What is
AI-Powered Practice Questions for Students
AI-powered practice questions are a new class of low-stakes assessments that use artificial intelligence to generate targeted questions, feedback, and explanations based on course content and student performance. In today’s AI-enabled learning environment, these questions go beyond static problem sets by adapting to what students are studying, how they’re performing, and where they need more support.
For faculty, AI-powered practice questions represent a shift from one-size-fits-all review toward continuous, personalized practice. Instead of relying solely on instructor-authored quizzes or students self-directing their studying, AI can help surface relevant questions at the right time—supporting retrieval practice, spaced repetition, and immediate feedback, all of which are well-established principles in learning science.
What AI-powered practice looks like in higher education
In practice, AI-powered questions typically:
- Are low stakes, encouraging frequent practice without grade pressure
- Provide instant feedback, including hints and explanations
- Adapt to individual student needs by identifying knowledge gaps
- Help students study more efficiently by focusing on what matters most
- Complement, rather than replace, instructor-designed assessments
These tools are especially valuable for helping students prepare outside of class, build confidence, and take greater ownership of their learning.
How does Top Hat support AI-powered practice questions?
Ace Practice by Top Hat was built on a simple but powerful idea: give students immediate, low-stakes ways to test their understanding right where they learn. Ace Practice enables students to generate short, AI-powered study sessions directly from their course content, helping them reinforce concepts on their own time. Student response to this approach has been strong: 86 percent of students who used Ace study assistant or practice reported that it helped or significantly helped their learning (Top Hat Student Survey, Spring 2026, n = 1,977).
At the page level, Ace Practice allows students to generate brief practice sessions consisting of multiple choice questions created from the content they’re currently viewing. Each question includes hints and explanations that provide immediate feedback. At the end of a session, students can see their score, review questions and answers and practice again if they want additional reinforcement.
What are the benefits of Top Hat’s AI-powered practice questions?
Top Hat Ace acts as a study assistant that guides students through their course material. Page-level practice allows students to check their knowledge of specific readings on demand.
Course-level practice further personalizes the study experience by providing proactive study support that works in real time:
- Ace understands the course by analyzing instructor content (slides and pages), identifying learning objectives, and mapping relationships between concepts, including prerequisites and dependencies.
- Ace understands the student by analyzing interactions such as attendance, questions, and homework to calculate a Mastery Score for each learning objective.
- Ace bridges the gap by recommending targeted, bite-sized practice sessions focused on exactly where a student needs improvement, grounded in learning science principles like spaced repetition and immediate feedback.