Practice spaces work best when they are set up with care and used consistently. The tips below come from teachers who have built practice spaces for their classes, and reflect the patterns we see in the spaces that help students learn the most.
Upload rich source materials
Source materials are the foundation of every practice space. The questions students see, the feedback they get, and the terminology used throughout the space are all grounded in what you upload. The more relevant content you provide, the better the space can do its job.
We recommend uploading the textbook chapters, lecture notes, and reading materials your students are already working with. If you have example questions from previous tests or exam papers, add those too: they help the AI understand the style of question you expect, and the level of difficulty that's appropriate for your class.
Don't worry about over-sharing. A space with twenty pages of carefully curated source material will produce stronger questions than one with a single summary, even if the summary covers the same ground.
Keep topics focused and specific
A practice space covering a single chapter of a textbook will almost always work better than one covering an entire subject. Focused topics give the AI a clear scope to generate questions within, and make it easier for students to see meaningful progress as they work.
When you split your curriculum into smaller spaces, students can also tell which areas they need more help with. A topic like "World War II" is too broad to be actionable; "Causes of World War II" or "The Pacific theatre, 1941–1945" gives both you and your students a clearer picture of where they stand.
If in doubt, err on the side of more spaces with tighter topics, rather than one large space that tries to cover everything.
Encourage long-term, repeated practice
Practice spaces are designed around two principles that only work over time: spaced repetition and interweaving. Spaced repetition strengthens long-term memory by revisiting concepts at gradually increasing intervals. Interweaving improves understanding by mixing topics together, so students learn to recognise which approach applies to which problem.
Both principles require students to come back to the space multiple times across days or weeks. A student who works through a space in one long session will get far less benefit than one who spends fifteen minutes a day across two weeks, even if the total time spent is the same.
When you introduce a practice space to your class, frame it as something they'll return to regularly, not as a one-off task. Schedule it into the rhythm of your teaching where you can.
Set and communicate clear practice goals
Students engage more when they know what's expected of them. Before sharing a practice space with your class, decide how much practice you want them to do, and tell them clearly. This might be a number of questions, a number of sessions per week, or a target level of mastery on each topic.
Communicate the goal alongside the link to the space, and revisit it as the deadline approaches. The teacher results dashboard makes it easy to check who is on track and who needs a nudge, so you can follow up early rather than at the last minute.
A clear goal also helps students self-regulate. Without one, many will stop as soon as they feel they've done enough; with one, they have a concrete target to work towards and a sense of progress along the way.