AI Student Guides

How to Check and Refine your Understanding with a Generative AI Tool

By Student Author
Headshot of Sebastian Thomas
Sebastian Thomas

MS in Artificial Intelligence

Khoury College of Computer Sciences

Class of 2026

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Introduction

As a student navigating complex topics, I’ve often wished I had someone to bounce ideas off or clarify what I think I’ve understood. That’s where GenAI has been helpful. When I use tools like Claude as a study partner, I simulate conversations where I explain a concept, ask if I’m right, and request questions to test my understanding. It’s like having a tutor who’s always available — helping me catch misconceptions early and encouraging active recall, not just passive reading.

 

Specific Examples

  1. Preparing for exams: Use AI to test your understanding by explaining a concept and letting the tool quiz you with follow-up questions.
  2. Reading difficult textbooks: Summarize what you’ve read and get the AI to clarify or elaborate on parts you didn’t fully grasp.
  3. Reinforcing concepts after class: After a lecture, use the AI tool to restate what you think you learned and receive feedback or deeper insights.

 

Tools and Resources

  • Claude tends to be more conversational and better at extended discussions without losing track of context. Also, the artifact feature of Claude can help with generating flowcharts of complex topics and can be very useful in visual learning. I’ve found that this feature of Claude outperforms ChatGPT.
  • ChatGPT (especially GPT-4) is highly effective due to its deep contextual understanding and ability to adapt to your level of study.

Before you start, it helps to:

  • Know the topic name, course level, and key text or author.
  • Have a rough idea of what you’ve understood so far — even if it’s incomplete.
  • Be ready to iterate — learning happens in the back and forth.

 

Prompt

Starting Prompt:

“I’m a <level_of_study> student studying <subject_name>. I’m currently learning <topic_name> using <text_name> by <authors>. I’d like you to act like a patient tutor who helps me test and improve my understanding. I’ll share what I think I’ve understood. Please correct me if I’m wrong, elaborate on anything I miss, and ask me a few questions to test my grasp of the topic.”

Follow-up Prompts:

  • “Here’s what I’ve understood so far: [your explanation]. Am I on the right track?”
  • “Can you ask me 3 questions to test my understanding?”
  • “Can you give me a simpler explanation or analogy for this part?”
  • “Could you quiz me again, but this time make it a bit harder?”

 

Thoughts and Concerns to Keep in Mind

  • AI tools like ChatGPT can sometimes agree with incorrect answers just to keep the conversation smooth. Always frame your request as a student looking to be challenged.
  • These tools don’t always get context perfectly. Give details like your study level, text, and what you want — the more specific you are, the better the feedback.
  • Remember: AI complements, not replaces, active learning. You’ll retain more by explaining and being quizzed than by just asking for summaries.

 

Tips & Tricks

Chain of thought prompting technique can be very useful while asking AI tool to explain a problem. This can help you understand the tool’s reasoning and help you spot mistakes (if any) made by the tool. Read more about chain of thought prompting here. You can just add ‘explain your reasoning so I can understand your chain of thought’ to any prompt to get this reasoning behaviour.

 

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