Constructing the Ideal Components of Crowdsourcing Platforms for Higher Education

Crowdsourcing platforms give students the opportunity to interact with educational content through openly available and publicly contributed information. However, there is a significant lack of content and suitable platforms in higher education, especially STEM-based education, leaving many college students with little external help in their advanced classes. By analyzing existing features in successful and failing crowdsourcing websites, a model platform, Living Engineering, was developed. It redesigns existing platforms by balancing crowd sourcing features like gamification, editing accessibility, and intuitive contributions with an optimal user interface using Rutgers University's Mechanics of Materials as a model course. The UI received positive feedback from survey results and the platform lays a framework for future contributions and developments.