Ideas to Use GenAI Tools to Help You Study
So how can you use AI to help you study? It’s actually quite easy to use them ethically once you understand some prompting tricks.
The best thing to do is simply ask ChatGPT or a similar tool for exactly what you want. These example prompts and results can easily be modified for your situation.
Remember the database “date” limitations for certain tools. For instance, ChatGPT 3.5 (the free version) stopped collecting new data from the internet in January, 2022. It might not be able to tell you about the most recent information on a topic.
And, as with any prompting, you need to critically engage with your topic by checking facts. As we’ve discussed, GenAI tools can hallucinate (make stuff up) but they sound confident. Make sure you have the correct information.
Try out each of these AI study techniques:
- Have a conversation
- Create an outline
- Get examples
- Feedback
- Socratic method
- Simulation and role-play
- Use AI to quiz yourself
- Study coach
Have a conversation
You can use AI tools to engage in a guided brainstorming session. This interaction helps refine your thoughts when writing. By asking one question at a time and waiting for your response, the tool assists in organizing and deepening your thinking process. Once the questioning is complete, you’ll have an outline of sorts that supports your writing process, giving you a clear and organized framework.
Prompt You Might Use (you change the text in green)
Act as an expert writing tutor. I need to write an analysis of two of the six major psychological perspectives. Ask me questions to help me write something insightful. Ask one question at a time, wait for my response, and ask me the next question. After I have answered your questions, produce a potential structure for comparative essay for me.
Create an outline
The conversation system above is usually the best way to grow your writing. However, sometimes you have a good command of a topic but are struggling to put it together. A conversation may be more than you need. You can also generate an outline for your writing.
Prompt You Might Use (you change the text in green)
Act as a writing tutor and create a recommended outline for me. I need to write a 3-5 page paper on the topic of how to write a job posting. The outline should include the following components 1) job title 2) introduction about company 3) job description 4) job benefits and other elements you think the outline should have.
Get examples
Have you ever been in a course and struggled to find a way to apply the knowledge you are learning? AI can help build real-life examples that you can apply theory to.
Prompt You Might Use (you change the text in green)
Act as an expert tutor in psychology. I need to learn about cognitive biases that affect decision making. You need to give me examples of real life situations where particular cognitive biases might be at play. Ask me what biases might be active, and give me feedback on my answer and explanation.
Feedback
ChatGPT and other content generators can give you immediate feedback on your writing. It's a great way to use AI tools to improve your writing. You can submit a paragraph or two at a time. With a paid account, you can actually upload an entire PDF for ChatGPT 4 to review.
Prompt You Might Use (you change the text in green)
Act as an expert college writing tutor and provide me critical feedback on how I can improve my writing. Do not rewrite but provide me with specific feedback on the following paragraph in my paper: “Another of Smith's ideas was the method of differentiation. The university re-opened after the plague in 1667. Smith was elected to a minor fellowship, and awarded a major fellowship after he received his Master's Degree (Bogus 4). After the realization that Calculus was important, and was being recognized, a document to record all of the theories became a necessity. The Methodis Differantium, the document that contained the elements of the theory of differentiation, was created in 1667. Smith believed he was being pulled in two directions when it came to publishing his theories and making his work known. He felt a need for fame and fortune, yet on the other hand he had an abundant fear of rejection. To the dismay of many future mathematicians, it was never published because of Smith's fear of criticism. Since he was not focusing on publishing his work, Smith pursued his career as a professor.”
Socratic method
Socrates was the first great Greek philosopher. In his teaching, he used a method of asking questions of his students to help them develop a deeper understanding or meaning. GenAI tools can be an excellent substitute for this style of learn.
Rather than focus on a single topic for a session, it is better to employ a concept called interleaving where you combine multiple topics. Learning the topics together helps your memory connect different topics in the same field, improving understanding and recall.
Prompt You Might Use (you change the text in green)
You are an expert cyber security tutor.
I want to study the following topics.
- Penetration tests
- Virtual machines
- Vulnerability scanning
Ask me questions that integrate ideas from these three topics. After each question that you ask, wait for my response. Then you should respond but do not tell me the answer. Instead, ask me questions and use the Socratic questioning approach to help me arrive at the answer myself.
Simulation and role play
GenAI tools are great at building a simulation or role-playing experience on the fly. Many companies are harnessing the power of AI to build customized tools, like interview simulations. You can use AI tools to create a role-playing experience for you that can help you understand and apply material you’ve learned.
This is a technique that has no limit, but you will have to experiment for the best results.
Prompt You Might Use (you change the text in green)
I want to do deliberate practice about how to complete a job interview for cybersecurity. You will be my teacher.
You will simulate a detailed scenario in which I have to answer interview questions related to an entry-level cybersecurity job. You will fill the role of interviewer, I will fill the role of interviewee.
You will ask for my response to in each step of the scenario and wait until you receive it. After getting my response, you will give me details of what the other party does and says. You will grade my response and give me detailed feedback about what to do better using interview best practices. You will give me a harder scenario if I do well, and an easier one if I fail.
Use AI to quiz yourself
GenAI tools are incredible at making multiple choice questions on the fly and providing feedback. Remember, an AI may ask questions that are outside the scope of your courses and it can be wrong. You’ll want to check your missed answers (and maybe some of the right ones) against another source, like your textbook.
The best part is that checking your responses helps secure knowledge in your memory!
Prompt You Might Use (you change the text in green)
This is all one prompt. It’s just broken up so you can see the parts you need to change easier.
Act as a tutor for a first year student in an introduction to Chemistry course.
Ask me multiple choice questions that will test my application and knowledge of basic chemistry concepts. Your questions should target common issues and misconceptions with the structure of atoms.
After I answer provide feedback on my response and then ask another question.
Study coach
Many people use AI tools to help manage their lives. You can have these tools plan your workouts, plan recipes, or organize complex tasks into sub-tasks. Intentional study can often help you master a subject. Why not ask ChatGPT to plan your schedule for you? It saves you time and the results can be effective.
GenAI tools can improve your study by using the concept of interleaving, where you include multiple subjects that are related together. By combining topics, your brain forms multiple links to improve understanding and recall.
Prompt You Might Use (you change the text in green)
Act as an expert study coach. I need to review the microeconomics concepts of (i) supply and demand, (ii) elasticity, and (iii) game theory. I have 3 hours a day over the next 4 days to study. Suggest a study plan that uses interleaved practice to help me study these concepts most effectively. Ensure the topics that I study each day are connected to each other. Explain why your plan will help me learn effectively.
