“It’s only a word, but it’s really important,” says Chris Burt, Leadership and Management Assessor at Impellus. “I’m talking about the verb that’s used in ILM assignment questions. We find that one of the main reasons why our learners don’t fully answer a question is because they haven’t paid enough attention to the verb and what it is asking them to do.
“Our quick guide below will give you a head start and if you’re still not sure, get in touch with the ILM Assessment Team and we’ll be happy to help.”
Verbs in assignment questions
Typical verbs used in assignment questions include:
- Assess
- Describe
- Explain
- Identify
- Review
- Evaluate
What these verbs are asking you to do
Assess
If you are asked to assess something, your first step is to decide on the criteria you will use to carry out your assessment. You must then use your criteria to make judgements about what is being done well and what is not being done well. In your answer, it’s a good idea to:
- Set out what you do.
- Assess how well you do it.
- Provide examples and evidence that back up your judgements.
Describe
A question that asks you to describe means you should ‘paint a word picture’ of what something looks like. For example, you might be asked to describe the structure of your organisation. Less information is required in answer to a ‘describe’ question than for an ‘explain’ question (see below). For a ‘describe’ question you do not need to give your opinions or explain ‘why’ or ‘how’.
Explain
A question that asks you to explain means you should say ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’. For example, the ‘what’ could be a customer services department; the ‘how’ could be the methods used to communicate with customers; the ‘why’ could be the benefits for the organisation.
Identify
This means you are being asked to identify a particular set of information from a wider range of information. For example, you may be asked to identify the key stakeholders in your organisation and what their roles are. You do not need to go into a lot of detail: two or three sentences for each point is usually enough.
Review
This is mainly found in Level 5 questions. To review means to make judgements about how well something works overall and if any action needs to be taken to make improvements or change direction. A review may lead to the need for a more detailed evaluation (see below).
Evaluate
Also mainly found in Level 5 questions, evaluate means to examine complex issues in detail, for example, evaluating a completed project against specific success criteria, or evaluating two or more possible solutions to a challenge or problem.
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