Montgomery College · A student guide to using AI well
AI for Your Studies.
Use AI to learn faster and think harder. Not to do the thinking for you.
Made by Daniel Umana, MSEd·Rockville Campus, Montgomery College
The Main Rule
Do not use AI to do your thinking for you. Use it to learn faster, understand more, and get unstuck.
Use AI for
- Understanding a hard concept
- Getting unstuck on a problem
- Feedback on your own draft
- Quizzing yourself before an exam
- Making a study plan
- Turning your notes into questions
- Checking your reasoning
- Practicing for a presentation
Do not use AI as
- A machine to write your assignments
- A replacement for doing the reading
- A shortcut past the hard part where learning happens
- A source of facts you never check
- Your ideas and words without doing the work
This is not official Montgomery College policy.
The MC Generative AI Guidelines are published by MC's Office of Information Technology. This site puts the ideas in plain language for students.
For any class, your professor's AI policy and your syllabus are the rule that counts. When you are not sure whether AI is allowed, ask before you use it.
Official source: info.montgomerycollege.edu GenAI Guidelines and Use Cases
Always check your course syllabus and Montgomery College's academic integrity policy. When a class does not allow AI, using it is a violation.
Sources: Digital Promise AI Literacy Framework · UNESCO AI Competency Framework · research on retrieval practice and desirable difficulty
The rules, first
Know the rules first.
This is not official Montgomery College policy.
The MC Generative AI Guidelines are published by MC's Office of Information Technology. This site puts the ideas in plain language for students.
For any class, your professor's AI policy and your syllabus are the rule that counts. When you are not sure whether AI is allowed, ask before you use it.
Official source: info.montgomerycollege.edu GenAI Guidelines and Use Cases
Always check your course syllabus and Montgomery College's academic integrity policy. When a class does not allow AI, using it is a violation.
Three tabs: what is safe to put in, which tools to use, and the hard nos. Use the arrow keys to move between them.
Your own notes and drafts, and public course material like textbook passages you have access to.
Fine to use in any AI tool your class allows.
Anything you did not create: other people's work, group members' contributions, material shared just with your class.
Get permission, strip personal details, and check your course policy first.
Another person's private data, secure exam content, or passing AI work off as your own.
Do not put it in any AI tool. This is where students get in trouble.
The rule that always wins
The rule that always wins: your professor's policy for that class. Different classes allow different things. When in doubt, ask before you use AI, and disclose it when your class requires it.
Source: Montgomery College Generative AI Guidelines · your course syllabus · MC academic integrity policy
Do your own thinking
AI as a tutor. Not a ghostwriter.
AI can help you understand and improve your work. It should not do the thinking you are here to learn.
If AI did the thinking
You did not learn it, and it may break your course policy. Go back and do the part you skipped.
If AI helped you think
You understand it and can explain it without the tool. That is the goal.
This is the trap: when you let AI do the hard part, you skip the part where learning actually happens. That is cognitive offloading. Use AI to get unstuck and to check your work, then do the work yourself. That struggle is what makes you better, and it is what your professor is grading.
Three prompts that keep you doing the thinking
Copy one. Use it when you study.Tutor, do not answer
Do not give me the answer. I am trying to learn this topic. Ask me questions one at a time to help me get there myself, and tell me when my reasoning is off.
Feedback, not a rewrite
Here is my own draft. Do not rewrite it. Point out where my argument is unclear or weak and ask me questions, so I can revise it in my own words.
Quiz me
Quiz me on this topic with 5 questions, one at a time. Wait for my answer, tell me if I am right, and explain what I missed. Do not give me all the answers up front.
The builder
The Five-Part Scaffold.
Five blanks that turn a vague ask into a clear one.
Trash in, trash out
Same tool. The prompt decides what you get back.
write an email about the parking changes
- Dear Team, I hope this message finds you well.
- I am writing to inform you of some important updates regarding parking.
- Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. Best regards.
Generic and padded. You still have to rewrite the whole thing.
Worked examples
Real prompts, built out
Real study situations, real prompts. Each one uses AI to help you think, not to think for you. Copy the full prompt, paste it into an allowed tool, and see the effect. Hover any part to see why it is there.
What they were trying to do
You have read about opportunity cost twice and it still does not click. You want to actually understand it, not just copy a definition you will forget by Friday.
The prompt they built
Hover or tap a colored part to see why it is there.
Each color is one part of the Five-Part Scaffold. Together they turn a vague ask into a prompt that gets something usable. Hover a part to see the thinking behind it.
What it gave back
Copy the whole prompt into an allowed AI tool and you get a clear explanation plus a question that makes you prove you understood it.
Your turn
Now build your own
Fill the five blanks. Your prompt assembles live on the right.
Your assembled prompt
Role/Goal: Act as a tutor. OR I want to understand [topic]. Context: [Your level, the class, how you learn.] Source: [Your notes, the reading, the problem.] Task: [What you want it to help you do.] Format: [How the help should look.]
Source: Microsoft Learn: Write effective prompts · learning-science research on retrieval practice
12 add-ons
12 add-ons that make AI teach you.
Bolt these onto the scaffold to make AI teach you, not do it for you.
Do not give me the answer. Ask me questions until I get there.
Use when: You actually want to learn it, not just finish it.
Explain it like I am new to this, with one example.
Use when: A concept has not clicked yet.
Quiz me on this, one question at a time.
Use when: You are prepping for a test.
Point out what is wrong with my reasoning. Do not fix it.
Use when: You want to find your own mistakes.
Give me feedback on my draft. Do not rewrite it.
Use when: You are improving your own writing.
What am I misunderstanding here?
Use when: You are stuck and not sure why.
Make me a practice problem like this one.
Use when: You need more reps before the exam.
Have me explain it back to you in my own words.
Use when: You want to check if it really stuck.
Use only the material I give you. No outside facts.
Use when: You want grounded, checkable help.
Show me two ways to approach this problem.
Use when: You are stuck on how to even start.
Give me a hint, not the solution.
Use when: You are almost there and want to keep working.
List what I should be able to do after studying this.
Use when: You want clear goals for a study session.
Source: Learning-science research · Microsoft Learn · Google Gemini developer guidance
Your assembled prompt
Role/Goal: Act as a tutor. OR I want to understand [topic]. Context: [Your level, the class, how you learn.] Source: [Your notes, the reading, the problem.] Task: [What you want it to help you do.] Format: [How the help should look.]