IB Command Terms Checklist
| Category: Knowledge & Recall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Command term | What you must do | Do this | Do NOT do this | Micro-example | |
| Define | Give the precise meaning of a term | Write one clear, accurate sentence | Add examples or explanations | Virtual memory is a memory-management technique that uses secondary storage to simulate additional RAM. | |
| State | Give a short, direct answer | Be brief and factual | Explain or justify | TCP is connection-oriented. | |
| Identify | Name the correct item(s) | Select the required element | Describe its function | The device is a solid-state drive. | |
| Outline | Give the main points only | List key ideas concisely | Add detail or examples | Input, processing, and output. |
| Category: Understanding | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Command term | What you must do | Do this | Do NOT do this | Micro-example | |
| Describe | Give characteristics or features | Say what something is like | Explain causes or effects | Round-robin scheduling assigns each process a fixed time quantum. | |
| Explain | Give reasons or mechanisms | Show how or why | Merely list features | Caching reduces average memory access time, improving CPU performance. | |
| Summarize | Present main points concisely | Condense information | Include detail or examples | TCP prioritizes reliability; UDP prioritizes speed. |
| Category: Application | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Command term | What you must do | Do this | Do NOT do this | Micro-example | |
| Apply | Use knowledge in a given context | Refer explicitly to the scenario | Answer generically | In this school network, switches reduce collisions by segmenting traffic. | |
| Demonstrate | Show how something works | Use steps, examples, or workings | Only describe the concept | This trace shows the loop executing five times before termination. |
| Category: Analysis | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Command term | What you must do | Do this | Do NOT do this | Micro-example | |
| Analyse | Break into parts and show relationships | Examine components and links | Write a narrative description | Performance is limited by disk I/O rather than CPU usage. | |
| Compare | Focus on similarities | Refer to both items throughout | Only give differences | Both TCP and UDP use ports to identify services. | |
| Contrast | Focus on differences | Use comparative language | Describe one item alone | TCP guarantees delivery; UDP does not. | |
| Distinguish | Make differences clear between close terms | Use precise technical differences | Be vague or superficial | Threads share memory; processes do not. |
| Category: Evaluation & Judgement | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Command term | What you must do | Do this | Do NOT do this | Micro-example | |
| Discuss | Present multiple viewpoints | Balance advantages and disadvantages | Give a one-sided answer | Cloud storage improves scalability but increases dependency on connectivity. | |
| Evaluate | Make a judgement using evidence | Weigh strengths and weaknesses | List pros and cons only | Caching benefits performance overall despite coherence overhead. | |
| Justify | Support a decision with reasons | Use evidence or criteria | Restate the choice | TCP is justified because data loss is unacceptable in banking systems. | |
| To what extent | Judge how far a statement is true | Acknowledge limits | Give absolute answers | Multicore CPUs improve performance only when software is parallelized. |
| Category: Construction / Representation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Command term | What you must do | Do this | Do NOT do this | Micro-example | |
| Construct / Draw | Create the required representation | Follow constraints and label clearly | Replace with text description | Correctly labeled ERD with entities and relationships. |
If your answer does not match the command term, marks will be lost even if the content is correct.