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I'm teaching a rather complicated subject which involves two main concepts... for this example, let's call them "Concept A" and "Concept B".

Rather than teaching the full depth of "Concept "A", and then the full depth of "Concept "B", I plan to interweave through these concepts at different levels of depth. Meaning, I plan to go through each concept twice, and varying levels of detail:

  • Lesson 1 - "Concept A" - high-level / less detail
  • Lesson 2 - "Concept B" - high-level / less detail
  • Lesson 3 - "Concept A" - low-level / further detail
  • Lesson 4 - "Concept B" - low-level / further detail

Here the "levels" meaning further depth into each concept.

The issue... stylistically, I simply don't really like the terms "high-level" and "low-level" and I'm hoping to find alternatives.

This Q&A is similar, but not quite applicable for my context. The concepts aren't necessarily linked to computing.

Similar options would be "abstract" vs "detailed", and while "detailed" could make sense for Lesson 3/4, "abstract" doesn't really make sense for Lessons 1/2. Neither does the term "simple" work for lesson 1/2 either. All 4 lessons will be detailed/technical, but Lesson 3/4 will just be "more" technical then lesson 1/2.

I thought about "deep dive" for Lesson 3/4, but that also doesn't fully apply (lesson 1/2 are also pretty deep)... plus that term is sort of over used.

Any help is appreciated.

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    I would definitely avoid "high level" / "low level", which I met when I took a Masters in IT, late in my career. These terms initially struck me as exactly the opposite of what they are used to imply. "Low" is less than "High", so using to mean more detail is counterintuitive to an outsider.
    – David
    Commented Dec 1, 2022 at 22:33
  • @David Yes! Exactly. Inferring "low" as "less than" high is perfectly reasonable. This is exactly why I'd prefer to use other terms that are less ambiguous. =)
    – Eddie
    Commented Dec 1, 2022 at 23:08
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    +1 for avoiding deep dive.
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 0:02
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    Not sure how formal it needs to be, but bird's-eye view and worm's-eye view ( or just bird's eye and worm's eye) could work.
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 0:52
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    The metaphor is a visual one. From a height one sees more, but with less detail. Up close, one sees the detail, but not the scope. This clashes with the high/low of any measurement - high details is low visually, but low details is high visually.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Dec 3, 2022 at 17:36

2 Answers 2

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A suggestion is to maintain a level numbering, say ConceptA - I, and then ConceptA - II. This is how I had my subjects in college, for example, Fluid Mechanics - I, and Fluid Mechanics - II, with the level of detail and complexity increasing.

An example screenshot:

enter image description here

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  • Went with your suggestion. Thanks.
    – Eddie
    Commented Dec 5, 2022 at 19:52
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I would suggest that Outline works well as the basic level. I can‘t think of a good single word for a more advanced level, but would perhaps use Detailed.

…or you could use the words I have italicized above: basic and advanced.

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