Austin Scholar #130: How (and why) to use my favorite online math app
& why I’m spending my summer doing Calculus
Hey, y'all!
This week from Austin Scholar...
Austin’s Anecdote: Why I’m spending my summer doing Calculus
How (and why) to use my favorite online math app
Scholar’s Sources: What I’ve been thinking about…
Now that last week’s heartbreak of my friends leaving for college has begun to cool down, the sadness has been replaced with anxiety – I’ve been lying awake at night with my thoughts going a million miles an hour, thinking about the upcoming months.
I’ve been trying to keep myself distracted during the day with a multitude of activities. I’ve loved listening to Post Malone’s new album and performing a full-on choreographed concert in my bathroom after I wake up and before I go to sleep (I’m basically Taylor Swift). I’ve been busy working through Math Academy – I’m now on Calc II and will hopefully finish soon after I arrive in California.
I’ve also, of course, begun the arduous process of packing up my stuff, which really makes the situation feel more real. Terrifying.
Austin’s Anecdote: Why I’m spending my summer doing Calculus
I’m in the middle of my last few weeks of summer before college and I’ve decided to spend my time doing… math.
About a month ago, my anxiety about college kicked in, and I freaked out about being able to do Stanford-level math courses. So I, of course, turned to my trusted online apps to help out.
I started in Calc I, and in about three weeks I was able to refresh everything I’d forgotten in the two years since I took Calculus. I remembered how to do derivatives and integrals (and I also remembered how much fun it is to work with them). I’ve begun now to work through Calc II and feel kind of empowered by my math skills.
I am continuing to solve hard math problems every day, and I know that I am preparing myself to succeed in college-level math.
Because of how well Math Academy is going so far, I’ve decided that I’m going to continue working through the app in college (probably 30 minutes/day). That way I can always be one course ahead and will thus have the chance to truly learn and master the material.
Y’all know me – always doing my best to set myself up for success.
How (and why) to use my favorite online math app
Because Math Academy has been so helpful for me, I want to dedicate this newsletter to the topic of using it, so hopefully your kids can find it valuable too.
I’ve split this article into two sections: the background behind Math Academy, and my top recommendations for how to use the app:
The Math Academy Way
Math Academy is truly a revolutionary online app. You don’t have to just take my word for it – the developers of Math Academy have written a 350+ page book on the learning science backing their software.
The book begins with Bloom’s two-sigma problem: that “the average tutored student performed better than 98% in a traditional class,” but that it’s impossible for every student to have their own individual human tutor.
As they say in the first chapter: “Math Academy is solving Bloom’s two-sigma problem by… emulat[ing] the decisions of an expert tutor to provide the most effective way to learn math.”
Next, they compare talent development (seen in training for sports, music, etc.) against traditional schooling. Most schools ignore talent development, but Math Academy utilizes the major themes of development (learning tasks, mastery, individualized learning) to help kids become good at math just as they would become good at playing the piano.
My favorite part of Math Academy is that it’s completely based on learning science. Here are the particular ideas used in the app:
Every single aspect of Math Academy has a purpose; every activity furthers the efficiency of your child’s learning. The book continues on with misconceptions about math learning and technical deep-dives on different aspects of the app, but the above ideas are the true core of the piece (and the tool).
How to use Math Academy