11 Practicing through cloze passages
Purpose and important information
You can use generative AI to produce cloze passages based on the material you’re studying in your course. Cloze passages are reading comprehension exercises which involve paragraphs where certain words are removed, requiring you to fill in the blanks. As such, these passages require you to recall concepts, theories, and technical language you’ve learnt to review and reinforce learning. Furthermore, the active nature of this task helps you to consolidate your understanding and commit the material to memory.
What does a cloze passage look like?
An example of a cloze passage can be found below.
‘The marketing mix, also known as the ________ model, is a fundamental concept in marketing strategy, encompassing four key elements: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Starting with the ________ component, businesses need to design and develop products or services that meet the needs and desires of their target market. The next element, _________, involves determining the appropriate pricing strategy that reflects the product’s value and aligns with market expectations.’
The underlined spaces within this passage indicate a missing word or short phrase. Some AI tools may represent the missing information with a number.
Important note: AI tools may sometimes generate inaccurate information. Make sure to exercise your own judgment and understanding of the class content to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the cloze passage which the AI tool creates.
Prompt template
Note: The following prompt type is most suitable for language-based generative AI. In some generative AI tools, you will obtain higher-quality responses by using a series of prompts, rather than one longer prompt.
For this type of prompt, we recommend giving the AI tool a role which mimics a person who would hold substantial knowledge on the topics you wish to review (e.g. a senior lecturer in developmental psychology). In the prompt, specify the task (e.g. generate a cloze passage activity) along with any specific requirements or parameters (e.g. that contains statements that integrate these theories within the topic). Provide instructions so that the AI tool knows how you’d like to interact with it moving forward (e.g. wait for my answers and then give me feedback on my responses).
From here, the AI tool will act as a simulated tutor that will inform you whether your answers are correct or not as well as provide additional explanation.
You are <a role>. I would like to review <the topic>, specifically <sub-topics>. Generate a cloze passage activity that contains statements that integrate these theories within the topic. Wait for my answers and then give me feedback on my responses.
Example prompts and outputs
The following example was tested in RMIT’s Val.
RMIT University. (2024). Val [Large language model]. https://val.rmit.edu.au. See Appendix 4 for prompts used and text generated.
Adding multiple choice options to cloze passages
If you find it difficult to work out the answers for this activity, you may wish to adapt the AI tool’s output to include some multiple-choice questions to accompany the cloze text. To do this, simply modify the ‘task’ part of the prompt.
Act as a <role>. I would like to review the topic of <topic>, specifically <sub-topics>. Generate a cloze passage activity that contains statements that integrate these theories within the topic. For each question, provide some multiple-choice options. Wait for my answers and then give me feedback on my responses.
The following example was tested in RMIT’s Val.
RMIT University. (2024). Val [Large language model]. https://val.rmit.edu.au. See Appendix 4 for prompts used and text generated.
