A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR STUDENTS
Learn more
with AI.
Use AI to ask better questions, test your understanding and challenge your own work. This guide gives you practical workflows and prompts you can use right away.
RULE OF THUMB
Use AI to increase the amount of thinking you do yourself.
- Try it yourself
- Ask for a hint
- Explain it in your own words
WHAT THIS GUIDE HELPS YOU DO
A polished output can feel like learning. Competence grows through the work you perform yourself.
When you read, think, solve problems and write a first draft, you build the structures that help new knowledge stick. AI can support this process through questions, feedback, critique and planning.
01
Keep ownership
You make the academic choices and formulate your first attempt.
02
Create productive friction
You use questions and hints to work your way towards understanding.
03
Check confident claims
You verify claims, quotations and references against the syllabus and primary sources.
FOUR COMMON TRAPS
Notice when AI takes over the work that was meant to build your competence.
The traps become easier to spot when you look at your own activity: Who frames the problem, follows the argument and makes the important choices? Each card shows what the trap looks like, why it can be a problem and what you can do instead.
01 · ●
The answer machine
What it looks like
You enter a question, read the answer and move on.
Why this can be a problem
If AI does the work before you have tried yourself, you get less practice thinking your way towards the answer.
Your next move
02 · ●
Summary without thinking
What it looks like
The AI summary replaces your reading of the text.
Why this can be a problem
If AI creates the whole overview for you, you can easily miss the key arguments, connections and questions in the text.
Your next move
03 · ●
Delegation as sparring
What it looks like
AI chooses the problem, theory, method and first formulation.
Why this can be a problem
If AI makes the important academic choices for you, it becomes harder to know whether you can explain and defend those choices yourself.
Your next move
04 · ●
AI as an authority
What it looks like
A fluent answer is allowed to stand as evidence.
Why this can be a problem
An answer can sound convincing and still be wrong, imprecise or missing important context.
Your next move
01 YOUR FIRST WORKFLOW
THE 10-MINUTE RULE
Give your brain something to work with first.
When you meet a new problem or concept, spend the first ten minutes on your own attempt. AI can then offer a small hint that you work forward from.
00–10 min
Write an attempt
State what you know, where you are stuck and what you want to try.
Next step
Ask for one hint
Give AI your attempt and request the smallest amount of help that moves you forward.
At the end
Explain the solution
Close the chat and explain the method in your own words.
Can you explain the same thing tomorrow without opening the chat?
COPYABLE PROMPTS
Five ways to use AI as a learning partner.
Insert your topic, text or syllabus where you see square brackets. Preserve your own first attempt and always evaluate the response academically.
Work your way towards the answer
Use this when you are stuck after making your own first attempt.
Act as my tutor in [topic]. I have already tried this: [insert]. Do not give me the full solution. Ask one question at a time, give one small hint, and wait for my response. End by asking me to explain the solution in my own words.
Retrieve knowledge from memory
Use this after reading and again a few days later.
Create 8 questions of increasing difficulty about [topic]. Ask one question at a time. Wait for my answer before continuing. Give brief feedback and one improvement hint. At the end, ask me to explain the two areas I found most difficult.
Test the strength of your argument
Use this after writing your own claim or analysis.
Here is my argument: [insert]. Give me 3 strong counterarguments and ask 2 questions that test my assumptions. Identify the evidence that could change the conclusion. Do not rewrite my text.
See the structure of your draft
Use this when a draft feels unclear or repetitive.
Create a reverse outline of my text: (1) one claim per paragraph, (2) evidence or example, (3) the paragraph’s function, and (4) what is missing. Write no new prose. Give only a diagnosis that I can work from. Text: [insert].
Plan around your actual gaps
Use this for revision, exam preparation and reflection.
I am working with [topic/syllabus] and have [time period] available. First ask what I already know and where I feel uncertain. Then identify 3 likely misconceptions and create a realistic plan using self-testing and spaced review. I will make the final priorities.
BEFORE YOU USE THE RESPONSE
A 60-second quality check.
Use these four questions before AI output becomes part of your notes, analysis or assignment.
01
Can I explain this without AI?
If the explanation falls apart, you have found the place where you need to keep working.
02
Have I seen the original source?
Check the name, year, quotation, concept and context in the source itself.
03
Are the academic choices mine?
You should be able to justify the problem, theory, method, analysis and conclusion.
04
Does this use follow the rules here?
Check the course description and exam instructions for the specific course and assessment.
CBS rules change over time
Use the official rules collection as your route to the current guidance. The course description and exam instructions tell you what applies in your specific situation.
FURTHER READING
The research behind this guide.
The studies suggest that both tool design and patterns of use shape learning. Results vary across subjects, tasks and students, so these links cover benefits, risks and established learning science.
01 · FIELD EXPERIMENT · AI TUTOR
Generative AI Without Guardrails Can Harm Learning
A large mathematics experiment in which a tutor with learning safeguards produced better outcomes than unrestricted access to a standard chat interface.
02 · EXPERIMENTS · DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE
LLM syntheses and depth of learning
Seven experiments on how ready-made AI syntheses can reduce the active exploration and personal synthesis involved in developing deeper knowledge.
03 · RANDOMISED STUDY · HIGHER EDUCATION
AI Tutoring Enhances Student Learning
An experiment with university students that finds learning gains from AI tutoring and highlights the role of self-regulation and usage patterns.
04 · SYSTEMATIC REVIEW · HIGHER EDUCATION
The Impact of GenAI Chatbots on Student Learning
A CBS review of 49 empirical studies covering engagement, comprehension, critical thinking, self-regulation and learning performance.
05 · CLASSIC STUDY · RETRIEVAL PRACTICE
Test-Enhanced Learning
The classic experiment behind self-testing: active retrieval improved retention over time more than repeated studying.
06 · RESEARCH REVIEW · STUDY TECHNIQUES
Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques
A broad review of ten study techniques, including practice testing, spaced practice, rereading and highlighting.