Scrible

Modern research platform for school and work

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Harnessing the Power of Time

In the dynamic world of education, time is an essential yet often overlooked component. Managing and using time effectively is not just a key life skill for students; it’s also a critical factor in the learning process. Timed assignments play a pivotal role in this arena, offering a range of benefits that extend far beyond mere time management.

The Need for Timed Assignments

Timed assignments are more than just deadlines. They create a structured environment where students can learn to prioritize, focus, and think critically under pressure. This is particularly important in an era where distractions are rampant, and attention spans are challenged. By incorporating timed elements into assignments, educators can simulate real-world scenarios and testing environments, such as Advanced Placement (AP) exams, where time management is crucial.

Benefits of Timed Assignments

  • Improved Time Management: Timed assignments teach students to allocate their time effectively, an invaluable skill in both academic and professional settings.
  • Enhanced Focus: With a set time limit, students are encouraged to concentrate and minimize distractions, leading to deeper engagement with the material.
  • Preparation for Standardized Tests: Many standardized tests, including AP exams, are timed. Regular exposure to timed assignments can help students perform better under similar conditions.
  • Development of Critical Thinking: Working within time constraints often requires quick thinking and decision-making, honing students’ critical thinking skills.

Scrible’s Solution

While Scrible doesn’t offer a direct timer function (yet😉), its ability to set specific start and end dates and times for assignments ingeniously addresses the need for timed educational activities. This feature allows educators to create a controlled, time-bound environment replicating students’ pressures and constraints in various academic, college, and career scenarios. Whether it’s for preparing for high-stakes exams, engaging in reflective writing, maintaining a consistent journaling practice, or tackling free response questions (FRQs), Scrible’s time-setting feature proves to be a versatile and effective tool.

Preparing for Advanced Placement (AP) Exams

AP exams are known for their stringent timing requirements. For example, the AP English Literature exam includes a free-response section where students are given 2 hours to write three essays. In a Scrible assignment, teachers can mimic this environment by setting a similar timeframe. They could create an assignment that starts at a specific time and ends exactly 2 hours later, providing students with practice in managing their time effectively under exam-like conditions.

Free Response Questions (FRQs)

Free-response questions are a common assessment tool in many subjects. They require students to construct their responses based on their knowledge and understanding of a topic. In Scrible, teachers can set up assignments with FRQs to be completed within a designated timeframe, mirroring the conditions of in-class tests. This helps students practice organizing their thoughts and writing under time constraints.

Reflection Writing

Reflection writing encourages students to think deeply about a topic or experience. In a classroom setting, giving students a set time to reflect can help them focus and engage more deeply without being overwhelmed. For instance, a teacher could set a 30-minute window in a Scrible assignment for students to reflect on a particular reading or class discussion. This limitation can encourage succinctness and clarity in their thoughts.

Journaling

Journaling in an educational context can be an excellent way for students to chronicle their learning journey or express thoughts and feelings about a subject. Teachers can encourage daily or weekly writing habits by setting a specific start and end time for a journaling assignment in Scrible. For example, a weekly journaling assignment might open every Monday morning and close on Friday evening, prompting students to engage with the material regularly.

Scrible’s ability to set assignments’ start and end times offers educators a versatile tool. It can be tailored to suit various educational activities, from rigorous exam preparation to reflective journaling, enhancing both the teaching and learning experience. This approach not only helps in time management but also prepares students for scenarios where they will have to work within time limits, a skill that is invaluable in both academic and real-world settings.

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Navigating the World of Research with Expanded Citation Styles

Hello, Scrible Community! In our journey of continuous improvement, we’re excited to bring you a significant update to Scrible Edu Pro’s citation capabilities. We understand the importance of accurate and diverse citation styles and haveexpanded our library to include a wide array of new formats to support this charge.

In the dynamic world of academic standards, citation styles continuously adapt, mirroring shifts in language and cultural practices. The Modern Language Association (MLA) has progressed to its 9th edition, and the American Psychological Association (APA) to its 7th, embodying the evolving landscape of research and technology. It’s imperative for scholars to keep pace with these developments.

Adhering to academic and professional norms, various disciplines favor distinct citation methods. Humanities predominantly use MLA, while the social sciences lean towards APA, and history along with some sciences often opt for the Chicago style. Employing the appropriate style transcends mere preference, representing a fundamental aspect of scholarly and professional discourse.

Scrible Edu Pro’s New Citation Styles

We’d like to highlight our new citation styles to support the most commonly used citation styles, including MLA 9, APA 7, and Chicago/Turabian, for all your research and writing needs.

  • Expanded Database Citations: Now, you can easily cite various database materials like articles, charts, and infographics with styles tailored for these sources.
  • Web Sources: With the digital age in full swing, citing blogs, tweets, and online interviews accurately is more important than ever. Our new web citation styles cover these needs perfectly.
  • Print and Non-Print Media: From traditional print books to modern non-print media like films and online videos, our expanded styles ensure you’re equipped for any source type.
  • Unique and Rare Sources: We’ve added styles for unique sources like conference proceedings and dissertations, ensuring that even the most unusual references are accurately cited.

*Pro Tip: Always choose the citation style that matches your source type. With Scrible Edu Pro’s expanded library, precision in your research is now easier than ever.

This expansion of our citation library is a testament to our commitment to meeting your diverse research needs and feedback. We’re always listening to our users and building requested features! Please reach out if you have thoughts, questions or suggestions. Your input could lead to Scrible’s next big leap forward in writing and research technology!

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How-to Guides, In-App Tours, and Toolbar Demos

At Scrible, we aim to enhance your research and writing process through intuitive and helpful tools. Our How-to Guides, In-App Tours, and Toolbar Demos are designed to assist you in navigating and utilizing Scrible’s features effectively. This article provides an overview of these resources, ensuring you can make the most out of Scrible’s offerings.

How-to Guides

Scrible’s How-to Guides are a comprehensive resource. They offer several advantages:

  • Updated Interfaces: Reflecting current Scrible interfaces and product changes.
  • Expanded Topics: Covering a wider range of topics to meet diverse needs. As Scrible continues to add features and functionality, the library of How-to Guides will increase to reflect those changes.
  • Concise and Focused: These guides are succinct, tackling one topic at a time for easy understanding.
  • Responsive Webpages: As responsive webpages, these guides automatically adjust to your screen whether you are on a PC, tablet, or phone. Which means you can get help on the go.
  • Personalization: Guides are grouped and displayed based on your user profile and plan, ensuring relevancy and usefulness​. For example, if you’re a student on our free Edu Plan, you’ll be shown the student guides for our Edu Plan. If you’re a teacher, you’ll see How-to Guides (Edu Pro Plan Teachers) under your Help menu. Selecting that will navigate you to a page listing Guides for Edu Pro Teachers. From there, you’ll see the list of guides relevant to you and can click on any of them to view the particular guide of interest.

In-App Tours

Our in-app Tours provide step-by-step, contextual guidance on using Scrible’s features. As with our How-to Guides, this is ongoing effort. Our library of in-app Tours will grow over time and cover more interfaces and features. To find the Tours, go to the Explore tab at the top of your Scrible screen.

Be sure to check out our New User Tour for an interactive and comprehensive introduction to all Scrible offers. It’s a great way to get started and make the most of our tools and features!

New Toolbar Demos:

To further aid your understanding, we have introduced Toolbar demos. These demos provide a hands-on experience, allowing you to explore the functionalities of the Scrible Toolbar in a practical, user-friendly environment. They are designed to complement our existing How-to Guides and in-app Tours, providing an immersive learning experience. To access the list of demos, go to Explore>Chapter 1: Getting Started Tour>The Toolbar (Demos), then select the demo you would like to view.

Whether you’re a student, educator, or researcher, Scrible’s How-to Guides and in-app Tours, along with our new Toolbar demos, offer valuable resources to streamline your experience. Dive into these tools to enhance your efficiency and mastery of Scrible’s robust features.

-The Scrible Team

Updated 12/08/2023 krk

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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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