Mastering Exam Prep: Let AI Guide Your Study Sessions
Create Study Questions from Any Content and Crush Your Exam Prep
Day 8 of the 15-Day Writing Challenge
🏆 “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity! But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” — Madam C.J. Walker
How do you turn the chaos of exam preparation into a structured path to success?
It started out just like any other study session—just me, my coffee and the task of preparing for the AWS AI Practitioner Beta exam. (If you're not in the tech world, AWS is Amazon Web Services - but I bet most of you already knew that!)
If you've ever taken one of these exams, you know what it's like. Tons of reading, trying to make sure what you're studying matches up with the exam guide, and wondering if you're actually remembering the right stuff.
Then the practice exams, these are indispensable as it give you some idea of what you know but one of the things I have seen throughout the years, practices exams normally help you remember someone elses brain dump but not your own brain dump.
As the studying day went on, I decided to take a break …
This is where things got interesting.
The Moment Inspiration Struck
During my study break, I thought, "Why not write some prompts and play with ChatGPT for a bit?" Let's be honest—it was just another creative way to procrastinate on my studies.
And then it hit me—why not let AI do some of the heavy lifting? I mean, I'm studying AI, so why not use it to help me study for AI?
I thought, "What if I could use AI to create flashcards or quiz questions from all the notes I've taken and other related content?"
Just like that, the idea took off. I had the tools right there, so why not put them to work?
Now all I needed was the prompt—something flexible enough to work not just for this study session, but for anything I might study, no matter the subject.
And that's how this nifty little prompt came to life.
This powerhouse could generate study questions for any subject. It didn't matter what you were learning—as long as you had the content, this prompt could handle it all.
Now, you're probably wondering how this works, right? Don't worry, I've got you covered with a step-by-step guide.
Step-by-Step: How to Create Your Own Study Questions with AI
Here’s a simple guide on how you can use AI to create custom quiz or flashcard questions, whether you’re studying for an exam, learning a new topic, or just trying to retain information better. Let’s break it down.
Step 1: Start with Your Study Content
First, gather the material you want to study. This could be:
Text from a textbook
Lecture notes
An article or even content from a Wikipedia page
Having solid, well-organized content is key because the AI will use this to generate meaningful questions.
Step 2: Use the AI Prompt
Now that you’ve got your material, you’ll need to input it into the AI along with the provided prompt. The AI will guide you through the rest by asking for two things:
How many questions you want (for example, 10 or 20).
The content you want to use (paste the text or upload the material).
If you forget to give either piece of information, the AI will prompt you for it.
Step 3: Choose Your Question Type
Once you’ve provided the material and the number of questions, the AI will ask you to select the type of questions you want:
Multiple Choice: Great for straightforward recall and concept testing.
Case Study/Use Case: Ideal for problem-solving and scenario-based questions.
You can decide what works best for your needs.
Step 4: Review the Generated Questions
After you’ve made your choices, the AI will generate the questions. Here’s how it works:
For multiple-choice questions:
The AI will give you several answer options, including distractors (wrong answers).
It will clearly indicate the correct answer(s) and provide explanations for both correct and incorrect answers.
If there are multiple correct answers, the AI will tell you exactly how many you need to pick (e.g., "Select 3 correct answers").
For case study or use case questions:
Multi-Step Approach: The AI will break down a scenario into several decision points. After each decision, it will explain why certain choices were correct and why others were not.
Single-Step Approach: For simpler cases, the AI will present the problem in one step. You choose the best solution, and the AI will explain the reasoning behind your choice.
Step 5: Study and Learn
Now that you have your questions, it’s time to study! Each question comes with detailed answers and explanations, so you’re not just memorizing—you’re actively learning.
This is just the beginning, though. In the next part, I'll introduce another prompt that takes this concept even further. It works with the questions we've generated to create an interactive study guide or exam prep tool. Think AI-powered flashcards and quizzes based on these questions.
Keep an eye out for part two – it's where we'll really see what this AI study method can do.
Pro tip: Try this method with different AI models to see which gives you the most helpful results for your specific needs.
Quiz Question Generator Prompt
**Instructions:** Please generate quiz/flashcard questions based on the provided content. Always ask the user to specify the number of questions and provide the content to create questions from before generating any quiz content. If the user does not provide the number of questions or the content, prompt them for this information before proceeding.
Once the necessary information is provided:
- Ask the user for the desired question types (e.g., multiple response, use case-based, multiple choice).
- For multiple-choice questions, present several answer options, including distractors, and indicate the correct answer(s). Ensure that each question includes the correct answer(s), the possible answer choices, and a detailed explanation. Also, provide clear and direct instructions on how to answer the questions and what is expected from the user.
For **case study** or **use case** questions, determine whether the scenario should be broken down into multiple steps or handled as a single decision point.
- **Multi-Step Approach:** Break down the scenario into multiple decision points. For each step, present several options. After the user has made their selections, provide a detailed explanation that justifies the correct choices and explains why the other options are less suitable.
- **Single-Step Approach:** Present the entire problem as a single decision point with multiple possible approaches. After the user selects an option, provide a deep explanation, highlighting why the chosen option is correct and why the others are incorrect.
For **multiple-choice questions:** If there are multiple correct answers, clearly state the exact number of correct answers expected (e.g., "Select 3 correct answers"). Do not use phrases like "Select all that apply." Ensure that the explanation for each question includes:
- A clear breakdown of why each correct answer is correct.
- A detailed explanation of why each incorrect answer is wrong.
**Important:** The entire output must be formatted in markdown and enclosed within a code block.
**Content to Create Questions From:**
[User-provided content here]
**Expected Output:**
```markdown
1. **Question:** [Your generated question here]
- **Instructions:** [Clear and direct instructions on how to answer the question, including the exact number of correct choices]
- **Choices:**
a. Option 1
b. Option 2
c. Option 3
- **Answer:** [Correct answer(s)]
- **Explanation:**
- **Option a:** [Explanation of why this option is correct or incorrect.]
- **Option b:** [Explanation of why this option is correct or incorrect.]
- **Option c:** [Explanation of why this option is correct or incorrect.]
[Continue in the same format for the desired number of questions]