diff --git a/common/djangoapps/pipeline_mako/templates/static_content.html b/common/djangoapps/pipeline_mako/templates/static_content.html
index 01d82a3710..361b9469d9 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/pipeline_mako/templates/static_content.html
+++ b/common/djangoapps/pipeline_mako/templates/static_content.html
@@ -78,6 +78,11 @@ source, template_path = Loader(engine).load_template_source(path)
 %>${source | n, decode.utf8}</%def>
 
 <%def name="require_module(module_name, class_name)">
+    <%doc>
+      Loads Javascript onto your page synchronously.
+      Uses RequireJS in development and a plain script tag in production.
+      Use this form of require_module for all new code.
+    </%doc>
     % if not settings.REQUIRE_DEBUG:
       <script type="text/javascript" src="${staticfiles_storage.url(module_name + '.js') + '?raw'}"></script>
     % endif
@@ -91,6 +96,11 @@ source, template_path = Loader(engine).load_template_source(path)
 </%def>
 
 <%def name="require_module_async(module_name, class_name)">
+  <%doc>
+    Legacy mode of require_module that operates asynchronously, required for certain edge cases
+    (notably where Javascript is required outside of a <%block name="js_extra" or "headextra").
+    Do not use for any new code; instead create a factory and use require_module above.
+  </%doc>
   <script type="text/javascript">
     (function (require) {
       % if settings.REQUIRE_DEBUG: