Austin Scholar #5: Knowing Knewton: Austin’s App Analysis
Re-Uploaded Onto Substack
Hey, y'all!
Welcome back to the Austin Scholar newsletter! At the time I sent out this newsletter, I was still working on getting my Substack reinstated, but that did not hinder my writing. I continued to send weekly newsletters from Austin Scholar, and now that I am sixteen I am able to re-publish those newsletters onto Substack. Apologies for the inconvenience and I thank you for your support and patience.
Today from Austin Scholar...
A short anecdote describing how time and effort in apps have paid off
Knowing Knewton: Austin’s App Analysis
Three sources that are great online resources to use when your child is struggling in an app
Austin’s Anecdote
Although I expect to get a 5 on my Calculus BC AP test in a couple of months, learning and understanding math concepts has always been a challenge for me. I am not one of the naturally genius kids who can understand how to calculate complex derivatives after a couple minutes of studying. In third grade, one of the other students in my class got called out by the teacher for “already doing Algebra,” while I was still mastering my twelves times tables. The two of us were constantly compared in class, with my classmate usually coming out on top. I was really frustrated because I had been spending extra time working on my homework and trying to get ahead in classes.
But then, I switched schools and started using exclusively online apps to learn math. I began to spend hours every day working through the apps, fueled by my past frustrations. Even though I wasn’t even at the same school as my old classmate, I always felt like I had to catch up to him. Because I spent so much time in math, I was able to complete multiple years of math in one school year and reach the 99th percentile in math nationwide.
Before I started high school, I was surprised to hear that my old classmate would be joining Alpha. The first day back, I realized that, because he continued going to a standard school and didn’t use apps, he had only been able to complete one year of math per school year. Now he had to catch up to me.
If you have a kid, regardless of their supposed math skills, who wants to accelerate in math, using adaptive apps is a great way to go.
The number one app I can attribute my growth in math to is called Knewton Alta, so I thought I would give a deep-dive into one of my personal favorites.
Knowing Knewton: Austin's App Analysis
Three years ago, I used Knewton Alta for the first time as I started my journey in learning Algebra I. The first few months of learning how to navigate Knewton were filled with red "incorrect" banners and screaming matches with my computer as I tried to learn the way to get the most value out of Knewton. Since my first sprint in Algebra I, I have taken four other Knewton courses in math and science (Algebra II, PreCalculus, Chemistry I, and Chemistry II), which cemented my knowledge in using the app. This series, Austin's App Analysis, aims to give a comprehensive "How–To" for understanding a few of my favorite adaptive apps.