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The design of large software systems requires designers to apply critical thinking skills to resolve the complex design problems these systems typically generate. Cultivating these skills in novice designers involves exposing them to the complexities of these problems, allowing them to critically explore the problem and application domains, and providing a means to communicate the rationales for the design decisions they make. In a classroom learning environment, the processes students use to think about and organize what they know and do not know about the design problems is more important to the students' learning than the artifacts they generate. Effectively communicating to the instructor why they make their decisions facilitates assessment and feedback on the thinking and organizing process, and enhances the learning experience. This paper presents a pattern or template for capturing and communicating this information in a concise yet information-rich format. The author's experience using this pattern in a teaching and learning context is discussed to validate the effectiveness of this pattern.