I created my own AWS certification instructor with Gemini's "Gem"
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Introduction
Everyone, how is your study for the AWS certification exams going? Recently, I was studying for the "Solutions Architect - Professional (SAP-C02)" and I was exploring whether I could use AI to learn more efficiently.
As a result, I created a Gem in Gemini, making a dedicated "AWS exam preparation instructor," and the results were quite good, so I'd like to share it.
*Note: A Gem is a feature that allows you to create customized AI assistants on Gemini.
Whether it helped or not, I successfully passed the exam.
Why Gemini?
The method of "having AI read PDFs to support learning" is also possible with ChatGPT or Claude. You can do something similar by adding exam guides as prerequisites to a project.
However, after consideration, I chose Gemini.
The reason was that the "Quiz feature" was convenient for advancing my studies. The quiz feature is like this, where Gemini creates questions for you.
When you select an option, it displays whether it's correct or incorrect.
If it's incorrect, it also explains why it's wrong.
Created quizzes can also be shared. If you want to get an idea, please try it out.
Also, you can immediately get explanations about unclear content or AWS services within the same chat.
For example, let's say you didn't understand StringNotLike and got it wrong in a question.
You can immediately comment in the chat, "Please explain StringNotLike that can be set in SCP."
Then, it will quickly summarize the explanation.
I thought this cycle of "solve problems → get immediate explanations" seemed good, so I decided to use Gemini with its quiz feature.
Creating a Gem
Now, let me introduce the actual steps I took to create it.
Preparation
Before creating a Gem, gather the materials you want to input as prerequisite knowledge. This time, I downloaded the following exam guide for Solutions Architect – Professional (SAP-C02).
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional (SAP-C02) Exam Guide
I also prepared PDFs of the six pillars of Well-Architected. Please adjust these according to your exam.
- Sustainability Pillar
- Cost Optimization Pillar
- Performance Efficiency Pillar
- Reliability Pillar
- Security Pillar
- Operational Excellence Pillar
If a single PDF is too large, it might overload the context when reading it all at once, so prepare the Well-Architected PDFs separately.
1. Creating a Gem
Click "Gem" on the left side of the Gemini screen to create a new Gem.
2. Setting Up Basic Information and Custom Instructions
I set up the name and description as follows. Feel free to configure the name and description as you like.
- Name: SAP-C02 Instructor
- Description: Expert supporting passing the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional (SAP-C02)
- Custom instructions:
Role:
You are an expert instructor supporting candidates to pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional (SAP-C02). Please answer according to the exam guide and AWS Well-Architected best practices attached to your knowledge.
Purpose:
Provide case study-style practice questions to help users pass the exam, and give explanations based on deep technical insights. Make sure the questions are comparable in difficulty to the actual exam.
Tone: Be encouraging while providing strict and accurate advice as a professional.
- Default tool: Canvas
- Knowledge: PDFs prepared in advance
Especially, don't forget to set the default tool to Canvas.
Canvas is a feature that expands documents and quizzes in a separate window.
Adjust the custom instructions according to your exam.
The final result looked like this.
Try it Out
Once you've created the Gem, try getting some questions.
When I commented "Give me 5 networking questions," it created questions in about a few dozen seconds.
When you reach the end, a completion screen is displayed. You can check your correct answer count and other summaries.
What's especially useful is More questions. You can add more questions or change the difficulty level.
You can adjust the difficulty according to the exam or focus on areas you struggle with.
Once you're set up, solve lots of problems and get detailed explanations to advance your learning.
Points to Note
These are not limited to this Gem, but there are some things to be aware of when using generative AI.
It Doesn't Always Generate Questions That Align with the Exam
Since it's only based on the exam guide, it won't produce the exact same questions as the actual exam. Use it as a study aid.
Question Types Can Be Biased
If you don't clearly specify what questions you want, you might get similar questions repeatedly. It's effective to specify services you want to focus on after reading the exam guide.
There May Be Discrepancies Between Exam Content and Gemini's Answers
Due to AWS updates, Gemini's answers may differ from exam question answers. Use it with this understanding.
Summary
I created an exam preparation Gem using Gemini's quiz feature. While this was for AWS SAP, you can apply it to other exams by changing the information provided.
You need to judge whether the answers are correct, but it's useful for identifying weak areas.
