Permissible and Ethical Use of GenAI in Study

Using GenAI ethically to improve your studies

GenAI tools can be used in a variety of ways to help you improve your studies without risking your academic integrity, including:

creating flashcards to help you retain and recall important concepts
creating sample quizzes to help you self-assess your learning
helping you to better understand challenging concepts
creating prompts for discussion points for group study
acting as a virtual tutor

To use GenAI effectively for any of the above purposes, you will first need to upload copies of your study materials. Before uploading anything to a GenAI tool, it is vital that you read and understand the guidelines on GenAI and Copyright first. You may be found to have breached ASTRA’s Copyright Policy if you do not adhere to these guidelines.

Of course, you must always remember that GenAI tools can (and will) make mistakes, and that you should always consult with your lecturer/tutor if you are uncertain about the validity of a GenAI response to a question or prompt.

Using GenAI to create flashcards

Flashcards are small cards that have a question or a prompt written on one side and answers or detailed information on the other side. Flashcards can be used to improve memory and active recall of facts, concepts, or definitions.

Flashcards usually measure 7½ cm * 12 ½ cm (approximately 3 inches * 5 inches) and only contain one question/prompt and one answer/response on each card. There are a number of free online tools that can be used to make virtual flashcards, or you can buy blank cards and write them yourself.

Example GenAI prompt #1 – without uploading your own materials:
“Write me 10 flashcards with a prompt and answer for each card on the topic of […].”

Example GenAI prompt #2 – using copied and pasted materials:
“Use the notes below to write me 10 flashcards with a prompt and answer for each card.”

Example GenAI prompt #3 – using uploaded materials:
“Use the attached notes to write me 10 flashcards with a prompt and answer for each card.”

Using GenAI to create sample quizzes

Taking practice tests before a summative quiz in a unit can help reduce anxiety about taking quizzes and can help identify gaps in your knowledge.

GenAI tools can be used to generate sample quizzes based on an identified topic or uploaded materials. This will be a two-part exercise. Part one is to generate the quiz without the answer key, and part two (after you have attempted the quiz) is to create the answer key, including explanations for the correct answers.

Example GenAI prompt – Part one, generate the quiz:
“Write a multiple-choice quiz on the topic of […] with 10 questions and four alternative answers for each question. Do not provide the answers.”

Example GenAI prompt – Part two, generate the answer key:
“Answer the following multiple-choice questions. Provide the reason for each correct answer.”
[copy/paste the question set generated by the first prompt]

Remember too that you can direct the GenAI tool to make the quiz more challenging by incorporating questions that require higher-level thinking (e.g. evaluation, synthesis, analysis), or by including short-answer or essay questions with sample responses.

Using GenAI to explain challenging concepts

If you are having particular difficulty understanding a concept, you can ask a GenAI tool to explain the concept to you using simpler language, to provide examples of how the concept may be applied in the context of the topic you are studying, or to describe the concept using analogies to similar related ideas.

Example GenAI prompts:
“Use simple language to explain the concept of [..].”
“Explain [..] as if I am a 10-year-old.”
“Give me a real-life analogy for the concept of [..].”

You can also direct the GenAI tool to elaborate or break down further parts of any given response.

Example GenAI prompts:
“Tell me more about [‘..’].”
“I still don’t understand what you mean by [‘..’]. Can you explain it a different way?”

Using GenAI to create discussion points for group study

Group study has numerous benefits for students, including learning about different viewpoints on a topic, enhanced communication and teamwork skills, increasing participants’ motivation to study, and developing academic and social networks.

GenAI tools can be used to create discussion starters to initiate conversation on a topic and encourage everyone in the group to participate.

Example GenAI prompts:

“Write three discussion questions to encourage critical thinking on the topic of [..] for a group of first-year university business school students.”
“Write three open-ended discussion questions about [..] that promote diverse viewpoints from a group of five international university students.”
“Write three questions to promote discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of [..] among a group of four final-year university students.”

Using GenAI as a virtual tutor

As well as asking GenAI tools to write questions and responses to prompts, you can direct GenAI tools to take on the role of a virtual tutor, which you can interact with in a ‘live’ question and answer scenario. Virtual tutoring may provide a personalised learning experience tailored to your specific needs.

Example GenAI prompts:
“You are a university lecturer, and I am a first-year business student. Ask me some true-or-false questions about the topic of [..]. Give me feedback on my responses to help me understand why my answers are correct or incorrect.”

“Let’s discuss [..]. Ask me questions about [..] that will help deepen my understanding of the topic. Provide me with feedback to help me identify any gaps or errors in my understanding of [..]. Continue to ask me more challenging questions that will push my understanding.”

GenAI tools may also have an in-built virtual tutor option. The screenshots below demonstrate how to activate this mode for ChatGPT and Gemini.
Please note you will need to create a personal account with the GenAI tools in the examples below.

ChatGPT Study Mode:

Gemini Guided Learning: