RationaleGuidelinesandPrinciples

Ultimately,thegoalistoprovideguidelinestocreatecontentthatismostconduciveto
retentionandunderstanding.

Generalrationaletemplate:

(Asimplesentenceexplainingwhytheansweriscorrect,thiswillbewhatfortherationale
preview)
.

(Anelaborationoftheprevioussentencebyprovidingreasoning).

(Contextsurroundingtheanswersotheusercanlearntheoverarchingconcept,notjustthe
question).

(Either1.Thereasoningwhytheothersareincorrect.And/or2.Definitionsoftheremaining
answerchoiceswhereapplicableandrelevant).

RationaleExample:

Question
:Ifarubberdamisabnormallywrinkledbetweenteeth,theprobablereasonis

Answer
:Theholeswerepunchedtoofarapart

Rationale
:
Largeareasbetweenholesintherubberdamsheetcausewrinklingduetoexcess
materialbetweenteeth.

Excessmaterialbetweentheholesbecameevidentwiththefoldingoftherubberdamseptum
inbetweentheholes.

Excessmaterialincreasesthedifficultyofpassingtherubberdamthroughthecontactarea.

Preventincorrectpunchingofholes:
Assessthedistancebetweeneachtooth
Assessthepositionofteethinthearch
Rubberdamholesshouldbeapproximately34mmapartfromeachotheronaverage

Moreexplanationonhowtowriterationales:

Spacingisextremelyimportantbecausethiswillbeusedonthemobileplatform.In
generalyoudonotwantlongblocksoftext.

46sentencesisabouttheideallength

Beawarethattheanswerchoicesappearinrandomorderintheapp.Sodonotsay
answerchoiceaisincorrectbecause____.Insteadsayconcept___isincorrect
becauseof____.

Clarity:Therationalesareprimarilyusefulforunderstandingtheconceptassociated
withthequestion.Beingconciseandcleargoesalongway.Avoidbigwordsforthe
sakeofbigworks,avoidsentenceswiththingsthatarenotnecessarytolearningthe
concept.Moreimportantly,alwaysexplaininthesimplestwaypossibleforstudentsof
differentaptitudelevels.

Noprofanityorsuggestivelanguage.

Builda360pictureintherationale.Presentmorethanonewaytothinkaboutand
rationalizeaconcept.Thatwaytheycanknowitfromwhentheyrenotdependingon
anothertermorearliersteptotriggerthenextone.Basicallytalkabouttheconcept
andthingssurroundingitthatisapplicable.

Ithastomakesense!Memorizingthingsforthesakeofmemorizationfornorhymeor
reasonisextremelydifficulttodo(extheaminoacids).Organizingarationaleinaway
thatiscohesiveandexplainingitsothatitmakessense,almostlikestorytelling,will
increaseretention.Waystomakesense
Familiarity:Drawingparallelstothingsthattheaudiencecanrelatetosuchas
dailyactivities,commoneventsduringalifetime,popculture(althoughbestto
avoidasitstopicalandwilldatethecontent),oranotherwellknownconceptof
thesamesubjectmatter.
Patterns:Identifyingpatternsinconceptsbringmoremeaning.Everytimex
happens,ywilllikelyhappenalso

Bulletpointsareveryeffective(prollydeserveitsownsection
SerialPositionEffect:Theorderinwhichitemsinalistareorganizedcanaffect
howeasyitistolearnthem.Itemsatthebeginningandtheendareeasiestto
remember,whiletheitemsinthemiddlearethehardesttoremember.Also,the
lastfewitemsareeasiertorememberthanthefirstitems.Ifthebulletpoints
arenotasequenceofevents,arrangeyourlistsothemorecomplicated,less
meaningfulitemsareatthebeginningandtheendofthelist.Putthesimpler,
moremeaningfulitemsinthemiddle.

Generaltips:
Rhymesmakeiteasiertoretaininfo,leantowardssentencesthathavethesame
syllablecountandthatthelastwordofthesentencerhymeswiththelastwordofthe
previoussentence."IbeforeE,exceptafterC."