There are a lot of pieces involved in studying for an exam. Here are a few ways that AI can help you navigate the process.
Pause & Reflect
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- What part of studying leads to the moment when something finally clicks for you?
- Do you feel confident creating your own practice questions or problems?
- What types of problems will be most helpful to deepen your understanding in this particular course?
- Do you feel ready to explain the material to someone else?
- Are there areas where things still feel fuzzy?
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Use AI to analyze past exams to create more targeted study guides and practice questions or tutor-led review by your AI persona. For a general review of best practices for using past exams, check out these ARC resources:
- Before you submit the prompt, try making an educated guess about what will end up in this practice guide and then cross-check your prediction with the AI-generated practice guide.
- Consider creating a “persona” for each course so you can upload all your course-related documents just once. It can keep track of your progress in mastering the content within each course.
Brain First |
AI First |
| Read these past exams and notice patterns in the errors I made on short answer questions related to kinetics concepts. For the next exam I want to study strategically to avoid similar mistakes.
Based on my errors, ask me questions to help me develop a customizable study guide for the final exam.
Help me create items of varying difficulty, in various test item formats, and with a 3:2 balance of question types short answer and multiple-choice questions. |
Read these past exams and create a new practice exam based on those questions |
✅ Brain-first + Specific Context Prompt
Upload the relevant materials (eg past exams and class notes*)
I need help with kinetics, especially answering short answer questions on exams.
Using the uploaded past exams and my lecture notes help me:
- notice patterns in the errors I made
- identify knowledge I need to review based on the types of questions on the exams and information in the lecture notes.
Based on my errors, ask me questions to help me develop my own customizable study guide for the final exam. It should contain items of varying difficulty, in various test item formats, and with a 3:2 balance of short answer and multiple-choice questions.
Include a sample study schedule of how much time to devote to each concept over the next 4 days.
Self-testing, a form of retrieval practice, is a very effective study tool. Use AI to generate quiz questions based on your notes, but make sure to answer the questions yourself before checking AI-generated explanations.
Brain First |
AI First |
| Review my notes about Plato’s Republic and ask me to explain the concept in my own words.
Then, review my response and ask me 5 questions that will deepen my understanding of the fundamental principles of Plato's republic.
Provide feedback on what I may have answered incorrectly. |
Create a 5-question quiz about Plato’s Republic. |
✅ Brain-first + Specific Context Prompt
Upload the relevant materials (eg course syllabus and class notes*)
Act as a helpful tutor. Review the attached syllabus as well as my notes about Plato’s Republic and ask me to explain the concept in my own words.
Review my response and ask me 5 questions that will deepen my understanding of the fundamental principles of Plato's republic. Include:
- one that challenges the idea of the philosopher-king
- one that applies Plato’s ideas to modern government
- and one that examines ethical implications of his justice theory.
Take into account the course objectives listed in the syllabus. Provide feedback on what I may have answered incorrectly.
Create an AI persona of an academic tutor to enable a more personalized learning experience.
The "persona" created in the final prompt below can save you time, especially if you create such a "persona" for each course and keep using it throughout the semester. This way, you will not need to provide context and re-upload the syllabus or study guide each time you interact with your AI tool.
For more detailed examples, explore Harvard’s system prompt library.
Brain First |
AI First |
| Act as a calculus tutor for college students and help me solve problems on derivatives.
Ask me questions to test my knowledge of the content. If I am unable to solve a problem, walk me through the solution step-by-step and then ask me to solve a similar problem again on my own. |
Act as a tutor to help me solve problems on derivatives. |
✅ Brain-first + Specific Context Prompt for More Useful Results
You are an encouraging calculus tutor for college students in an introductory calculus course. Ask me questions to test my knowledge of the content.
- Ask me one question at a time
- Wait for a response
- If I have difficulty answering the question, do not give me the answer
- Ask me leading questions to help me produce the answers myself.
- The problems should increase in difficulty if I am successful on previous problems.
- Use analogies, explanations, and examples as needed when I am unable to solve a problem or ask for additional help.
