Ohio State students have found a new way to study difficult subjects.
Cramster.com provides an online study community for students in several subjects, and OSU has the site's third most users.
Founded in 2002, the Web site provides resources for math, chemistry, physics, engineering, biology, business and computer science. It was designed to supplement study groups and replace expensive tutors. The site gives students access to notes, sample problems, textbook problems and other forms of study aid.
"We really rely on our community to provide content," said Aaron Hawkey, co-founder of Cramster.
Hawkey said that there is no charge to access about half of Cramster's content and to ask one question per day on the site's question-and-answer board.
Boasting more than 100,000 members, the Web site's users can become members by paying either $9.95 a month or $49.95 a year for a premium membership that provides full access.
OSU student Dan Willis has a one-year subscription because he needed more help than what the free version offered, he said.
Willis, a sophomore in electrical engineering, used Cramster last year for class and says he will continue to use it.
"I've used it for all the physics and all the math I've taken to this point," he said. "I definitely recommend it." He used Cramster for finding solutions to difficult problems and questions, he said. He submitted questions to the board about 10 times.
Cheating has been a concern with similar Web sites and is something that Cramster takes very seriously, Hawkey said. He does not think, however, that blame can be placed on his Web site.
"Cramster can't take the exam for you," Hawkey said. "Cheating was around before Cramster."
Cramster administrators want to reach out to teachers in order to educate them about the Web site because many teachers do not understand the site's purpose, Hawkey said.
Last year, Cramster began reaching out to educators to help stop cheating on the Web site, and in the past few months Cramster has seen more than 2,000 educators join, Hawkey said.
Asked if there is anything he would now do differently about starting Cramster, Hawkey said he would make it free sooner.
The site did not offer free access until May 2006, and Hawkey said the site would have grown much quicker if they had offered free content from the beginning.
Thomas Silvers can be reached at silvers.13@osu.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!