Simple Strategies for Explaining

Information
Melanie Morgan, Ph.D.
 Learning Objectives

• At the end of this lesson students should be

able to:
– Simplify their language style
– Understand the importance of figurative language
– Understand the importance of graphics
– Recognize the importance of organization to
understanding information
 Complex structures or processes are best
explained with quasi-scientific explanations

Focus on important features Organize material so audiences

see relationships
Simplify language in explanations
(Physics Today, 2011)

Scientific Term Public Meaning Better Choice

Enhance Improve Intensify, increase
Aerosol Spray can Tiny atmospheric particle
Positive trend Good trend Upward trend
Positive feedback Good response, praise Vicious cycle, self-reinforcing cycle
Theory Hunch, speculation Scientific understanding
Uncertainty Ignorance Range
Error Mistake, wrong, incorrect Difference from exact true number

Bias Distortion, political motive Offset from an observation

Sign Indication, astrological sign Plus or minus sign
values Ethic, monetary value Numbers, quantity
manipulation Illicit tampering Scientific data processing
scheme Devious plot Systematic plan
anomaly Abnormal occurrence Change from long-term average
 Use metaphors, similes, and/or
analogies in explanations

Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet City of Los Angeles

220km3 per year Used 1km3
for all of their water needs
 Example analogy used in a quasi-
scientific explanation
To make products dry hard enough for floors, it
has always been necessary to add catalysts or
cross-linkers. Think of polymer resins in the
solution as individual balls. If you tried to walk
among the balls, you’d fall through. But if you tied
string between them, you’d form a net that would
hold your weight. That’s what cross-linkers do:
They tie the polymers together.
(D’Arcy, 1999- Security Management)
 Use figures, diagrams, charts,
and visual representations

Popular Science, http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2006-03/blood-cleaner

Repetition is key with complex information
Transitions become more important
when explaining complex material
Internal Previews

Internal Summaries

Directional Transitions

Signposts
Organizational strategies become vital
when explaining complex material
spatial

causal Organization chronological

problem-
Solution