Navigating the Student Portal

Navigating your course

Watch the tutorial below for an overview of how to navigate your course.

Useful tips

When looking for particular information within a learner resource or piece of legislation, you can also use a search function, such as Ctrl+F on your keyboard, to search for key terms. 

To do this in learner resources:

  1. Go to the learner resource you wish to search
  2. Click on the red settings cog
  3. Click 'Print book'
  4. Use the Ctrl+F function to search the whole book.
Prompt words

Prompt words direct you and tell you how to go about answering a question. Here is a list of prompt words that you will come across frequently within your course assessment tasks.

Prompt What it might mean
Analyse Break an issue down into its component parts, discuss them and show how they interrelate.
Assess Consider the value or importance of something, paying due attention to positive, negative and disputable aspects, and citing the judgements of any known authorities as well as your own.
Compare Identify the characteristics or qualities two or more things have in common (but probably point out their differences as well).
Define Make a statement as to the meaning or interpretation of something, giving sufficient detail as to allow it to be distinguished from similar things.
Describe Spell out the main aspects of an idea or topic or the sequence in which a series of things happened.
Discuss Investigate or examine by argument. Examine key points and possible interpretations, sift and debate, giving reasons for and against. Draw a conclusion.
Evaluate Make an appraisal of the worth of something, in the light of its apparent truth; include your personal opinion. Like 'assess'.
Explain Tell how things work or how they came to be the way they are, including perhaps some need to 'describe' and to 'analyse' (see above). 
Identify  Pick out what you regard as the key features of something, perhaps making clear the criteria you use. 
Interpret Clarify something or 'explain' (see above), perhaps indicating how the thing relates to some other thing or perspective.
Outline Indicate the main features of a topic or sequence of events, possibly setting them within a clear structure or framework to show how they interrelate.
State Express the main points of an idea or topic, perhaps in the manner of 'describe' or 'enumerate' (see above).
Summarise 'State' (see above) the main features of an argument, omitting all superfluous detail and side issues.