Practical recipe · Learn

Revise a course with an AI tutor that does not give the answers

Understand instead of copying: a tutor that asks questions, then flashcards generated from your own course.

Beginner 45 min

The tools in this recipe

ChatGPT Study ModeBuilt-in mode
Socratic tutor mode, free, nothing to install
FreeData with the vendorSecurity: one caveat, see the card
See the card →
Claude Learning ModeBuilt-in mode
Same approach in Claude (optional)
FreeData with the vendorSecurity: one caveat, see the card
See the card →
KnowtApp
Flashcards generated from your notes, free
Freemium · from 8.33 €Data with the vendorSecurity: one caveat, see the card
See the card →

1
Give the course, not the question
Paste the chapter or your notes, not the exercise. Ask study mode to first check what you understood by asking you three questions.
2
Answer before reading
Write your full answer before asking for the correction. The tutor is useless if you read the answer first.
3
Ask “why”, not “the answer”
When stuck, ask for a hint or a simpler question. Study mode does this by default; do not switch it off when it gets hard, that is exactly when it helps.
4
Create the flashcards
In Knowt, import your notes: 20 to 30 cards per chapter. Delete the ones about a detail you already know.
5
Revise spaced out
Three short sessions over a week beat one long one the night before. The app handles spacing; you handle regularity.

Situation: Vocational student, 12-page chapter on networks (IP addressing, subnets), test in one week.
What we asked / set: Study mode on. “Here is my course on IP addressing. Before explaining anything, ask me three questions to check what I understood, one at a time. If I am wrong, give me a hint, not the answer.”
What we got: 40-minute session, 9 questions, 2 notions identified as weak (subnet mask, broadcast address). 24 Knowt flashcards, 3 ten-minute sessions during the week.

✓You can explain each weak notion out loud without looking at the screen.
✓Flashcards use your course’s wording, not the AI’s (the course is what gets graded).
✓You did at least one exercise from the course alone, without the tutor, and got it right.

!An AI tutor is sometimes confidently wrong: when an explanation contradicts the course, the course is right until proven otherwise.
!Do not paste an ongoing exam paper: it is cheating, and it is traceable.
!For a minor, use an account with the platform’s family settings.

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Each recipe was actually done. The tools cited are scored and rechecked every week; no placement is sold.