Engage with the Reader as a Non-Expert

Students have a wealth of knowledge and experiences from which to draw; however, at the start of a course they are not experts in the course concepts. One way to communicate concepts clearly to non-experts is to use plain language principles so the writer’s ideas can be easily understandable by anyone. This might include:

• Defining new and specialized terms or jargon
• Showing key terms in bold font and/or creating a glossary or “key terms” list for students to reference and review in preparation for evaluations
• Providing examples to clarify and support the meaning of complex ideas.