Generating Qs from a PDF

This challenge explores the power of Generative AI to assist in developing tailored questions from course materials, supporting efficient creation of educational resources.

By uploading course materials such as lecture slides or study notes into an AI tool, educators can quickly generate discussion prompts or assessment questions. This activity demonstrates how AI can accelerate resource development, while reinforcing the importance of reviewing AI-generated content for accuracy, alignment, and academic rigor.

Challenge

Use a Generative AI tool to generate a set of discussion or assessment questions from your own course materials in PDF format. This activity highlights how AI can streamline content creation while encouraging thoughtful evaluation to maintain quality and relevance.

Instructions

Choose a PDF version of a course resource you’re comfortable sharing with an AI—such as lecture slides, study notes, or summaries you’ve created.
Upload the PDF to Claude, ChatGPT, or another AI model that accepts file uploads.
Provide a clear prompt to the AI, specifying:
- Its role (e.g., “You are a learning designer” or “Act as a subject matter expert in biology”).
- The academic level (e.g., first-year undergraduate, final-year, postgraduate).
- The type of questions you’d like (e.g., multiple-choice, short-answer, discussion-based).
Ask the AI to generate a set of questions and an accompanying answer key based on the uploaded content.
Carefully review the AI-generated output for accuracy, depth, and alignment with your learning goals.

Reflect and Share

What does this challenge reveal about the role of AI in teaching and learning? Try it out and share what you discovered in the comment box below, whether it’s your final product, a reflection, or a surprising insight.

Example

For this challenge, I uploaded an excerpt from the open textbook Principles of Sociological Inquiry: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods by Amy Blackstone.

I used the following prompt:

“Act as a learning designer. Using the following PDF, generate 10 questions that assess students’ understanding of the article. The questions should be appropriate for fourth-year university students and should focus on the ‘analyze’ level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Please ensure the questions are a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer, and include an answer key.”

Now it’s your turn. Upload your own PDF, experiment with prompts, and see what questions the AI generates. Share your results and reflections in the comment box below

Posted

March 25, 2025

AI Challenge, Teaching Materials, Yellow Challenges

Lucas

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Comments

One response to “Generating Qs from a PDF”

Sandra McGoldrick

November 10, 2025

Brilliant! Time-saving!
Not sure how to upload pdf but here are Qs etc.
Great — here are **10 analysis-level comprehension questions** (a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer), based on the PDF. Each question encourages students to **interpret, compare, evaluate, or explain relationships** — not just recall facts.
An **answer key** follows afterward.

—

## **Questions**

### **Multiple Choice (1–6)**

1. According to the article, what is one **main reason** people rely on summaries and compressed information today?
a) They do not enjoy reading
b) They are overwhelmed by the amount of information available
c) They want to avoid learning new ideas
d) Most content is too complex to understand

2. The article suggests that some academic papers and blog posts are deliberately longer than necessary. What **purpose** does this serve?
a) To improve clarity
b) To meet formal or platform requirements such as word count
c) To make the writer feel more intelligent
d) To help readers slow down

3. The “quality vs. quantity dilemma” refers to the difficulty of:
a) Finding free time to read every day
b) Deciding whether to read digital or printed texts
c) Identifying which content deserves deep attention before reading it
d) Choosing between reading and watching videos

4. Why do some tech professionals defend the use of summaries?
a) Because they believe summaries are always more accurate
b) Because their limited time requires efficient information processing
c) Because summaries are considered more professional
d) Because reading long texts is discouraged in the industry

5. The article mentions an irony in how readers responded to the original essay criticizing summaries. What was this irony?
a) People refused to read it
b) Many readers summarized it themselves
c) Many people skimmed the essay even though it argued against skimming
d) The essay was impossible to skim

6. Which statement best captures the article’s final conclusion about compression?
a) Compression should be avoided entirely
b) Deep reading is always better than summaries
c) Balance is needed: compression should guide us toward valuable content, not replace it
d) AI tools should replace human reading decisions

—

### **Short Answer (7–10)**

*Write 2–4 complete sentences.*

7. Explain how **information overload** influences the use of compressed content. Why is compression seen as a “defense mechanism” in this context?

8. The article suggests that **time is a form of currency** for tech professionals. Describe how this influences their reading behavior.

9. According to the discussion, what is the difference between **valuable depth** and **artificial verbosity**? Give one example of each from the text.

10. The article argues that the key is not choosing between “compression” and “depth,” but developing **better filtering and curation**. In your own words, explain what this means and why it matters.

—

## **Answer Key**

1. **b** — People are overwhelmed by the amount of content available (information overload).

2. **b** — Some writing is lengthened to meet institutional or platform word-count expectations.

3. **c** — Readers struggle to know what deserves deep attention before they read it.

4. **b** — Time scarcity forces people to use summaries to manage limited time.

5. **c** — Many readers skimmed the article criticizing skimming.

6. **c** — The goal is balance: use compression to filter, but reserve deep reading for content that deserves it.

7. Students should explain that because there is too much content, people use summaries to avoid wasting time on low-quality or repetitive information. Compression helps them manage overwhelming information.

8. Students should describe that tech professionals must balance work, learning, and personal life, so summaries act as time-saving tools.

9. Students should say that valuable depth teaches something meaningful and requires thought, while artificial verbosity adds length without adding insight.

10. Students should explain that filtering helps identify which texts deserve deep reading. This prevents shallow engagement and avoids wasting time on low-value content.

—

If you’d like, I can now also provide:
✅ A short **pre-reading vocabulary sheet**
✅ A **discussion activity** for after the questions
✅ A **writing prompt** that builds on the theme of “compression vs. depth”

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