llm-workshop-2025
“A workshop designed to explore how to use tools like ChatGPT more effectively.”
Learning Objectives
- Learn why GPTs generate both brilliant and bizarre outputs
- Learn several prompt engineering techniques
- Identify limitations of these tools and to work around them
- Test practical strategies to get more from GPTs
Morning session
| 🕒 | ⏳ | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | 10 min | Introductions | Logistics |
| 9:10 AM | 60 min | Anatomy of ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude |
| 10:10 AM | 30 min | The art of asking the questions to AI |
| 10:40 AM | 5 min | Introduction to prompt engineering |
| 10:45 AM | 15 min | N-shot prompting |
⏰ 5-minute bio break
| 🕒 | ⏳ | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 11:05 AM | 5 min | Cost of building an LLM |
| 11:10 AM | 20 min | Meta, heuristic, and persona prompting |
| 11:30 AM | 15 min | Machine learning vs LLMs |
| 11:45 PM | 10 min | Prompt injection | Activity |
| 12:05 AM | 20 min | Exploratory data analysis using LLMs |
🥪 Lunch - 1 PM to 2 PM
Afternoon session
| 🕒 | ⏳ | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 2:00 PM | 20 min | Using AI as health advisor |
| 2:20 PM | 20 min | Coding using LLMs |
| 2:40 PM | 15 min | Panel discussion on Contrastive, Retrieval Augmented, and Chain-of-Thought prompting |
| 2:55 PM | 20 min | An ongoing approach to interpret LLMs |
| 3:15 PM | 10 min | Running LLM modals locally |
| 3:25 PM | 20 min | Predictive modeling using LLMs |
| 3:45 PM | 15 min | How does deep research work? |
Workshop Participants
Sanfan Liu | Theresa Moore | Xiong Zhang | Arezoo Emdadi | Manu Bhandari | Fan Li | Kevin Drollinger | Jennifer Chen | Lokesh Chandra Sekhar Reddy Katikala | Sam David Christ Doss Pushpam | Jodi Woodruff | Paola Garcia Egan | Sachina Koirala | Deepika Kattel | Anu Subedi
Workshop Organizers
 Tommy Fink PhD Student University of Missouri–St. Louis |
 Rumandeep Singh PhD Student University of Missouri–St. Louis |
 Priyanka Paudel MS Student University of Missouri–St. Louis |
 Nooreen Fatima MS Student University of Missouri–St. Louis |
 Sankalpa Pokharel PhD Student University of Missouri–Rolla |
 Gauri Endole MS Student University of Missouri–St. Louis |
 Badri Adhikari (primary speaker) Associate Professor University of Missouri–St. Louis |
|
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Nirala Lamichhane for helping us prepare for the workshop and Aayog Adhikari for helping us during the day.
Contact
Dr. Badri Adhikari
Department of Computer Science
University of Missouri-St. Louis
📧 adhikarib@umsl.edu