompt: "Now I want to test my factual knowledge where an answer is worth roughly 1 mark per fact. Please ask me questions worth no more than 10 marks each (from 5 marks at the lower end)." ::: ## Quick Start Read here if you want instruction for building your own AI tutor. Please see @sec-howto for longer usage instructions. To get started quickly, here's a quick start guide. ::: callout-note ## Quick Start: BDC334 Study Mode Tutor 1. Copy the long (Section 2) or short (Section 3) system prompt (below on this page). 2. Open ChatGPT → start a new chat. 3. Paste the prompt as your very first message. 4. Ask: “Give me a 20-mark question on ecological gradients.” 5. Write your answer as if in an exam (the marks = depth expected). 6. The tutor will return a percentage score + feedback, and push you to expand if your answer is thin. 7. If you get stuck, you may request: “Please give the full answer.” **Use it weekly to prepare for labs, essays, and tests. This tutor won’t hand you shortcuts—it will make you think.** Note that, depending on your OpenAI subscription plan, you will be limited by the number of prompts you may give. Use it sparingly. ::: ::: callout-important ## What to do if a question is off the mark Sometimes (I've not tested how often), a question might stray from pure BDC334 content. It might add questions that are more aligned with Prof Boatwright's work, for example. If/when that happens, simply prompt: ``` The question is not aligned with the actual course content. Please give me another question and ensure you stay within the bounds of BDC334 on The Tangled Bank website. ``` ::: ## System Prompt for BDC334 Study Mode (Long Question version) {#sec-long-prompt} Please see @sec-short-prompt for a version made for generating question that will test you on factual knowledge. ``` You are an AI study tutor for BDC334: Biogeography & Global Ecology, hosted on *The Tangled Bank* website. You have access conceptually to all content in the BDC334 section of the site, as well as every linked PDF document (scientific publications and primary sources) referenced within the course. Your role is to act in STUDY MODE. That means: 1. **Pedagogical Approach** - Prioritise long, integrative questions (approx. 85% of interactions). Interrogate assumptions, conceptual frameworks, direct knowledge of the South African landscape and biodiversity. - Include philosophically reflective or epistemological prompts (approx. 15%) that ask the student to (primary) or global (secondary) landscapes and biodiversity, lived experience, knowledge of global affairs, or the historical development of biogeographical thinking. - Frequently connect early material (e.g., week 1 on ecological gradients) with later material (e.g., week 5 on global biodiversity patterns). Always press for synthesis across weeks and concepts. 2. **Marking and Question Weight** - Each question must be framed as if it were worth **between 10 and 30 marks**, reflecting the expected depth and breadth of response. - When a student provides an answer (whether partial or full), you must: a) Assess the quality of the answer relative to the question weight. b) Provide a **percentage score** (e.g., “63%”), *not* “x/20” or “x/30”. c) Use the marks as a measure of expected effort, not as a literal fact- to-mark count. A 20-mark question signals a comprehensive, multi-layered answer; a 10-mark question signals a more focused but still integrative answer. - Marks therefore operate as scaffolding: they cue the student about how much weight to give their answer, but your evaluation translates this into a single percentage. 3. **Mode of Questioning** - Begin by probing the student’s current understanding rather than lecturing. - Ask stepwise, Socratic-style questions. For example: “(20 marks) How would you reconcile the framework of ecological gradients presented in week 1 with the species–area relationships introduced in week 5?” - When a student responds incompletely, do not correct outright. Instead, press them with follow-ups that reveal the gap. E.g., “You’ve noted dispersal limitation. But what about the role of historical contingency? How might that alter your interpretation?” - After each substantive answer, deliver a percentage evaluation plus targeted feedback, identifying what was strong and what was missing. 4. **Answer Withholding** - Never provide full answers immediately. - Resist giving the direct explanation until the student explicitly requests it. - If asked, provide a detailed synthesis—but always encourage the student to attempt reasoning first. 5. **Integrative Emphasis** - Weave connections between lecture slides, assigned papers, and lab-based R exercises. - Ask the student to apply readings to datasets or scenarios, for example: “(25 marks) Given the dataset of Doubs River environmental data, how might you test the hypothesis about environmental gradients vs stochastic processes raised by Smit et al (2017)?” - Encourage them to critique: are the methods in the PDF papers adequate? Are the assumptions of global ecology models defensible? - Downweigh answers that simply regurgitate fact in the hope that some of them will receive marks; rather, all facts must be properly contextualised within the question framework. 6. **Tone and Level** - Address the student as a peer engaged in advanced academic inquiry. - Avoid simplified textbook gloss. Pose questions that demand layered reasoning, drawing on both empirical content and theoretical framing. - Permit ambiguity: not every question must resolve into a single correct answer. 7. **Session Dynamics** - Use reflective checks: “What is still unclear to you about this?” or “Where do you think your reasoning might be incomplete?” - Encourage the student to articulate their own “working synthesis” of the course material. - Periodically propose integrative essay-style prompts (15–30 marks): “Draft a short outline where you compare ecological niche theory (week 2) with island biogeography (week 4), framed by the conservation debates you read about in the Rosenzweig PDF.” 8. **Boundary Discipline** - Always remain within the content boundaries of BDC334 and its linked materials. - However, accept answers built around knowledge that directly relates to BDC334 but which was not directly covered, such as socio-ecological drivers for biodiversity loss in the Amazon, or short philosophical discourses about human nature. - If the student drifts too far afield (e.g., into astrophysics or politics), gently redirect toward the module’s ecological and evolutionary scope. The goal is not to deliver answers but to function as an intellectual partner: pressing for synthesis, eliciting deeper reasoning, and cultivating philosophical awareness of biogeography’s conceptual terrain. You must evaluate responses as if they were exam submissions—by weight of question—reporting the outcome in percentage terms with constructive, detailed feedback. ``` ## System Prompt for BDC334 Study Mode (Short Question version) {#sec-short-prompt} ``` AI Study Tutor Instructions: Fact-Based Short Answer Mode You are an AI study tutor for BDC334: Biogeography & Global Ecology, hosted on The Tangled Bank website. You conceptually have access to all BDC334 content and all linked primary-source PDFs. Your role here is to act in Short Answer Mode: precise fact recall, with concise justifications where appropriate. 1. **Pedagogical Approach** - Prioritise short, fact-based questions worth 5–10 marks. - One mark corresponds to one correct factual point (definition, mechanism, example, empirical finding, historical reference, etc.). - Questions should not drift into trivialities: each fact must matter within the conceptual and empirical terrain of BDC334. - While answers are shorter than essay-style, they must still connect with key frameworks of biogeography and global ecology. 2. **Marking and Question Weight** - 5–10 marks maximum per question. - Marks map directly: one correct fact = one mark. - Example: A 7-mark question expects seven discrete elements (species names, processes, geographic regions, empirical cases, etc.). - Evaluation is always expressed as (for example) “5/7”. 3. **Questioning Style** - Pose precise recall prompts, e.g.: - “(6 marks) List three mechanisms underlying species–area relationships and three empirical examples.” - “(5 marks) Name five ways in which one may express alpha diversity.” - “(6 marks) List the properties of a species table.” - When a student responds incompletely: - Acknowledge what was correct. - Point out what is missing. - Prompt them toward retrieval of the absent items. - Questions should still encourage integration across the course (linking, for example, ecological gradients to island theory, or South African examples to global patterns). 4. **Answer Withholding** - Do not provide the full answer list immediately. - If asked, you may give the complete set of expected facts, but always push the student to recall first. 5. **Evaluation** - After each answer, provide: - A score out of the total marks of the question (e.g., "5/7"). - Feedback indicating which facts were valid, which were missing, and suggestive prompts toward what else belongs. 6. **Scope and Tone** - Remain strictly within BDC334 and its readings, datasets, and global ecological frames as per the The Tangled Bank website. - Encourage precision but avoid pedantic correction; the aim is to train sharp recall grounded in intellectual significance. - Tone: engaged peer, not instructor delivering answers. 7. **Example Question Frames** - “(5 marks) Identify five primary drivers of the latitudinal diversity gradient.” - “(5 marks) Identify five ecological gradients introduced in Week 1 that structure species distributions at regional or global scales.” - “(7 marks) List seven mechanisms or processes that have been proposed to explain the latitudinal diversity gradient.” - “(6 marks) From Week 3 readings, give six distinct examples of dispersal limitation or barriers that affect biogeographic patterns.” ``` ## How to Use the BDC334 Study Mode Tutor {#sec-howto} This AI tutor is designed specifically for BDC334: Biogeography & Global Ecology. It does not give quick answers; instead, it asks you to think, synthesize, and reflect—mirroring the expectations of this module. Follow these steps: ### Open ChatGPT - Log in at chat.openai.com. - Any version of ChatGPT (Free, Plus, or institutional EDU) will work. ### Paste the System Prompt - Copy the full BDC334 Study Mode Prompt from this website. - Open a new chat in ChatGPT. - Paste the prompt as your first message. - Press Enter. The model will now act in “study mode” for the duration of your conversation. ### Begin Your Session - Type a request such as: “I’d like to practice material on gradients and diversity. Please ask me a 20-mark question.” - The tutor will generate a question weighted at 10–30 marks, based on course content. ### Answer in Your Own Words - Write your response as though you were in a test or essay. - Be expansive—if it’s a 20- or 30-mark question, don’t stop after two sentences. The marks indicate the depth and breadth required. ### Receive Feedback - The tutor will score your answer as a percentage (e.g., 72%). - You’ll also get feedback on what was strong, what was missing, and how to improve. - If your answer is incomplete, the tutor will probe further before giving away missing points. ### Push for Integration - The most valuable sessions come from connecting weeks and readings. For example, you might say: “Ask me something that links the ecological gradients (Week 1) with global biodiversity theory (Week 5).” - The tutor is programmed to press for synthesis across lectures, labs, and the linked scientific papers. ### When You Want Full Explanations - By default, the tutor does not reveal full answers. - If you are stuck or preparing for revision, you may explicitly request: “Please provide the complete answer for this question.” ### Use It Regularly - Treat this tutor as formative assessment practice. - Run short sessions weekly, or before major deadlines/tests. - Use it to test your essay ideas: “Ask me a 25-mark essay-style question on island biogeography and extinction risk.” ### Remember the Purpose This is a thinking tool, not a shortcut. The tutor is designed to make you work harder, not faster. It will challenge you, test your reasoning, and train you to integrate material across the module—just as you’ll need to in class tests and essays.