Scrible

Modern research platform for school and work

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Enhancing Academic Writing: The Vital Role of Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is a fundamental skill in academic writing, serving as a bridge between research and original thought. Scrible’s new Paraphrasing Support feature in its Edu Pro plan directly addresses the needs and challenges identified in recent academic research.

The Critical Nature of Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is not just about rewording text; it reflects comprehension and the ability to critically engage with the material. Eaton and Hughes emphasize its role in maintaining academic integrity, stating, “Paraphrasing is essential to disseminating knowledge in an ethical manner” (Eaton and Hughes). 

Paraphrasing as a Learning Tool

The ability to paraphrase is closely tied to a student’s understanding and learning. As noted in a ResearchGate publication, “Paraphrasing encourages deeper engagement with the source material, promoting better understanding and retention.” ([ResearchGate Publication on Guided Inquiry Learning]). 

Scrible’s Paraphrasing Support: A Game-Changer

Scrible meets a critical need in academic writing by simplifying the paraphrasing process through the following ways:

  • Allows users to create unique paraphrases for portions of their text.
  • Measures the percentage of verbiage quoted from the source material, ensuring originality in the paraphrased content.
  • Makes it easy to properly cite the paraphrased material in MLA, APA, Chicago, and more than 9,000 citation styles.
  • Seamlessly inserts paraphrased material into the writing document with our Google and Scrible Writer Add-ons.

This is especially valuable given the observation from the University of New South Wales that effective paraphrasing is a skill that requires practice and understanding (“Paraphrasing, Summarising and Quoting”). Siqi Song points out this is especially true for non-native English speakers, “For ESL students, mastering paraphrasing is a step toward fluency in academic writing” (Song). Scrible’s Paraphrasing Support is designed to make this step less intimidating, providing a built-in opportunity to prevent plagiarism and ensure the paraphrase is distinctly different from the annotated text.

The Broader Educational Impact

Effective paraphrasing indicates a student’s understanding and ability to critically analyze information. Mastering the skill of paraphrasing is essential for academic success. Scrible’s innovative Paraphrasing Support feature meets a crucial need in the educational landscape, helping students demonstrate their understanding and engage more deeply with their research. It’s not just a tool; it’s a partner in the journey of academic excellence.

References

Eaton, Sarah Elaine, and Julia Christensen Hughes, editors. Academic Integrity in Canada: An Enduring and Essential Challenge. Springer, 2022.

Song, Siqi. “Teaching the Challenging but Essential Academic Writing Skill of Paraphrasing.” EFL Magazine. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

[An Interventive Collaborative Scaffolded Approach with a Writing Center On ESL Students’ Academic Writing]. ResearchGate. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

[Implementation of Guided Inquiry Learning Model in Improving Students’ Understanding of Paraphrasing]. ResearchGate. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.“Paraphrasing, Summarising and Quoting.” University of New South Wales. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

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Steering Education: Assessing Student Process vs. End Product

Each course in a student’s journey is essential in steering their educational success. Scrible’s Progress Monitoring tool is the compass that guides educators, enabling them to navigate through a student’s learning journey. It’s a pedagogical innovation designed for transparent, formative assessments and real-time data to chart customized learning paths.

Empowering Educators with Actionable Insights

As educators, we chart the academic progress of our students with a watchful eye on four critical stages: research, analysis, synthesis, and writing – the core pillars of Scrible’s Progress Monitoring. By capturing the time students invest in curating and annotating sources, Scrible empowers educators to guide the research journey, ensuring students dive deep into their subjects (Gustafsson-Wright et al., 20211; Chiaro, 20202). This scaffolded approach mirrors math’s “show your work” philosophy, translating it into the writing process fostering an environment where progress is visible, measurable, and meaningful.

Steering Students Towards Self-Regulation and Success

The tool’s real-time tracking features equip educators to nurture an analytical mindset during the source annotation phase and to observe the synthesis of information as it unfolds into structured outlines. Scrible’s close monitoring of writing time further allows educators to gauge student effort and understanding, enabling a tailored and responsive teaching strategy.

Ensuring Academic Integrity

In a world where academic integrity is paramount, Scrible’s features support preventing plagiarism. It does this not by policing students but by partnering with them in their academic development, highlighting their work journey from conception to completion (McCabe et al., 20013).

Scrible’s Role in Future Learning

As we look to the horizon, Scrible’s Progress Monitoring is the compass, promising navigation through the vast educational challenges we face in an ever-changing technological world. It’s more than a tool; it’s a mindset, a commitment to excellence, and a pact between teachers and students, assuring that every step is toward more significant learning, understanding, and integrity.

Your insights fuel our journey, shaping the features and support we provide. We’d like to invite you to try out Progress Monitoring (and the many other features we offer!) Share your stories, the triumphs, and learning. Together, let’s shape the future of education.

Thanks for embracing the journey with Scrible.

References:

  1. Gustafsson-Wright, Emily, et al. “How Can Real-Time Performance Data Lead to Better Education Outcomes? | Brookings.” Brookings, Brookings, 6 May 2021, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-can-real-time-performance-data-lead-to-better-education-outcomes/. ↩︎
  2. Chiaro, Chelsea. “What Is Progress Monitoring and How to Use It Effectively – .” TeachHUB, www.teachhub.com/classroom-management/2020/07/what-is-progress-monitoring-and-how-to-use-it-effectively/. ↩︎
  3. McCabe, Donald L., Linda Klebe Treviño, and Kenneth D. Butterfield. “Cheating in Academic Institutions: A Decade of Research.” Ethics & Behavior, vol. 11, no. 3, 2001, pp. 219-232. ↩︎

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Streamlining Research: Scrible’s Journal Article Magic

Academic research and writing is constantly changing and evolving, making journal articles an essential part of the process. Whether you’re a student, educator, or researcher, the depth of knowledge offered by journal articles is incredibly valuable. Scrible recognizes this significance and has introduced innovative features to enhance the research experience.

Physical Journal Articles

Scrible has simplified the process of integrating physical journal articles into research. These credible sources can now seamlessly join your Scrible library.

By integrating physical journal articles into Scrible, you’re equipping yourself with a powerful tool for conducting comprehensive research. Whether crafting a research paper, preparing for a presentation, or simply expanding your knowledge, Scrible makes it easy to harness the wealth of information in physical journals.

Digital Journal Articles

The Scrible team is dedicated to improving your research experience, and this commitment extends to digital journal articles as well. To optimize the potential of your digital copies of journals, check out our step-by-step guide.

Collaborating and Sharing

Scrible isn’t just for solo research. It also allows you to collaborate with teammates and fellow researchers, making sharing articles, annotations, and notes easy. This collaborative feature streamlines group projects and facilitates sharing of research findings, making your research journey even more efficient and productive.

Citing Academic Journals

Citing academic journals in your research papers is a crucial step in the research process. Citing reputable sources offers several advantages:

Credibility: Peer-reviewed academic journals ensure the accuracy and veracity of information, lending credibility to your work when cited.

Depth of Knowledge: Journal articles offer expert analysis, research findings, and topic insights.

Supporting Claims: Citations from academic journals provide evidence to support arguments and claims, enhancing research paper persuasiveness.

Academic Integrity: Properly citing sources, such as journal articles, is crucial to upholding academic integrity, as it demonstrates respect for others’ work and helps to avoid plagiarism.

Scrible offers innovative features that allow researchers, students, and educators to seamlessly integrate physical and digital journal articles into their research process. These features enhance efficiency and ensure the integrity and quality of your work. By citing academic journals in your research papers, you tap into a wealth of knowledge and increase the credibility of your research.

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Group Assignments: Collaborate And Elevate Your Research

At Scrible, we believe that collaborative learning fosters more profound understanding, creative outcomes, and numerous additional benefits. That’s why we’re thrilled to spotlight one of our most exciting features: Group Assignments.

Elevate your research skills and streamline your workflow with Scrible’s robust and collaborative tools. With Scrible, you can collaborate with your team and seamlessly organize your research notes, citations, and sources. Say goodbye to the chaos of manual note-taking and hello to a streamlined and efficient research process. Whether you’re a student, researcher, or professional, Scrible’s powerful tools will transform your research game and help you achieve success.

The Power of Collaborative Learning
Recent studies shed light on the multifaceted advantages of collaborative learning:

Enhanced Academic Motivation: Collaborative learning methods have significantly boosted academic motivation among students (Loes, 2022)1. When students work together, they become more invested in learning, leading to heightened enthusiasm and engagement.

Active collaborative learning significantly impacts student engagement: A recent study states (Qureshi et al., 2021) that active learning involves students participating in discussions, making presentations, and gaining real-world experiences. Studies show that students learn better when they actively think and engage in their learning. This kind of learning also makes students more involved in their classes, committed to their education, and less likely to drop out. It creates a competitive learning environment. Active collaborative learning is a motivating method that gets students actively involved in learning. It means students work together to achieve different levels of performance.2

Improved Academic Writing Skills: Incorporating online collaboration tools into learning has positively affected students’ academic writing skills (Li & Mak, 2022)3. The interactive nature of such tools allows for instant feedback and collective problem-solving, leading to refined writing techniques.

How Does It Work?

Creating Group Assignments: Teachers can easily create group assignments and select members for each group. This allows for structured collaboration while ensuring each student plays a role.

Shared Libraries: Every group assignment comes with a shared library. This hub allows students to add, annotate, and discuss sources collaboratively. It’s a dynamic space where the research process becomes interactive.

Shared Annotations & Notes: Group members can see each other’s annotations and notes in real time. This fosters immediate discussion, clarification, and integration of different viewpoints.

Individual Accountability: Even within group assignments, individual contributions are tracked. This ensures that every student actively participates and contributes to the group’s success.

The Benefits

  • Enhanced Critical Thinking: When students work together, they challenge each other’s ideas, leading to deeper understanding and better research outcomes.
  • Improved Communication Skills: Collaborating in a digital space requires clear communication. Students learn to express their ideas succinctly and effectively.
  • Responsibility & Accountability: With individual contributions being tracked, students learn the importance of responsibility in a group setting.

Get Started!

Group assignments are a transformative feature that can elevate students’ research and writing process. If you’re a teacher looking to enhance collaborative learning in your classroom, get started with Scrible’s group assignments today!

Join the revolution in collaborative learning. Dive into Scrible, and let’s make research and writing a collaborative adventure!

  1. Loes, C. N. (2022). The Effect of Collaborative Learning on Academic Motivation. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 10. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.4 ↩︎
  2. Muhammad Asif Qureshi, Asadullah Khaskheli, Jawaid Ahmed Qureshi,
    Syed Ali Raza & Sara Qamar Yousufi (2021): Factors affecting students’ learning performance
    through collaborative learning and engagement, Interactive Learning Environments, DOI:
    10.1080/10494820.2021.1884886 ↩︎
  3. Li, J., & Mak, L. (2022). The effects of using an online collaboration tool on college students’ learning of academic writing skills. System, 105, 102712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102712 ↩︎

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Scrible Heads Back to School with New Features!

Welcome Back, Educators!

The start of a new school year is always brimming with excitement, fresh aspirations, and of course, a dash of chaos. At Scrible, we’re passionate about providing tools that help streamline and enhance your teaching endeavors.

💡 Exclusive Webinars Just for You

To kick off this school year, we’re thrilled to invite you to two exclusive webinars crafted for educators like you. Whether you’re new to Scrible or a seasoned Scribler, these sessions promise to provide invaluable insights and tips to elevate your experience.

Scrible 101: Fundamentals of Scribling!

Date: September 12th

Time: 4:00 p.m. EST

Register Here

Scrible 102: New Features for the Scrible Savvy

Date: September 14th

Time: 4:00 p.m. EST

Register Here

🚀 Your Feedback in Action!

We’re blown away by the consistent feedback we receive from our dedicated community of educators. Your insights have been the driving force behind our recent innovations. Here’s a sneak peek into what we’ve rolled out:

Progress Tracker Feature

See up-to-date information based on student work. View the workflow and document the different elements of the process.

Group Assignments

Empower collaborative learning with ease by automatically sorting students into groups. Manually reassign students between groups and have the flexibility to track progress either individually or via groups.

Even more, coming soon!

🌐 Connect with Us On the Road

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be making our presence felt at several conferences this semester. We’d love to connect with you:

Thank you for your unwavering commitment to education. We’re always here to help and support you to make this school year memorable!

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