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The Daily OrangeOnline study sites gain users, critics
By Lorne Fultonberg
Posted: 9/14/09, 4:04 AM EST Section: News
Forget the pricey tutor. Online study sites are becoming the cheaper, more popular alternative.
Cramster, Sparknotes and Course Hero provide study guides, Power Points by topic, novel summaries and other study aids. They're growing in popularity, though many Syracuse University professors wish students would avoid them altogether.
Cramster has 500,000 users, double what it had a year ago, and Course Hero's collection of documents, homework, class notes and graded essays uploaded by users is up to two million, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"Online study sites are hardly 'study sites,'" said Bruce Smith, an SU English professor. "They are dumbed-down solutions and answers to questions."
SU's academic integrity policy does not specifically mention study sites as a source for plagiarism, but many professors feel that self-declared study sites are not what their names imply.
Donald Siegel, an SU earth science professor, said the sites make for lazier students.
"Imagine you were on the football team," he said. "How do you do well and get to play? You work your ass off, figuring out how to do better and get stronger with a combination of inconvenience, sweat and brains. The same applies for anything students do in academics. There are no short cuts to do well."
The sites claim they exist for students' benefit. Cramster's Web site, under the "What Educators Should Know" tab, says that 92 percent of users maintain or raise their grades.
"We just want to provide the same type of benefits that you would get in a physical study group, except online," said Rob Angarita, co-creator of Cramster. "We're really there to create the largest study community of students, educators and subject enthusiasts."
Angarita said these "subject enthusiasts" are usually gifted students, former professors or professionals in an area of study.
Students on Cramster can post questions on message boards, where subject enthusiasts reply with their answers. Angarita said that there are cracks in the system. Anyone at least 13 years of age can sign up to be an enthusiast on the site, leaving opportunities for faulty information.
Cramster, Sparknotes and Course Hero provide study guides, Power Points by topic, novel summaries and other study aids. They're growing in popularity, though many Syracuse University professors wish students would avoid them altogether.
Cramster has 500,000 users, double what it had a year ago, and Course Hero's collection of documents, homework, class notes and graded essays uploaded by users is up to two million, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"Online study sites are hardly 'study sites,'" said Bruce Smith, an SU English professor. "They are dumbed-down solutions and answers to questions."
SU's academic integrity policy does not specifically mention study sites as a source for plagiarism, but many professors feel that self-declared study sites are not what their names imply.
Donald Siegel, an SU earth science professor, said the sites make for lazier students.
"Imagine you were on the football team," he said. "How do you do well and get to play? You work your ass off, figuring out how to do better and get stronger with a combination of inconvenience, sweat and brains. The same applies for anything students do in academics. There are no short cuts to do well."
The sites claim they exist for students' benefit. Cramster's Web site, under the "What Educators Should Know" tab, says that 92 percent of users maintain or raise their grades.
"We just want to provide the same type of benefits that you would get in a physical study group, except online," said Rob Angarita, co-creator of Cramster. "We're really there to create the largest study community of students, educators and subject enthusiasts."
Angarita said these "subject enthusiasts" are usually gifted students, former professors or professionals in an area of study.
Students on Cramster can post questions on message boards, where subject enthusiasts reply with their answers. Angarita said that there are cracks in the system. Anyone at least 13 years of age can sign up to be an enthusiast on the site, leaving opportunities for faulty information.
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