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With 75% of the fastest growing occupations now requiring STEM skills, there is no doubt that maths will play a critical role in every Australian’s ability to succeed in the future.
However, research shows that one crucial element of STEM – mathematics – is an area of learning that many Australian students are struggling with.
According to OECD data, Australian students are performing below the OECD average, ranking 25th in maths out of 72 participating countries. What’s more engagement in the subject is declining.
Some reports have shown that an increasing number of senior students are opting out of maths courses altogether.
Recognising this, Mohamad Jebara – a former derivatives trader – launched Mathspace in 2012, a program which provides interactive online maths tutoring for 100,000 Year 3-12 students in more than 200 schools.
Based on mastering concepts rather than multiple choice questions, it tracks students’ development and recommends harder questions or areas that need to be improved on before the student can progress.
“We created Mathspace because we believe that technology can help every single school student to excel in maths, by providing the right help at the right time,” Jebara said.
“Our program helps teachers tailor maths programs for individual students. When students work at their own pace and level they develop confidence, which keeps them motivated and engaged with maths.”
The program also allows teachers to get real-time data on overall class performance as well as individual student performance. Jebara said this information helps them to differentiate learners and personalise their programs, ensuring that all students are working at the right level and pace for them, irrespective of their year level.
“Students using Mathspace can get step-by-step support on every single question, so when they’re doing homework or their teachers are occupied, they can still get feedback and hints to ensure they understand,” Jebara explained.
“We’ve seen this radically improve students’ numeracy levels.”
He pointed out that research from education thought leaders such as Benjamin Bloom and John Hattie shows that personalised, step-by-step instruction and feedback has a positive effect on student learning outcomes.
“We’ve built Mathspace on that very premise,” he said.
Jebara said Mathspace is constantly receiving anecdotal feedback about the impact that the program is having on student learning.
“One of the great things about Mathspace is the program itself measures student growth over time,” he said.
“It’s exciting to now see data coming through from longitudinal from independent testing showing significant positive effects from using Mathspace.”
In April, Westpac selected Mathspace as one of Australia’s Top 20 Businesses of Tomorrow for the company’s track record of delivery, clarity of purpose, and outstanding value to both teachers and students.
In a push to drive greater engagement of Mathspace, Westpac has now partnered with the company to give all children free access to its program.
“While we’ve built an outstanding product already we feel like we’re only scratching the surface with what’s possible to achieve,” Jebara said.
“I often get asked if it’s science or English next for us but we have so much more we want to do with maths.”
Jebara said he believes that through Mathspace, it is possible for every student to have a personalised path through the maths curriculum where they are provided with “exactly right question, hint and video at exactly the right time”.
“We believe we can remove the need for high-stakes exams because teachers, parents, principals and administrators can all monitor student knowledge and growth in real time rather than a snapshot taken once every year or two,” he said.
“We’re only just getting started.”