Learn math with an AI tutor, one hint at a time

What you'll need

• One worked example from the textbook or class notes, not the unsolved graded set
• Paper or a notes app for your attempt
• The class rules on AI. Some math classes allow tutors. Some ban them

Step 1: Start from a worked example

Type the example, or upload a photo if your chat lets you attach a picture. Say that it is a worked example.

You are my math tutor. This is a worked example from my book, not my homework:
[type it or describe the photo]

Rules for this whole chat:
- Give one hint at a time. Then wait for my attempt.
- Do not show the full solution of any problem I could hand in.
- If I paste a graded assignment, do not solve it. Ask what I have tried.
- Keep the words plain. Define a term in one line if you use it.

Start by asking me what the first step of this example is doing, and why.

Answer before you scroll. Write the step on paper.

Step 2: Take the next hint only after you try

My attempt at this step: [paste]
Tell me if the setup is right.
If it is wrong, give one hint about the mistake. Do not correct the whole line for me.
Then wait.

Repeat until you can do the example's steps without looking. If you are stuck for two hints on the same step, stop and reread that page in the book. More hints will not replace the missing idea.

Step 3: Practice a similar problem, not the assignment

Write one new practice problem that uses the same idea as the example, with different numbers.
Do not use a problem from my homework.
Show me the problem only. Wait for my full attempt.
After I answer, tell me whether it is right and, if not, which step broke.

Do that problem on paper first. Then check.

Step 4: Keep a miss note

Write the type of mistake, such as "I dropped the negative." Next session, start with one problem that targets that mistake. A weekly way to hold those sessions is a ChatGPT study routine. The rules for what you may turn in are on Use AI for school the right way.

Common mistakes

• Photographing the homework and asking for the answers before you have tried.
• Letting the tutor "just show this one" and copying it.
• Skipping the paper. Mental math you did not write down did not stick.
• Ignoring a disagreement with the textbook. The book is the source for class.

Privacy: what not to paste

A textbook page is fine. Do not upload a test, an answer key you were not given, or a photo that shows a classmate's name and grade. If you are a parent helping a child, sit with them. The point is their attempt, not a finished worksheet.

Director check: look before you use it

• Did you try before each hint? If the chat moved first, you skipped the step.
• Is the practice problem different from the homework? If it is the same problem, you are copying.
• Did you catch a wrong hint? Check one step in the book before you memorize it.
• Could you do a fresh problem tonight with the chat closed? That is the real result.

One extra tip

If ChatGPT shows Study and learn in the tools menu, turn it on for step 2. It is meant to stall and ask. You still write the attempt. More class guides are on the School hub.