Principle 2 defining terms

I am offering ten principles for writing material for educational courses. The second principle is about defining your terms.

1. Writing material for educational courses Principle 2 Define terms Glenn Martin March 2017

2. Principle 2 Define your terms, then use those terms consistently throughout the course.

3. Defining terms Question: Does the material involve terms that: are likely to be unfamiliar to students? or will be used with a different meaning to the meaning students are familiar with? Example: in a Physics course, “force” has a particular meaning – mass times acceleration. [In general conversation, people use words in ways that are consistent with the definitions found in common dictionaries.]

4. Good definitions If a term needs to be defined, keep this in mind: A good definition differentiates between what is “the thing” and what is not “the thing”.

5. To explain…. A good definition makes it as clear as possible what is the thing that is being defined, and what is not “the thing”. The importance of a good definition is that it enables us to differentiate “the thing” from other things with which it could be confused. Example: How would you define “power”?

6. For example Suppose we have a definition of “ power ”. If it is a good definition, it will clarify the distinctions between power and other concepts with which it might be confused.

7. What are the relationships between concepts? Is one concept a subset of the other? (A or B) A B C Do the concepts overlap? (C) D What are the connections between the concepts? (D)

8. Justification for the definition If a term is used in a way that is different from what would be found in a common dictionary, there must be justification for the specialised use. This includes: authority for the new meaning (e.g. academic source) need for the new meaning (e.g. in order to explain phenomena) proposed application of the new meaning.

9. Use terms consistently Having defined a term in a particular way, it must be used with that meaning consistently throughout the course. Care is needed not to, at any point, confuse the ordinary sense in which a term is used with the meaning it has been assigned in the course.