Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
Check AI study notes before you learn from them
A source-checking worksheet for AI summaries, with an original percentage example that shows how to spot a plausible mistake.
Keep the source beside the draft
Save the page, passage or slide range that the summary is meant to cover. Read the draft against that material, rather than asking the same tool whether its answer is correct. A reassuring reply is not independent confirmation.
Use a simple review row: Claim — Source location — My check — Keep or change. Start with definitions, quantities and conclusions you will use in an answer. Stanford CRAFT’s fact-checking resource treats evaluating AI responses as a task students need to practise.
Check one claim at a time
Separate a long sentence into the facts it asserts. Confirm names, units, dates and qualifying words such as some, always or only. If a source says a method works under a condition, the condition belongs in your note too.
Keep “not found in the source” distinct from “false”. A draft may add a reasonable explanation that the supplied material does not establish. Mark it for a separate check, or leave it out of a source-based summary until you can support it.
Test a plausible calculation
Suppose a draft says, “A 20% rise followed by a 20% fall returns a price to its starting point.” Start with your own easy number: 100 becomes 120, then 120 × 0.8 = 96. The ending price is 4% below the start.
The correction needs a reason: the decrease uses the new price as its base. Write that reason beside the calculation. Changing the answer from 100 to 96 without fixing the explanation leaves the original misunderstanding available to repeat.
Turn only checked material into revision
Once a claim is checked, rewrite it briefly in your own words. Make a question that tests the point: “What is the base for the second percentage change?” Keep the source location so you can return to it if the card later seems unclear.
Before sharing or submitting work, follow your course’s rules for AI assistance and acknowledgement. For personal revision, a useful finishing check is to explain the idea without looking at the draft, then compare your explanation with the source.
Try it yourself
A draft says a price falls 10% and then rises 10%, so it returns to its original value. Check the claim using a starting price of 200.
Show the answer and explanation
200 × 0.9 = 180, then 180 × 1.1 = 198. The final price is 1% below the original.
The second change is calculated from 180, not 200. Keep the worked check and replace the draft’s claim before making a revision card.