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Study Skills

Assessment Objectives and Command Words

Assessment Objectives (AOs)

These are possibly the most important things to make sure you know before you go into any exam. Exams are written to discover not only how much of your subject you know but also the associated skills that you are expected to demonstrate. Your mark will be based on how effectively you meet these skills. It is important therefore to know the proportion of marks awarded for each AO. The four Assessment Objectives are:

• Knowledge
  
  This is an understanding of the subject matter you have covered, but you are also expected to demonstrate a critical understanding of this subject matter. This means that you should not just take everything you have learnt at face value, but be able to see that knowledge in different contexts and appreciate that it does not always apply - you need to be aware of subtlety, therefore.
  
  For example, economies of scale are an important concept in both business studies and economics. You need to know what economies of scale mean, of course, not just a definition but also a deeper understanding of the term and the implications it has for a business. But in addition, you should be aware that not every firm can or indeed wants to benefit from economies of scale. Smaller firms may not have the opportunity to benefit; firms relying on skilled workmanship or exclusivity may not seek to benefit from some types of economy of scale. So, in your revision, ensure that you are in a position to be able to demonstrate that critical understanding.
• Application
  
  It is one thing to understand a term or concept, it is another to be able to recognise where and when it occurs in real life. Application is the skill of being able to take knowledge and to apply it to different contexts and circumstances to understand why problems and issues arise. In economics and business there are so many issues that could be the subject of questions that it is almost impossible to be able to second guess what that subject matter might be.
  
  The important thing to remember is that whatever the context - transport, the car industry, the postal service, a cosmetics business, a pharmaceutical business - that the principles being assessed are the same but will have slightly different implications given the different industry, business or issue being considered.
  
  For example, knowledge of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's hygiene and motivational factors are relevant to almost every single business - but how they are put in place in the postal service, at British Airways, or in a factory may well be different. You need to consider what these types of business do, how they operate and therefore be able to apply that knowledge appropriately. Piece rates might work very well in a factory but would have little application in a service industry. Suggesting introducing piece rates for a receptionist at a large corporation as a means of motivation shows a clear lack of understanding of the application of that term!
  
  Invariably you are going to be presented with some form of problem or issue that requires you to consider some form of solution - again, thinking of what is an appropriate solution or concept to apply this to is vital.
• Analysis
  
  Analysis covers a range of areas. It can involve you looking at a piece of data, a table, chart or diagram and making some sense out of it, identifying trends and so on, or it might involve you identifying certain elements that make up the problem, issue or case that you are considering. Analysis is therefore about breaking down a complex issue into its constituent parts to make it understandable or intelligible to another person.
  
  This implies that you will need to consider things like causes, consequences, key factors and so on that are relevant to the issue. For example, you might get a question asking you to consider the elements of a successful marketing strategy for a business. The analysis part will involve you being able to make a decision about what factors go to make up a successful marketing strategy. It could be the price of the product or service, the product or service itself, the way it is promoted, how it is distributed, the people involved in the selling, how it is packaged and so on. In other words this is a question asking you to use your knowledge of the 4 or 7 Ps.
  
  You will be expected to be able to identify the key factors relevant to the particular business you are looking at - not all of points you know may be relevant in this particular case. For example, if you were considering the success of Amazon, the key factor might be how the products are distributed, the people involved might not be that important because you never see anyone who works for them!
• Evaluation
  
  Evaluation involves judgement and opinion. When you evaluate you will make some comment about how important, significant, valuable and so on something is. In the example above, clearly the speedy distribution of goods is essential for Amazon's success but is it more important than having a detailed explanation of the goods on the site so that people can make informed choices? After all, if people regularly buy the wrong thing then costs are going to be tied up in returns and refunds!
  
  Making such judgements implies that there are no wrong or right answers but what is important is that you need to be able to support your judgements. In some cases you can make up some supporting statement. For example, it is quite acceptable to suggest that if 20% of Amazon's costs could be estimated to be attributed to dealing with returns, whereas they would lose a smaller amount of money because of a slightly less speedy delivery service, then it is reasonable to conclude that getting the product description right is a vital element of the success of an on-line retailer like Amazon.

Analysis and Evaluation are referred to as higher order skills. They are difficult and need lots of practice and consideration. It is also important that you have some degree of confidence in your own abilities to make these judgements. This might not be very comforting but the only way to really get to grips with such skills is to keep practising them. Many of the activities in the Biz/ed Educators section and the Mind Your Business articles have questions that deliberately target these higher order skills and can be one useful source of such practice.

Each examination board has a slightly different weighting for each unit but in general you can assume the following:

By the time you get to Units 4, 5 and 6 in A2, the weighting towards the higher order skills becomes greater with possibly only 15% being for knowledge. What this means then is that nearly half the marks you get are gong to be awarded for your ability to demonstrate these skills, so it does not matter how hard you have revised in terms of the content, it could all be for nothing if you neglect to 'revise' the use of these skills.

Ask yourself this question - will you spend 40% of your revision time practising the higher order skills? For many students revision means going through their notes and making yet more notes or writing down prompts on cards. Fine, all necessary, but if you do not practice how to use that information, you are gong to be neglecting an important part of how you are going to be ultimately assessed. This implies that you may need to think carefully about how you structure your revision time. Maybe spend an hour going through a topic and then find a sample question and answer it. Check your answer against the mark scheme and note where your answer differs with what the examiners are looking for, so that next time you attempt a question you try to incorporate that skill into your answer. This type of approach will pay huge dividends and is more effective that merely sitting in your room reading your notes!

Command Words

Command words are the guides in the question as to what AO is being targeted by that question. They are used very carefully and each question has a certain order of words to try to give you the maximum help about what the examiner is looking for. Questions are not just dreamed up and written down. They are assessed, scrutinised, re-worded, re-worked, re-written and agonised over to get it right. Of course they are not always perfect but that does not mean that there has not been a great deal of time and attention given to getting the question to do what it is seeking to do.

Certain command words are associated with certain AOs so it pays to have some idea what these mean as it gives you the clue as to what skill you should be focussing on in the question. It is important to read the whole question and to understand what the question is getting at as the command word on its own may need reinforcing with the remainder of the question.

Below is a table with a list of command words associated with the relevant AO.

You will notice that certain words appear in more than one category. This is where the rest of the question is important in giving you the full picture of what is required.

It is also important to think about the marks being awarded. In general there are going to be more marks awarded for the higher order skill questions than for knowledge and application questions. Consider the following examples:

1. Using examples, explain the meaning of the term 'non-tariff barriers'. (4 marks)
2. Explain how far non-tariff barriers could be the cause of the problems faced by business X in the case study. (12 Marks)

Both questions have the command word 'explain' in the question but there is clearly a difference in what this command word is expecting because question 1 only gives you 4 marks as opposed to question 2 which is worth 12 marks. To earn those marks you must be expected to demonstrate something different therefore.

Question 1 is asking you to explain a term and use examples. This is a knowledge question - you need to know what 'non-tariff barriers' are, but you are also expected to give an example - this is an example of the examiners asking you to apply your knowledge. You are likely to get 2 marks for the knowledge bit and 2 marks for being able to apply it, i.e. give the example.

Question 2, on the other hand, clearly expects a more detailed and involved answer. The full 12 marks will not be just for one AO - the question is targeting a range of AOs. The words 'how far' should give the game away; this question is more heavily weighted to the higher order skills. The answer is expecting you to make a judgement. Are non-tariff barriers the major cause of the problem, a contributory cause, a minor factor or not a factor at all? Clearly to answer this type of question effectively you will need to identify from the case study/evidence given, what other factors might be to blame.

You will need to consider, therefore, what factors you are going to include. This is the analysis bit. Given the time you have at your disposal, you must be selective; only select two or three factors - one of them being the non-tariff barriers, of course. Examiners do not want you to give a long list of factors, they understand the time constraints, but do expect you to give a selection. The mark scheme may list eight possible factors - you are not expected to have all those eight - indeed you may have identified some factors that the examiners have not thought of - providing they are relevant that is not a problem!

Crucial to the quality of the answer will be your ability to make a judgement about which of the factors you identify as the most significant. It could be that non-tariff barriers have contributed to the problem the company faces but the fact that you have identified their inability to control their costs and their cash flow might be the real reasons for their difficulties. Again, if you can quantify these in any way it will be a great help to your answer.

This type of question therefore might be broken down as follows:

To help you in understanding how these marks might be awarded look at the sample answer below. Comments on the answer showing how the marks might be awarded are given on the right hand side.

The above is not meant to be a perfect answer - few rarely are but that does not mean to say that it would not earn maximum marks. The examiner will be looking to see how far the candidate has met the assessment objectives. Is there clear evidence in this answer of understanding of knowledge, appropriately applied? Has the candidate been able to break down the problem into some clearly defined areas and have they been able to arrive at an informed judgement that addresses the question 'explain how far...' I will leave it up to you to decide!

A Glossary of the Meaning of Key Command Words

Using examples..., explain what is meant by... A definition of a key term required plus an example - drawn from any evidence or the case study - helps to support the explanation. Know your definitions!

Explain... This command word may require a definition but will also require some development of the point or points being asked. You therefore need to give a little detail about the term or issue being questioned. Look at the remainder of the question to make a judgement about how much detail to give and where the detail needs to be focussed. If the question asks you to explain TWO factors or ONE factor make sure you do as you are asked - give two factors or one but not more than that asked for!

Discuss... This is a higher order command word. You would be expected to put both sides of a case or an issue/argument in your answer and to make some evaluative comment about the factors you are discussing. For example, you might be expected to comment on how serious a problem external costs of congestion are in city centres or how important branding is in a marketing strategy of a firm.

Assess..., To what extent..., How far... All these are evaluation command words. Here you are expected to present judgements of the factors you raise - are they significant? How important are they? Why are they important or significant? In many cases you will have to consider the 'it depends' clause. What this means is that you need to consider that your answer may depend on a range of factors that the context might be able to give you. For example, if you are asked to consider the extent of the impact on a firm of a rise in interest rates the answer will depend on how big the rise in the rates are - if it is only a ¼%, then perhaps the effect will only be tiny. It might also depend on the amount of loans the company has - if it only has a gearing ratio of 10% then a rise in the interest rate may only have a minor effect, if it has a gearing ratio of 65% then the impact would be much more severe. Not enough students consider this 'it depends' factor in their answers!

Examine... Another higher order command word. You will be expected to do some analysis and to make some judgement about the points you are examining. There will be an element of analysis inherent in such an answer and also some evaluative comment. You are seeking to develop the points you raise and may be expected to offer balance in your answer. 'Examine' implies some detail, some reflection on the point or issue or some scrutiny of the matter in hand.

Describe... Tell a story. A description suggests that you convey a mental image or give an account of something. This tends to be a lower order skill. You might for example be asked to describe the trends in a graph or a piece of data. In such a case you would have to convey to the reader what is happening in the data - is the variable rising or falling or is it static? If it is rising or falling, how quickly is it rising or falling, etc.

Consider... Another higher order command word. You would be expected to offer some detail about an issue, event or whatever and to deliberate about the value of that issue/event. If you are asked to 'consider the impact of...,' then you would need to describe what the impact was and then to say what effect it had - this involves the 'it depends' rule again. The significance of the impact will depend upon...

Why... Offer some reasons, factors, causes as to some occurrence, action or event. Why did the managing director decide to introduce the new shift pattern? You would be expected to give the reasons for his or her decision - to improve productivity, to improve production, to meet new demand, etc.

Compare... Point out the similarities and the differences between two or more factors.

Contrast... Point out the differences only between two factors/issues, etc.

Identify..., Give... A lower order skill, this requires you to pick out some key factors and name them.

Demonstrate..., Show... To describe or illustrate how some relationship or event has occurred.

Outline... A knowledge based skill, requiring the identification of a point and some brief development as opposed to 'explain' which requires more detail.

Suggest... Make a judgement and give some support or reason for your suggestion.

Calculate... Work out a numerical question, always show how you have worked out your answer and give appropriate formulas in your answer. Don't take short cuts with these questions - you can miss marks as a result!

Evaluate... Again, this involves making judgements. In so doing, you might be expected to distinguish between fact and opinion. Look at the extract or evidence you are given and make some judgements about who is saying what, when, where and to who - this might make a difference to your answer. Often a useful way of helping to arrive at a judgement!

Comment... This requires you to give a judgement on an issue by considering the issues relevant to it.

And finally......

Read the question - so many candidates miss out on gaining marks because they do not read the question carefully enough and think through their answer before writing it down. Mull the question over in your mind first - what AO is it targeting? What will you have to say to get the marks? What is important to put into your answer and what is important to miss out? In many cases a short, brief plan is an essential aid to ensuring your answer is well thought out and well structured rather than just a collection of thoughts thrown down in no particular order. Remember the importance of sound use of English language skills in your answer. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are important and, ensure that the examiner can read your writing!!!