HSC 310 Module 4 Apply It! ChatGPT: Prompt Engineering for Health Communication Example

Reviewed by Emmett Rockwell, MBA Arizona State University Updated October 2026

This HSC 310 Module 4 sample is the Apply It! ChatGPT project from Health Communication, an ASU Health Sciences course. The ASU HSC 310 Module 4 applied project asks students to practice prompt engineering, writing and refining instructions to an AI tool, and to judge whether the result is fit for health communication. Across three rounds of revised prompts, the composite student directs ChatGPT to produce a short hypertension handout aimed at readers who struggle with health information. The paper shows each prompt, describes how the output changed, checks the facts against the 2017 national blood pressure guideline, measures the reading level, records the errors found and ends with rules for using AI safely in health messages.

CourseHSC 310 Health Communication
ModuleModule 4
Paper typeApplied AI project
LengthAbout 537 words, 4 pages
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolArizona State University
ProgramBS in Health Sciences
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for HSC 310 Module 4

1

Prompting for Plain Language: Using ChatGPT to Draft a High Blood Pressure Handout

Student Name

BS in Health Sciences, Arizona State University

HSC 310: Health Communication

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingThe title names the AI task and the health topic.
2

Prompting for Plain Language: Using ChatGPT to Draft a High Blood Pressure Handout

Task

Draft a one-page handout explaining high blood pressure to adults with limited health literacy who have just been told their reading is high. Roughly a third of U.S. adults fall in the two lowest health literacy levels (Kutner et al., 2006), so plain language matters.

Round 1: A Simple Prompt

Prompt: "Write a handout about high blood pressure."

Result: about 450 words with headings, terms such as "hypertension," "systolic" and "cardiovascular events," and a list of medications. The reading level was roughly 11th grade. It gave no audience, no length and no action steps in order of importance.

Round 2: Adding Audience and Format

Prompt: "Write a one-page handout for adults who read at a 6th-grade level and were just told their blood pressure is high. Use short sentences, everyday words and three headings: What is it? Why does it matter? What can I do?"

Result: shorter, friendlier and easier to read, at about an 8th-grade level. However, it stated that high blood pressure starts at 140/90, which no longer matches U.S. guidance.

What this page is doingShowing the error the AI made is more instructive than showing a perfect result, because it proves the output was checked.
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Round 3: Adding Constraints and a Source

Prompt: "Revise the handout. Follow the 2017 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guideline. Define high blood pressure as 130/80 or higher. Give no medication names. End with three actions a person can take this week. Use 'you.' Keep it under 250 words. Do not include references you cannot verify."

Result: a 230-word handout at about a 6th-grade level that defined high blood pressure correctly, explained that it often has no symptoms and listed three actions: recheck your blood pressure, cut back on salty foods, and walk most days.

Fact Check

I compared the final handout with the synopsis of the 2017 guideline. It correctly used 130/80 as the threshold for stage 1 hypertension and recommended lifestyle changes such as less sodium, more physical activity and weight loss (Carey & Whelton, 2018). It left out alcohol limits and the DASH eating pattern, which I added myself.

IssueRound foundFix
Jargon such as "systolic"1Prompted for 6th-grade words
Outdated 140/90 threshold2Named the guideline and threshold in the prompt
Missing alcohol and DASH advice3Added by hand from the guideline
A made-up website address3Deleted and replaced with a real source

What the Research Says About AI Answers

When licensed clinicians compared paired answers to patient questions, they chose ChatGPT's reply over the physician's 78.6% of the time and scored it better on both quality and empathy (Ayers et al., 2023). That study also used short physician replies from an online forum, and the authors suggested that AI drafts be edited by clinicians. My experience agrees: the tool was helpful for tone and structure but needed checking for facts.

My Rules for Using AI in Health Communication

1. Tell the tool the audience, reading level, length and format.

2. Name the trusted source the content must follow.

3. Check every fact and remove any reference I cannot find.

4. Test the reading level myself.

5. Have a person from the audience read the final version.

6. Say that AI was used, as my instructor and employer require.

References

Ayers, J. W., Poliak, A., Dredze, M., Leas, E. C., Zhu, Z., Kelley, J. B., Faix, D. J., Goodman, A. M., Longhurst, C. A., Hogarth, M., & Smith, D. M. (2023). Comparing physician and artificial intelligence chatbot responses to patient questions posted to a public social media forum. JAMA Internal Medicine, 183(6), 589-596. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.1838

Carey, R. M., & Whelton, P. K. (2018). Prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults: Synopsis of the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association hypertension guideline. Annals of Internal Medicine, 168(5), 351-358. https://doi.org/10.7326/M17-3203

Kutner, M., Greenberg, E., Jin, Y., & Paulsen, C. (2006). The health literacy of America's adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NCES 2006-483). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

What the HSC 310 Module 4 instructions ask for

The Apply It! ChatGPT project in HSC 310 Module 4 asks you to practice prompt engineering: writing, testing and refining instructions to an AI tool to produce health communication. Follow your instructor's task, which may name a topic, audience or product, and keep a record of every prompt and what it returned. The point is to learn how to direct AI and how to judge its output, so the evaluation matters as much as the final product. Applied projects in the course are graded at 20 points each, with one at 10; check Canvas for this project's value and the required format. Save your work as you go.

How the HSC 310 Module 4 example is put together

The sample states the task and why plain language matters, then shows three prompts in order, each followed by a description of the output and its problems. A fact-check section compares the final handout with a national guideline, and a table lists four errors, when each was found and how it was fixed. A section on research puts the experience in context, and the paper ends with six rules for using AI in health messages. Each round changes one or two instructions, so the reader can see which change fixed which problem. The table of errors turns the reflection into evidence, and the closing rules are concrete enough to use at work.

HSC 310 Module 4 rubric: what earns full marks

Readers look for prompts that clearly improve from round to round, specific observations about the output, a careful check of accuracy against credible sources and thoughtful reflection on the strengths and risks of AI in health communication. Marks drop when students paste AI output without evaluation, when prompts are not shown, when errors go unnoticed and when the reflection is generic praise or general worry with no examples. Strong projects also explain why a particular audience needs plain language, test the reading level rather than trusting the tool's claim and treat AI as a drafting aid that still needs a human editor. A clear record of every prompt is part of the grade.

HSC 310 Module 4 help with common mistakes

Save every prompt and response with the date. Change one thing at a time between rounds so you can see what helped. Always check numbers, thresholds and recommendations against a guideline or government source. Delete any citation the tool produces until you find it yourself. Measure the reading level with a formula or tool. Follow your instructor's rules for disclosing AI. If your AI output looks right but you are not sure, the desk can help check it. Try asking the tool to explain its own sources and watch how it responds; it may invent them. Paste your final text into a readability checker. Compare one key fact with two trusted sources before you submit.

Write yours, or have the desk draft it

This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

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More HSC 310 and BS in Health Sciences sample papers

HSC 310 Module 4 questions, answered

Where can I find a free HSC 310 Module 4 sample paper?

The full prompt engineering project on a high blood pressure handout is on this page.

What is prompt engineering?

Writing and refining instructions to an AI tool so it produces useful, accurate output.

What blood pressure counts as high in U.S. guidance?

Under the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline, readings of 130/80 and above count as stage 1.

Can ChatGPT make up sources?

Yes; check every reference it gives and delete any you cannot find.

Did people prefer ChatGPT's health answers in research?

In one study, evaluators preferred chatbot answers in 78.6% of comparisons, though the authors advised clinician review.