How to turn your class notes into a Brainbox quiz

Class notes can be familiar enough that rereading feels easy. A short quiz gives you a better check of what you can remember with the notebook closed. Brainbox lets you create one using the material you’ve already been studying.

Make a notebook for one clear topic

Open Brainbox in ExamTraq and create a notebook with a name you’ll recognise later, such as “Biology · Photosynthesis.” Add the pages you want to work on. Brainbox accepts PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint slides, photos of notes and pasted text.

Use the clearest copy you have. For handwritten notes, make sure the photo shows the whole page and any labels you’ll need. If the same notebook contains several chapters, start with the material for one lesson. You can build on it as you revise.

Set up a short quiz

Once the sources are ready, open the quiz setup in the notebook. Choose the topics you want to test and a question count you can finish in one sitting. For a first attempt, choose a single topic and keep the set short enough that you can review every answer afterward.

Put your notes aside while answering. Mark the questions you aren’t sure about, even when you can narrow down the options. For a question on photosynthesis, try to explain where the plant gets the materials it needs before checking the answer.

Check the answer against your notes

Read the results and go back to the source page for anything you missed or guessed. Look for the definition, diagram or example that explains the answer. If the quiz and notes disagree, check the explanation against your textbook or ask your teacher.

• Write one sentence about what you missed and where you found the explanation.
• Close the source and explain the idea again from memory.
• Use a second short quiz after a day or two to see what you can still answer.

Keep related sources together so the notebook becomes a place you can return to. Your revision list can stay short. Start with the idea you still find hardest to explain.