Category Archives: getting better grades

Quick Tips Part 8: When to Quote, Paraphrase, and Summarize in Your Papers

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Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing are all crucial to writing a persuasive, well-reasoned paper. But do you know when and how to use each one? The chart below can help with that.

Citation Technique Key Points When to Use It
Quoting
  • Use exact language of original source
  • Put quotation marks around original language
  • Use proper attribution
  • Avoid using quotes too often
  • Indent quotes of several lines (block quotes)
  • The language of the original text is important
  • The quote lends authority to the argument you are making
  • Paraphrasing or summarizing the text would make it lose some of its meaning or power
  • There is no other way to say something
Paraphrasing
  • Restate the original text in your own words
  • Restated text should have approximately same level of detail as original
  • Wording, sentence structure, and order of ideas should be significantly different from original
  • Faithful to the original meaning of the text
  • Use proper attribution
  • While quotes can be distracting, paraphrasing preserves continuity of style in your paper
  • You want to simplify or clarify vocabulary, sentence structure, or arguments of original text
  • You want to put technical language into language more appropriate for your audience
  • You want to show you’ve understood the text by stating it in your own words
Summarizing
  • Restate the original text in your own words
  • Should be much more condensed than the original
  • States only the main ideas
  • Wording, sentence structure, and order of ideas should be significantly different from original
  • Faithful to the original meaning of the text
  • Use proper attribution
  • The text you are summarizing supports your argument or provides background information
  • You want to draw attention to the points that are relevant to your paper
  • You want to leave out extraneous material
  • You want to simplify the material

Want more tips on how to write a paper?  Check out The Secrets of Top Students!

The Benefits of Going Low-Tech in College

Posted in college, college students, education, getting better grades, high school by

Stefanie Weisman's avatarStefanie Weisman

Low-tech tools

USA Today‘s College Blog just posted my article on the benefits of going low-tech in college!  In it, I explain why ditching your laptop may be good for your GPA.  There were a bunch of things I didn’t get to include in the article, though, so here’s some more advice about how to avoid the pitfalls of technology in the classroom.

      1. How to use slides.In my article, I caution against relying too much on the professor’s PowerPoint presentations, which are now commonly posted online.  But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them at all – they can make taking notes easier and faster, if you use them the right way.  Here’s one way to do it:
        • If the slides are posted before class, print them out and number each one.  Bring the print-outs and a notebook to class.  Write today’s date on your slides and…

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      Quick Tips Part 7: Using Technology for Group Projects

      Posted in college, college students, education, getting better grades, high school, technology by

      By Stefanie Weisman

      Group projects are an unavoidable fact of life in high school and college.  Whether you love ’em or hate ’em, there’s no denying that technology can make them a whole lot easier.  Here’s some great free software that will let you share documents, set up meeting times, work remotely, and lots of other cool “teamwork” stuff.

      Google Docs: Allows you to share and collaborate on documents in real time.  You and other members of your group can make changes to docs simultaneously; the app will show you who changed what, and when.

      Skype: If one of your members can’t meet in person, bring a laptop to the meeting and have him/her participate through Skype.

      Trello: Trello is a project management program that can do wonders for group work.  With this program, you can share documents, make lists of tasks to be done, and keep track of progress.

      Dropbox:  Allows you to store and share large files with a group.

      Lastly, use a program like Google Calendar or MeetingWizard to plan meeting times.

      What are your favorite group project apps?

      Get more back-to-school tips with The Secrets of Top Students.

      Quick Tips Part 6: How to Study Actively

      Posted in college, college students, education, getting better grades, grades, high school, school, study skills by

      By Stefanie Weisman

      Did you know you learn better when you study actively?  Next time you have a test, instead of passively reading and re-reading your textbook, try the following active study techniques:

      • Explain concepts in your own words, to yourself or someone else.  Remember: it’s okay to talk to yourself!
      • Make review sheets/ Write out the main points.
      • Join a study group in which you and the other members test each other on the material.
      • Write and re-write things — like names, dates, formulas, vocabulary, and verb conjugations — from memory.
      • Draw out/ diagram complex concepts.
      • Do practice problems — and don’t look at the answers until you’re done!
      • Take practice tests provided by your teacher.
      • Think up potential test questions (and answer them).
      • Test yourself with flash cards, lists, etc.

      For more study tips, check out The Secrets of Top Students.

      Quick Tips Part 5: How to Come Up with a Thesis

      Posted in college, college students, education, getting better grades, grades, high school, liberal arts, school, study skills, writing by

      By Stefanie Weisman

      If you’re a high school or college student, you probably dread having to come up with a thesis.  A thesis is the argument you make in your paper based on research and/or your own experience.  Sometimes a thesis will come to you very quickly, in a flash of inspiration.  But most of the time, it takes a lot more work.

      When writing a research paper, consider yourself part of a scholarly debate.  It’s perfectly acceptable – even encouraged – to challenge the ideas you read in a book or heard from your teacher.  A thesis should be your own unique, original contribution to the debate.

      To come up with a thesis, think critically as you read books, articles, and other sources.  You should constantly ask yourself questions such as:

      • Why did a person or character do something?  What motivates him/her?
      • Who/ What is responsible for an event or action?
      • What is the cause of something?  What is the effect of something?
      • What is the significance of an action or event?
      • What are some potential flaws in an author’s argument or idea?  Are there other possible explanations?
      • What do you think about an issue?  Do you agree with the given interpretation?  Why or why not?
      • How did an event or action take place?  Why did it take place the way it did?
      As you do research, try thinking like a reporter – always ask “who, what, where, when, why, and how?”

      Do you have any tips for coming up with a thesis?

      For more tips on writing papers, check out The Secrets of Top Students.

      Quick Tips Part 4: How to Use Google for Academic Research

      Posted in college, college students, education, getting better grades, going to grad school, high school, humanities, liberal arts, school, study skills, writing by

      By Stefanie Weisman

      Sure, you use Google to look up cute cat videos, but it can also be a great tool for academic research.  Here are some tips on how to use Google to find sources good enough to cite in your papers.

      • Use double quotes to search for an exact term or a set of words in a specific order.
      • Include “site:” to limit your search to a particular website (e.g., “site:nytimes.com”) or top-level domain (e.g., “site:.edu” – this is useful if you only want to search websites hosted by universities).
      • If you’re looking for pdf documents – which tend to be more scholarly than regular websites – enter your search term(s) followed by “filetype:pdf”.
      • When trying to find a term on a web page, don’t forget about Ctrl-F (or Command-F if you use a Mac).  Just type the word or phrase you want to find in the box that pops up, and it’ll show you all the places where it occurs.
      • Use Google Scholar to search for academic articles, and Google Books for easily searchable texts.

      What are some Google search techniques you like to use?

      For more tips on writing and research, check out The Secrets of Top Students.

      Quick Tips Part 3: Common Grammar Mistakes All College Students Should Avoid

      Posted in college, college students, education, getting better grades, grades, high school, school, study skills, writing by

      Make sure you know the difference between . . .

      1.  Your vs. You’re
        • “Your” is the second person possessive adjective and describes something as belonging to you.
          • Ex.: Your paper is written very well.
        • “You’re” is the contraction of “you are.”
          • Ex.: You’re going to do very well on this test.
      2. Its vs. It’s
        • “Its” is a possessive adjective meaning “of it” or “belonging to it.”
          • Ex.: I love that bakery.  Its bread is to die for.
        • “It’s” is the contraction of “it is” or “it has.”
          • Ex.: It’s also got amazing coffee.
      3. There vs. Their vs. They’re
        • “There” can indicate a place, introduce a noun or clause, or be used for emphasis.
          • Ex.: I’m going to be sitting over there.
        • “Their” is the third-person plural possessive adjective meaning “of them” or “belonging to them.”
          • Ex.: I don’t like our new neighbors.  Their dog was barking all night.
        • “They’re” is the contraction of “they are.”
          • Ex.: They’re buying a house.
      4. Who’s vs. Whose
        • “Who’s” is the contraction of “who is” or “who has.”
          • Ex.: Who’s going to the baseball game tonight?
        • “Whose” is the possessive form of “who.”
          • Ex.: Whose baseball bat is this?
      5. Who vs. Whom
        • “Who” is a subject, the person performing the action of the verb.
          • Ex.: Who wants ice cream?
        • “Whom” is an object, the person to, about, or for whom the action is being done.
          • Ex.: To whom should I send this letter?
      6. Then vs. Than
        • “Then” can mean “at that point in time,” “next,” “in addition,” “also,” “in that case,” “therefore.”
          • Ex.: The man opened the door.  Then he turned off the light.
        • “Than” is a conjunction used in comparisons.
          • Ex.: He is taller than his brother.

      For more tips on grammar and writing, check out The Secrets of Top Students.

      Quick Tips Part 2: How to Use Citations in Your Papers

      Posted in college, college students, education, getting better grades, grades, high school, school, study skills, universities, writing by

      By Stefanie Weisman

      Writing a paper and need help with citations?  Can’t choose between APA, MLA, and Chicago Style?  Here’s a quick overview to help you decide:

      The three most common citation styles are APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and CMS (Chicago Manual of Style).  Your teacher may tell you which one to use, but MLA is used most often in humanities courses; APA is generally used in social sciences, engineering, and business courses; and CMS tends to be used in history courses.

      All of these citation styles consist of two parts:

      1. A section at the end of your paper, in which you list all the sources you used for your paper, in alphabetical order.  In MLA style, this is called the “Works Cited” page.  In APA style, this is called  the “References” page.  And in CMS style, this is called the “Bibliography.”  In this list, you will usually have to include the author of the work, the title, the journal or anthology it comes from (if applicable), the editor or translator (if applicable), the publisher, the publisher’s location, and the date of publication.  If your source is a website, you will probably have to list the web address and the date you accessed it.
      2. Attribution for each quote, paraphrase, and summary in your paper.  Whenever you use someone else’s words or ideas, you must state the source and the page number(s) where they come from.  This may occur in the form of in-text citation, which appears within the body of the paper (as in the case of APA and MLA); or in the form of footnotes or endnotes (as in the case of CMS).
      You do NOT need attribution when:

      • You state your own, original ideas.
      • You state something that is common knowledge.

      If you’re in doubt about whether something needs attribution, however, you’re better off citing it just to be on the safe side.

       

      Here are some great online resources to help you with citations.

      Online Guidelines:

      1. Bedford/ St. Martin’s Website guide to researching and documenting sources
      2. The OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab

      Online Citation Generators:

      • Griffith University provides a free online referencing tool in which you select what citation style you are using and the type of source you are citing.  It then shows you an example of how to format that citation.
      • Son of a Citation Machine is another free online source in which you choose your citation style and enter information about your source in order to view the correctly formatted citation.
      • EasyBib provides a free citation generator for MLA format.
      • You can also use Zotero to organize your research and generate citations automatically.  This requires you to download some free software.

      What are some tools you like to use?

      For more tips on writing papers, check out The Secrets of Top Students.

       

      Quick Tips Part 1: Taking Notes in Class

      Posted in college, college students, education, getting better grades, grades, high school by

      By Stefanie Weisman

      It’s back-to-school time!  I’m going to be posting a series of “quick tips” on this blog, to help you start the school year off right.

      Here’s quick tip #1: When taking notes in class, make sure you use lots of symbols and abbreviations to record things quickly and efficiently.  Here’s a list to help you get started:

      Symbol/ Abbreviation  Meaning
       + and, in addition to, plus
       –  except for, excluding, minus
       =  equals, is equal to, is the same as
       ∼  is similar to, is like, is about, resembles
       <  is/ has less than
       >  is/ has more than, exceeds
      ∴ therefore, thus, because
      → leads to, results in, means, signifies
       ↑ gets bigger, increases, grows
      Δ change in [something]
      w/ with
      w/o without
      b/c because
      ex. for example
      vs. versus, as opposed to

      You should also develop your own abbreviations for different types of courses – especially for long, complicated words that come up frequently.

      And when the teacher uses multi-syllable words that take a long time to write, try to substitute them with shorter synonyms – for example, “means” instead of “signifies,” and “but” instead of “however.”

      For more study skills tips, check out The Secrets of Top Students.