Outline / Explain / Describe

Discussion in 'General study / exams' started by LazyLinePainterJane, Mar 28, 2013.

  1. LazyLinePainterJane

    LazyLinePainterJane Member

    Any advice on how the answers required differ between these instruction words?

    Looking at past papers and ActEd materials, it seems they all mean "write a short sentence about each idea for half a mark each".

    In normal English usage, they of course have different meanings, but I'm not sure how to apply this to exam questions. "Explain" implies more detail to "Outline" but seems pretty similar to "Describe".

    I assume I should be dealing with each of these instructions differently, but how? If they all earn half a mark per point, then do they need a different level of detail? Or is the detail in the range of ideas, rather than the detail given to each idea?

    Any help would be much appreciated, wordiness was never my strength!

    (I'm taking CA1 by the way, but presumably the same applies to all ST and SA subjects too)
     
    LazyLinePainterJane, Mar 28, 2013
    #1
  2. John Lee

    John Lee ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    With my CA1 hat on I would say outline and describe are the same - give the idea then back it up with an example, a definition or a quick why.

    The marking is changing so important points will be awarded 1 mark.

    Explain means in depth (whereas other instruction words tend to mean breadth) - so lots of why's until you reach the underlying cause and lots of how's so every step is clear.
     
    John Lee, Apr 2, 2013
    #2
  3. JayKay2

    JayKay2 Member

    John

    Do you have anymore information regarding the change in the marking format? So far in my revision I have been using 1/2 mark per point.
     
    JayKay2, Apr 3, 2013
    #3
  4. LazyLinePainterJane

    LazyLinePainterJane Member

    Thanks so much John, that really helps.

    So, in the past I've failed (I think) because I spent too long on the main point (and repeated myself) and missed the "Broad" points. To try to correct this, I've been learning lots of acronyms for idea generation. Because time is so short, this means I write the bare minimum for each point.

    If they are moving to 1 mark for the key ideas, should I go back to focusing on the key ideas? Or carry on as normal, but just not worry if I can only think of 18 points for a 10 mark question?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 5, 2013
    LazyLinePainterJane, Apr 5, 2013
    #4

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