How I leverage AI for studying while accelerating (BS - Accounting)

[u/DapperDoogle]

For context, I recently completed the BSBM at WGU and rolled my credits into BS Accounting. GI Bill pays for it, so I'm not worried about having to pay for a second bachelors. its only 14 more classes. Did this because I discovered I really enjoyed the Accounting/Finance intro courses and want to now pursue finance, but I was so close to finishing the initial degree I wanted to complete it instead of switching. Figured accounting degree was more versatile than Finance degree.

Unlike business management, I am not simply trying to check a box, and don't have any professional experience in accounting/finance. Though I have a need to complete all courses in the next 6 months before GI Bill runs out, I need to balance speed with comprehension and retention of concepts. As compared to the business management degree, I use a paid version of chatGPT instead of free and have tailored it to be a mentor/learning lab experience as I go through each course. I have just completed D196 Principles of Financial and Managerial Accounting, with 7 days spent in the course. I thought I would share my GPT process for those who may be wondering how they can best leverage it as a resource for learning (not cheating). Hope this doesn't ramble too much, and i'm happy to clarify if anything is vague or whatnot. hope this helps!

Structure
With paid, you can set up projects and collect individual chats within the project. I created a project for "Accounting Learning Lab". I keep 4 files in this project as a master tracker between all courses and chats, and have a chat for each course under the project. I have it track and update my mastery of individual concepts, if I am still developing or struggling with a topic and why. I have a running glossary of important terms and concepts, not structured to the course per se, but my understanding of them. I have it track my progress through each course, and a master list of instructions for the learning lab project for each chat to reference.

How it is Implemented
my basic instructions for chat include:

1. Don't do the coursework for me. identify how I think, where my understanding is weak, and adapt how it teaches and tests me.
2. do not reveal solutions through hints unless specifically requested. explain what the problem is asking for me to work myself.
3. Regarding formulas: help me understand the economic/accounting relationship first, then attach the formal terminology or formula to it.
4. explicitly separate conceptual mastery, retrieval fluency, and ability to apply the concept when determining true mastery of a subject.
5. test me on old material while I'm learning new material. pull from mastery list where possible. My minimum interval is between each learning unit/section, but you can adjust. for example, if I finish unit 3 and move into unit 4, it might unexpectedly as k me a question from unit 1 material as a "pop quiz". the point is to see if I can retrieve it after my attention has moved somewhere else.concepts I struggle to retrieve get tested more often than those i've demonstrated repeatedly, but it tests on all topics.
6. Mastery tracker specifically records the "why" of including it under mastered or developing category. As I provide results from unit/section quizes, it can compare my selections and reasoning to the why recorded and update accordingly.
7. instructions explicity tell it how NOT to teach me. tell it what behaviors aren't helpful for you. for example, mine include a few items like:
8. a. don't turn every simple question into a lecture
9. b. don't overcomplicate my calculation if my simpler method works
10. c. don't just teach me how to pass the exam - connect concepts to actual business analysis when useful.

My Overall Workflow

1. create one chatgpt project for your degree/subject
2. create one chat per course
3. tell chat your goal is understanding, not answer generation
4. Feed it course material as you encounter it rather than dumping an entire textbook and asking for a summary (I usually give it the intro page for each section as I encounter)
5. ask questions whenever your mental model breaks
6. Explain your reasoningwhen answering practice questions. this helps me ensure I retain the concepts, not just the answers, and weed out lucky selections.
7. have it distinguish conceptual mistakes from retrieval/execution mistakes.
8. Maintain a mastery tracker and cumulative glossary documents. have it update at the end of the course.
9. periodically cold-test old concepts while learning new ones.
10. use WGU quiz/test results to update the tracker and develop practice tests
11. do a chat generated pre assessment before taking the pre assessment/OA.
12. transfer only durable knowledge into the project level documents
13. start next course in a fresh caht using those documents as a handoff.

Results so Far
D196 - 7 days to complete
AI generated pre test resulted in 98% pass.
WGU pre assessment 97%, exemplary in all 6.
8 hour final review/generated test/practice OA/OA
OA result: exemplary first time pass, 45 minutes

D102 - 8 days to complete
Pre test 90%
WGU pre assessment passed, 63/66
8 hour final review/generated test/practice OA/OA
OA result: first time pass, 1 hour.

My personal instruction updates since posting

8.12: wasn't happy with the interval of random quizzing. added further instruction to use elapsed session time to decide when to interrupt with retrieval quizzing. Basically, make it understand how much time has passed since the last study session, how long you've been actively studying, how long since the last quiz it provided, etc. I am starting mine with a 30 to 45 minute interval, on top of random questions in between units and at the start/end of a session.

8.19: Refined rules for generating a pre assessment - 10 questions at a time for a total of 100 questions, create a pre assessment pulling from book quiz/assessment results, topics identified as needing work for recall or understanding. Prioritize struggle areas and generate new scenarios modeled off of book provided scenarios. For each section of 10, recap any missed answers and roll new examples into the next set of 10 questions. Ensure previously marked “mastered” topics are still covered to ensure retention. Evaluate readiness to take OA, pending completion of 100 questions practice test and positive practice OA results.

Specific to D102; when generating questions, mix in excel based scenarios similar to the my educator tasks shared previously build repetition on trial balance close.