Build a quiz master that asks you to recall before it explains. Follow Carla's demonstration, pause to make your own attempt, and compare your check with the result.
Your activity / Right here
Bring a notebook. Begin below.
The activity is included on this page. Work on paper or in your own document; keep your first attempt and the evidence you checked.
AI Lab: Train Your Quiz Master
Use only an AI tool your instructor approves and that allows users your age. Check its minimum age and parent-permission rules first; an adult's permission cannot override an 18+ limit. Follow your school's rules, and do not share personal information. Practice only: never use your quiz master on graded work unless your instructor says you may. About 25 minutes.
1. Add your Quiz Master Rules (see the Context File Upgrade below) to the AI, or to your class project if you set one up in Chapter 10.
2. Give it your study material: your own notes or pages your instructor shared. Leave out names and anything private.
3. Take a ten question quiz. Answer every question before you read any explanation. Keep score on paper.
4. Ask for a mixed round: five new questions that mix this topic with an older one.
5. Ask for review dates over the next two weeks, spaced every two or three days. Write the dates in your own calendar yourself.
6. Verify: Pick three answers from the AI's answer key. For each one, ask, "Walk me through exactly where you got that," then check it against your notes or textbook. Log any mismatch in your AI Audit Log.
7. Record your AI use: which tool you used, what you asked, and what you kept.
Own It
No AI. About 10 minutes.
Close the AI. On paper, answer the questions you missed, from memory. Then make your review calendar by hand, with at least three spaced review dates before your next test. Finish this sentence:
"The part of learning I will not hand to AI is __________ because __________."
Portfolio piece: your Quiz Master Rules and your review calendar.
Context File Upgrade
Add this section to my_context.md. Change the details so they fit how you learn.
## Quiz Master Rules
- Quiz me before you explain. Ask one question at a time and wait for my answer.
- Explain only after I try. Then ask me to fix my answer in my own words.
- Mix topics: include questions from older units.
- Space my reviews: suggest review dates every two or three days before a test.
- Ask me one "could be" question per round, such as "When would this not be true?"
- Use only the notes and textbook pages I give you. Tell me when you are not sure.
- Never answer graded work for me. If I ask, remind me of this rule.
Skeptic's Corner: Brain Headlines
These statements are exercises to classify and check. Do not assume every statement is true.
Label each statement: Fact, Idea, Rob's Story, Made-Up Example, Rule, or Prediction.
1. "In one experiment, students who took recall tests remembered more after a week than students who reread."
2. "Teenagers 13 to 18 should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis." (American Academy of Sleep Medicine)
3. "Mike froze on his biology test."
4. "AI that thinks for you can weaken learning. AI that makes you think can strengthen it."
5. "By 2030, AI tutors will replace every teacher." (A claim you might see online.)
6. "New study proves ChatGPT damages your brain." (A headline you might see.)
Read the video transcript
Read along, pause, or return to an idea. This transcript follows the selected lesson video.
I'm Carla, an AI avatar.
Today I'm building a quiz master:
an AI that quizzes me and never does my work for me.
Before we open the AI, what do I want?
I want to remember a biology unit on test day,
with no AI in the room.
Here is the plan.
First, no AI at all.
I did a blank page brain dump, checked it against my
notes, and starred three weak spots.
Those are my targets.
Why start on paper?
Because the brain dump is already retrieval practice.
I'm pulling ideas out of my own head before any AI touches them.
Step one, Role.
You are my quiz master for biology.
You quiz me.
You never do my work for me.
Do not do anything yet.
Step two, Objective.
My goal is to remember this unit for a test in ten days,
without notes or AI.
Confirm and wait.
Step three, Context.
I paste my own class notes.
No names, nothing personal.
And I tell it which items are my weak spots.
Step four, Task Instructions.
This is where my rules live.
Quiz me one question at a time and wait for my answer.
Don't explain before I try.
After I answer, tell me what I got right and what I
missed, then ask me to fix it in my own words.
Mix in two questions from last unit.
Once a round, ask me a could be question.
Here's question one.
I answer first, even though I'm not sure.
That struggle is the point.
Remember the classic study: students who tested themselves
remembered 61 percent of a passage a week later,
and students who only reread remembered 40 percent.
So I answer first, every time.
Now the explanation, after my attempt.
I missed one part, so I fix it in my own words before the
next question.
This one's from last unit.
Mixing old and new topics feels harder,
and that's exactly why it helps.
Here's my could be question: when would this not be true?
It comes from psychologist Ellen Langer's research on
mindful learning.
"Is" closes a question.
"Could be" keeps it open.
Step five, Audit the AI Output.
I pick three answers from the AI's key and ask,
walk me through exactly where you got that in my notes.
This one doesn't match my notes.
I check my textbook, and my notes were right.
It goes in my AI Audit Log, and I tell the AI to stick to
my notes and textbook.
Last, spacing.
I ask for review dates every two or three days before the test.
Why that gap?
For a test one week away, one large study found the best
gap between study sessions was about 20 to 40 percent of that time.
For a test a year away, it was about 5 to 10 percent.
These are findings for the delays the researchers tested,
not a fixed rule.
And I write the dates in my planner myself.
The AI suggested them.
I decide.
Then I record my AI use: which tool,
what I asked, and what I kept.
One rule before you start.
Your quiz master is for practice.
Never use it on graded work unless your teacher says you may.
The AI made a plan.
Now it's my plan.
Your turn.
Add your Quiz Master Rules, take your first quiz,
and answer every question before you read a single
explanation.
Quiz me before you explain.
Before you use an AI tool
Follow your course or institution's rules. Use an instructor-approved tool that permits your age, and meet any required consent conditions. Keep names, contact details, school records, and other private information out of prompts. Use fictional examples when you can.
Learning without an AI account
Follow the demonstration, pause before each answer, and do the reasoning on paper. Discuss what you would ask, how you would check it, and which decisions would remain yours.
About the characters and voices
This course uses AI-created characters and synthetic voices. Carla is an AI avatar. They help tell the story; they are not real students sharing testimonials.
Designed for high-school and community-college learners. Choose examples from your classes, work, and everyday life. Keep your completed work in your course portfolio.
