How to Start Every Lesson with Personalised Review and Feedback Using AI Revision Quizzes

Introduction: The First 10 Minutes That Change Everything

The start of a lesson sets the tone. Most teachers use some kind of starter—a "Do Now," a recap question on the board, or a quick verbal quiz. These work, but they have limitations:

• They're generic. Every student gets the same questions, regardless of what they need to revisit.
• There's no data. You ask questions, a few hands go up, and you move on.
• There's no feedback loop. Students answer, you reveal the answer, and that's it.

What if your starter activity could:

1. Target specific topics using spaced repetition principles?
2. Draw questions directly from the curriculum so they're exam-relevant?
3. Be shared instantly via a QR code—no login faff?
4. Auto-mark and give you a class-wide breakdown?
5. Generate personalised feedback for every student?

That's what this post shows you how to build. It takes about 10 minutes to set up, and then it runs itself at the start of every lesson.

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The Science: Why Spaced Repetition Works

Spaced repetition is the practice of revisiting material at increasing intervals. Instead of cramming, students encounter key concepts repeatedly over weeks and months—each time strengthening the memory trace.

• Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve shows that without review, students forget ~70% of new material within 24 hours.
• Spaced practice dramatically flattens this curve.
• Retrieval practice (testing yourself rather than re-reading) is the single most effective study technique identified in cognitive science.

A 10-minute quiz at the start of each lesson combines both: retrieval practice delivered at spaced intervals.

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The Spaced Repetition Quiz Formula

The 3-3-4 Split

For a 10-question starter quiz:

Why This Split Works

• 2-month-old material is at the point where students are most likely to have forgotten it. Retrieving it now creates a strong re-encoding effect.
• 1-month-old material is partially consolidated. These questions catch gaps before they become permanent.
• Last lesson/week material reinforces what's fresh and identifies students who didn't grasp the most recent content.

Example: IGCSE Biology, Week 12

Just check your scheme of work and pick three time windows.

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Step-by-Step: Creating Your Spaced Repetition Starter Quiz

Step 1: Open the Revision Quiz Creator

Go to /revision-quiz-creator and sign in.

Step 2: Select the Curriculum Tab

Click the Curriculum → Quiz tab (the mortarboard icon, 6th tab). This generates questions grounded in your actual syllabus documents, not generic content.

Step 3: Choose Your Exam Board and Course

• Select your exam board from the dropdown (e.g., IGCSE, AQA GCSE, IB DP, AP, Edexcel A Level, Hong Kong EDB, Vietnamese MOET, and more).
• Select your course from the radio chip selector (e.g., "IGCSE-Biology" or "AQA-GCSE-Chemistry").
• Use the search box to filter courses quickly if the list is long.

Step 4: Specify Your Topics and Question Distribution

This is where the spaced repetition magic happens. In the Topic field and the Additional Instructions box, be specific:

Topic field:

Cell structure, Enzymes, Gas exchange and respiration

Additional Instructions (optional query box):

Create a spaced repetition starter quiz:

• 3 questions on Cell structure and organisation (taught 2 months ago, focus on recall)
• 3 questions on Enzymes and biological molecules (taught 1 month ago, mix of recall and application)
• 4 questions on Gas exchange and respiration (taught last week, include application and explain questions)

The AI does the heavy lifting—it searches the curriculum documents, finds relevant content for each topic, and generates exam-style questions distributed across your three time windows.

Step 5: Set the Number of Questions

Set to 10 (the sweet spot for a 10-minute starter).

Step 6: Generate

Click Generate Quiz. The AI searches your curriculum documents, extracts relevant syllabus content, and creates 10 exam-style multiple-choice questions.

Step 7: Review and Edit

The quiz appears with a preview. You can:

• Edit any question using the Quiz Editor (tweak stems, adjust distractors, delete weak questions).
• Save the quiz to your library at /revision-quizzes.

Step 8: Assign to Your Class

Click Assign and select your classroom(s). Optionally set a due date if you want students to complete it before the lesson as a flipped starter.

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Sharing with Your Class: The QR Code Method

This is the fastest way to get the quiz in front of students.

How to Share via QR Code

1. From your classroom page or the assignment grading page, click Share on the quiz assignment.
2. A QR code and share link appear instantly.
3. Project the QR code on your classroom screen.
4. Students scan with their phones—they're taken directly to the quiz.
5. Students who aren't yet in your class are automatically enrolled when they scan. No manual adding, no join codes.

The Lesson Flow

Total disruption to your lesson plan: zero. The quiz runs itself.

Alternative: Share Link via Chat or LMS

Copy the share link and paste it into Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, or your school's LMS.

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After the Quiz: Class Review Using the Data

The quiz auto-marks instantly. Here's how to use the data.

What You See

On the grading page for the assignment:

• Completion status — who submitted, who didn't.
• Score distribution — class average and individual scores.
• Question-level breakdown — which questions were most missed.

The 2-Minute Debrief

1. Identify the most-missed question. "Question 5 was answered incorrectly by 65% of you."
2. Quick reteach. Spend 2 minutes explaining the concept using the correct answer as a teaching point.
3. Acknowledge success. "Questions 7–10 on last week's topic—most of you nailed those. Well done."

This debrief is data-driven, not guesswork. You're not asking "does everyone understand?" and getting silence. You're saying "I can see that 18 of you got this wrong—here's why."

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The Game-Changer: Personalised AI Feedback for Every Student

After the quiz, generate individualised feedback for every student with a single click.

How to Generate Feedback

1. On the assignment grading page, click "Generate AI Feedback".
2. TeachAI analyses each student's specific answers—which questions they got right, which they got wrong, and what the correct answers were.
3. For each student, it generates personalised feedback using the WWW/EBI framework:

Example Feedback (Student scored 7/10)

WWW (What Went Well) ✓

• You showed strong recall of cell organelle functions—great work on $\ce{Q1}$ and $\ce{Q2}$!
• Your understanding of enzyme-substrate specificity ($\ce{Q4}$) was spot on.
• You correctly identified the role of alveoli in gas exchange ($\ce{Q8}$).

EBI (Even Better If) 📈

• $\ce{Q3}$ (Cell division): You selected mitosis when the question asked about meiosis. Remember—meiosis produces 4 genetically different haploid cells; mitosis produces 2 identical diploid cells.
• $\ce{Q5}$ (Enzyme denaturation): Review the difference between denaturation and inhibition. Denaturation is permanent structural change due to heat/pH.
• $\ce{Q6}$ (Lock and key model): Revisit the induced fit model as an alternative explanation.

Next Steps 🎯

• Spend 10 minutes reviewing the cell division topic using your flashcards.
• Try the practice questions on enzyme denaturation in your revision guide, Chapter 4.

A student who missed questions on cell division gets different feedback from one who struggled with enzymes—even though they took the same quiz.

Why This Matters

• No more generic "revise more" comments. Every student gets actionable, specific guidance.
• No marking time. The AI generates feedback for the entire class in seconds.
• Consistent quality. Every student gets the same depth of feedback.

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Making It a Routine: The Weekly Spaced Repetition Planner

To make this sustainable, plan your quizzes a week in advance. Here's a template:

Weekly Quiz Planner Template

Notice how Friday's quiz spirals back to Monday's and Wednesday's 2-month and 1-month topics, reinforcing them again. The "last lesson" column always references the most recent teaching.

Time Investment

• Planning: 5 minutes per week (fill in the template from your scheme of work).
• Quiz creation: 5 minutes per quiz (3 quizzes = 15 minutes per week).
• In-lesson time: 10–15 minutes per lesson (quiz + debrief).
• Feedback generation: 1 click per quiz.

Total weekly teacher time: ~20 minutes for a fully personalised, data-driven, spaced repetition system with individual feedback.

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Advanced Tips

Tip 1: Use the Optional Query Box for Fine-Tuning

The Additional Instructions box is powerful. Use it to:

• Control difficulty: "Make questions AO1 recall only for the 2-month-ago topic, and AO2/AO3 for last week's topic."
• Target specific subtopics: "For enzymes, focus only on factors affecting enzyme activity, not enzyme structure."
• Match exam style: "Use command words from the IGCSE mark scheme: state, describe, explain."

Tip 2: Build a Quiz Library

Save every starter quiz to your library at /revision-quizzes. Over a term, you'll build a bank of curriculum-grounded quizzes that you can:

• Reuse next year with the same class.
• Reassign to students who need extra practice.
• Share with colleagues teaching the same course.

Tip 3: Combine with Flashcards for Homework

After the in-class quiz, assign a Flashcard deck on the same topics for homework. Students who scored low on the 2-month-ago questions get flashcards on that topic. Generate flashcards at /flashcard-maker.

Tip 4: Use PLC Data to Choose Topics

If you're using Personalised Learning Checklists, let the PLC data guide your topic selection. Topics that are still Red or Amber for many students should appear more frequently in your starter quizzes.

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Conclusion: 10 Minutes That Transform Learning

A 10-minute spaced repetition starter quiz, shared via QR code, with auto-marking and personalised AI feedback, gives you:

• Retrieval practice — the most effective learning technique, built into every lesson.
• Spaced repetition — systematic coverage of old and new material.
• Real-time data — know exactly what your class understands before you start teaching.
• Personalised feedback — every student gets specific, actionable guidance.
• Zero marking — everything is auto-marked and AI-analysed.

All for about 20 minutes of teacher time per week.

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Ready to build your first spaced repetition starter?

• Create a Curriculum Quiz — Select the Curriculum tab and specify your topics
• View Your Quiz Library — Manage and reuse your quizzes
• Generate Flashcards — Pair with quizzes for homework
• Generate a PLC — Use PLC data to choose quiz topics

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Related Articles

• How to Personalise Learning Using AI
• Stop Blind Revision: Use PLCs and Quick Quizzes to See Exactly What Students Need
• 10 Evidence-Based Flashcard Study Strategies That Work