Library › Study AI › High school students
Turn messy lecture notes into a practice quiz
Practice: Asking for a format you can use. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
Your Psych 101 midterm is tomorrow. You want a quiz to test yourself: exactly 5 numbered questions, with all the answers together at the end so you can't peek, under 170 words, plain text so it prints cleanly. It must cover the topic your professor said will be on the midterm, and use only what's in your notes. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Saying "make me a study guide". The AI picks the size, and it defaults to a long outline you won't finish reading the night before. Try: Be exact: "5 numbered questions."
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 170 words" and it often lands at 190. Try: Ask for about 25% fewer words than your real limit, or set a size it handles better, like "one sentence per answer."
- Answers right under each question. Your eyes jump to the answer before your brain tries. Testing yourself only works if you have to recall it. Try: Add: "Put all the answers together at the end."
- Missing what the professor flagged. The AI treats every line of your notes as equally important. It doesn't know which part your professor said is on the exam. Try: Tell it: "One question must be on episodic vs. semantic memory."
- Forgetting it has to print. AI formats for a screen, with bold headings and asterisks that print as clutter. Try: Say where it will be used: "Plain text I can print, no bold or headings."
- Letting the AI fill gaps from the internet. AI mixes in facts it already knows, and it can repeat a mistake your notes later corrected. Your exam follows your class, not the internet. Try: Add: "Use only my notes. Where the notes correct something, use the correction."
What a strong prompt includes
- Says how many questions
- Puts answers at the end
- Mentions the midterm topic
- Sets a word limit
- Says to use only the notes
Related exercises
- Announce a referral bonus with the steps to claim it (Marketing AI · HR and recruiting)
- Announce a team meeting change people will actually follow (Writing AI · Managers and team leads)
- Answer a 'found an error' question in STAR order (Writing AI · Finance and accounting)
- Answer a wholesale inquiry with clear terms (Writing AI · Small business owners)
- Answer an RFP timeline question in exactly four phases (Writing AI · Sales and customer success)