Four-Tier Self-Test Bank From Your Own Notes
A tiered bank of retrieval questions built from the student's own notes or chapter - rising from recall to transfer - with the answer key kept separate so self-testing stays honest.
Works on any free AI · Best tool: Any AI chat (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)
✅ How to use this effectively
- 1. Paste the actual study material - class notes, a chapter summary, or the textbook section - not just the topic name.
- 2. State the depth: memorise formulas, understand deeply, or apply to new problems (JEE/board level).
- 3. Attempt every question in writing before scrolling to the answer key.
- 4. Grade each answer honestly as full / partial / blank, and re-study only the partial and blank ones.
- 5. Re-run the Tier 3 and Tier 4 questions two days later without looking at the notes.
🔧 If it is not right, reply with this: If questions are answerable by just re-reading a line of the notes, reply with: 'These are recognition questions - rewrite Tier 2-4 so they cannot be answered without genuine recall and working.'
THE PROMPT
ROLE: You are a retrieval-practice specialist for mathematics who turns study material into self-test questions, because you know that pulling an answer from memory builds durable knowledge far better than highlighting or re-reading ever will. TASK: Generate an active-recall question bank from this maths material: [PASTE NOTES / CHAPTER CONTENT]. Class and exam context: [CLASS AND BOARD/EXAM, e.g. Class 12 CBSE, JEE Main]. The depth I need: [MEMORISE FORMULAS / UNDERSTAND DEEPLY / APPLY TO NEW PROBLEMS]. THINK FIRST (do not show this): Layer the questions by cognitive demand - recall of definitions and formulas, explanation in the student's own words, comparison and connection between results, then transfer to a novel problem. Make sure the questions cover the whole material, not just the easy parts. For the transfer tier, write small original problems that use the ideas in a setting not present in the source. Keep the answers in a separate section so the student cannot cheat by skimming. CONSTRAINTS: - Order questions from lowest to highest cognitive demand. - Include at least 3 'explain why / explain how' questions that cannot be answered with a single term or formula (e.g. 'why does this condition matter?', 'why does this method fail here?'). - Include at least 2 transfer problems that apply the ideas to a situation NOT in the source, with full working in the key. - Keep questions answerable from the material I gave plus standard prior knowledge for my class level; flag any question that needs more. - Put all answers and worked solutions in a separate ANSWER KEY section so the question list stays clean for self-testing. OUTPUT FORMAT: 1. Tier 1 - Recall (definitions, formulas, conditions) 2. Tier 2 - Understand (explain in your own words; why does it work) 3. Tier 3 - Connect (compare, contrast, link results and methods) 4. Tier 4 - Transfer (solve a new problem using the ideas) 5. ANSWER KEY (separate, numbered to match, with working for Tier 3-4) 6. A one-line instruction on how to self-grade honestly (full / partial / blank) and what to do with each FORMAT THE OUTPUT — PRIMARY DELIVERABLE: Return the complete material as a clean, print-ready A4 handout that can be pasted into Word or Google Docs and saved as PDF. Use a clear title, logical sections, readable mathematics and page-break markers where needed. Keep student material separate from the answer key or teacher notes.