AI & learning
Walk into a lecture with better questions.
A short preparation routine to make unfamiliar material easier to approach.
THE SHORT ANSWER
Preview the learning objectives, identify unfamiliar terms and write two questions. Use the lecture to resolve those questions. AI can help generate practice questions if your course allows it, but the course remains your reference.
- 01ObjectivesPreview what the class covers.
- 02VocabularyLook up unfamiliar terms.
- 03QuestionsWrite two things to clarify.
- 04After classCheck your answers in the notes.
A practical method
Read the destination first
Find the lecture title and learning objectives. Write a sentence about what the session is meant to explain. If there is required preparation, follow that instruction before adding an optional routine.
Make a small vocabulary list
Choose a few terms that would prevent you from following the discussion. Look them up in the course resources. If you ask an AI tool for an explanation, check its definition and example against those resources.
Prepare two questions
Write one question about the main idea and another about how it is used. Specific questions are easier to bring to a tutorial than ‘I did not understand the lecture’. Leave room to update the questions afterwards.
Close with a short review
After the lecture, answer your questions in your own words. Mark anything that is still unresolved. Put that question into your next practice session or ask for clarification during office hours.
A worked example
Before a lecture on recursion, your questions might be ‘What makes the function stop?’ and ‘How does each call reduce the problem?’ After class, trace a small example and explain the stopping condition without looking at the code.
A common pitfall
An AI-generated outline may not match your actual syllabus. Use the lecture objectives to decide what belongs in the preparation.
Put it into practice
Choose ‘prepare for a lecture’ in the prompt builder and enter one specific course topic.
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