ChatGPT Study Mode

What is Study mode?

Ever eager to please, ChatGPT will attempt to provide an immediate answer to any question you ask of it. But what if you want ChatGPT to help you find answers on your own or to guide you to a solution as part of the process of learning some new information?

On Tuesday in our workshop “Become a ChatGPT Power User,” we spent a little bit of time demoing ChatGPT's Study mode, which was originally rolled out in back in late July. Described by OpenAI as “a learning experience that helps you work through problems step by step instead of just getting an answer,” Study mode is driven by a set of custom instructions written in collaboration with teachers and education experts with the aim of “encouraging active participation, managing cognitive load, proactively developing metacognition and self reflection, fostering curiosity, and providing actionable and supportive feedback.”

According to the release announcing Study mode, key features of the tool include:

• Interactive prompts: The tool guides users to an answer rather than delivering it outright

• Scaffolded responses: Information is broken down into manageable sections to help users navigate complex topics

• Personalized support: The conversation is calibrated to the background level of the user

• Knowledge checks: Period quizzes and open-ended questions help the user apply knowledge and reflect on their own learning

• Flexibility: Study mode can easily be turned on or off during a conversation

Giving Study mode a try

To get started with Study mode, you can select “Study and learn” as one of the options under the “+” sign in the ChatGPT input box:

I’m going to create a fictional scenario that some of you may find yourselves in, namely the dreaded situation of providing help with math homework to a family member.

Here I can steer the conversation wherever I like, so I chose the first option and ignored the initial question about my son’s level of background.

A few things to note: First, ChatGPT is trying to connect its explanation to my own background, so here it references an Iowa highway in its example. Notice also that it pauses to ask me a question before it proceeds any further. In my own experience, each chunk of output is roughly about this length, including a question for me that will inform the next chunk of the conversation.

Let’s give a wrong response and see what happens (feel free to ignore the details!):

Ok, I don’t want to bog you down with unwelcome math facts, so let’s wrap up this conversation.

The main takeaway from this last part of the conversation is that ChatGPT gives some examples to gently explain why my answer is wrong and then provides the correct answer. After that, it makes a new observation and proves yet another question to keep the lesson going.

And that’s pretty much how Study mode goes. You can continue the conversation for as long as you want, and you can always open the chat from your chat history and keep going at any time. I’ve used Study mode to help me brush up on some chemistry concepts, and I’m interested in having it teach me the basics of the Rust programming language based on my background in Python.

What are some ways you might use Study mode to learn something new?

Bring the Innovation Profs to your organization!

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