By Steven Geigle, CSHM - February 2006

Help Your Students Complete Assignments

According to ANSI Z490.1-2001, most safety training must include evaluation of individual knowledge and skills. To test individual knowledge, the usual strategy is to administer a written test. To help your employees successfully complete a written assignment, share the following tips with them:

Develop Acronyms such as, MEEP (for materials, equipment, environment, and people) or TRESL (training, resources, enforcement, supervision, leadership).
Look at all of the questions before answering. Start with the easiest assignment. Your subconscious will work on the others while you complete the first one.
Rephrase the question in your opening sentence. Repeat key words found in the question to show your answer is clear and on target.
Use Transitional Words. Use words such as first, second, next, finally, on the other hand, consequently, furthermore, in conclusion.
Pretend the instructor is completely ignorant of the assignment topic.
Thoughts and feelings are not the same thing. Use primarily facts and logic, not your feelings about something; assignments are testing comprehension of a subject matter. It's Okay to express how strongly you feel about something, but justify those feelings with facts. "I feel strongly about this because I think/believe..."
Include only one main idea per paragraph -- state your idea precisely and then follow this statement immediately supporting factual or logical evidence.
Focus on the issue and avoid unnecessary details.

Help Your Employees Complete Assignments

Encourage your employees to carefully read each assignment carefully. They should pay particular attention to the direction word (or words) used in the question. It's effective to underline action verbs and tell them to actively think about what the question is asking them to do. Action verbs in assignments might include:

Analyze. The student must break something up into parts. They need to discuss, examine, or interpret each part.
Compare. The student is required to examine two or more things to identify similarities and differences.
Contrast. The student examines two or more things to identify difference.
Criticize. The student must make a judgment. This involves, analysis and evaluation with justification.
Define. The student is being asked to explain the exact meaning of the term.
Describe. The student should present a detailed work picture of characteristics, qualities, parts, etc.
Discuss. Here, the student considers the pros and cons of an issue. The student should define, expand on, state positions of the issue. They may also need to evaluate and justify.
Evaluate. The student must judge or rate the effectiveness, rightness, quality of something. Include evidence to support the judgment.
Explain. The student should make an idea clear by logically telling how a concept is developed.
Interpret. The student must explain the meaning, describe, or show relationships.
Justify. The student must argue, prove, or give reasons for supporting some position, decision, or finding. They should support their argument with facts, logical reasoning, and examples.
Label. The student points out and names specific parts.
List. The student develops a list several reasons, steps, ideas, events, things, etc.
Outline. Here, the student describes main ideas, characteristics, or events.
Summarize. The student gives a brief, condensed account. Include conclusions, and justify.