Aussie start-up to deliver maths learning tools for US students

Mathspace learning tool
ID:149117015

Mathspace also continues to make significant in-roads in the Australian market, where there are more than 100,000 maths students using the software package in over 200 schools.

Sydney-based start-up Mathspace has launched an exclusive partnership with the world’s leading global publisher, Pearson. The deal will see the award-winning Mathspace program introduced to millions of students across mainland America. Mathspace is a web-based maths learning software developed in Australia. It is being rolled out for use across thousands of colleges in the US as part of an integration with MyMathLab, Pearson’s online homework, tutorial and assessment product.

Over the next five years, it will be used to help an estimated nine million students by providing step-by-step feedback and support on teacher-assigned maths problems.

“This partnership with Pearson solidifies our footprint in the US and introduces our product to millions of new users. Our US team has more than tripled in the last few months to support the user growth,” said Mathspace CEO and co-founder, Mr Mohamad Jebara.

Jebara said the market for Mathspace was enormous, particularly in the US.

“In the US alone, there are more than 50 million students studying maths across primary and secondary schools. To put things in perspective, our partnership with Pearson will see more students using Mathspace per year in the US than the total number of students in Australia,” he said.

Mathspace also continues to make significant in-roads in the Australian market, where there are more than 100,000 maths students using the software package in over 200 schools – including Scots College (NSW), St Ignatius College (NSW), Caulfield Grammar School (VIC) and Merrimac State High School (QLD).

“While there are many providers who base their teaching techniques on games and multiple choice, we are not competing with those products. Any mathematics teacher will tell you that they’re more interested in the ‘working out’ than the final answer. No other technology has ever been able to capture the working out until Mathspace. This will take EdTech to a new level,” said Jebara.

Initially a maths learning tool for students in year seven to 10, the demand for senior exam practice saw Mathspace expand to cover Grades 11 and 12 this year. And for the first time, it is being launched in primary schools across Australia – where it is replacing incumbent providers.

“Many students were entering high school with significant gaps in their understanding of primary school Mathematics. Mathspace automatically identifies those gaps with its adaptive learning engine, so it was a natural next step for us to fill in those gaps for students,” said Jebara.

“Research has shown that one-to-one teaching and feedback is the most effective way for a student to learn, and our step-by-step adaptive learning technology replicates this experience more closely than any other software on the market,” he said.

Mathspace works across Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. It has more than 30,000 questions covering major curricula across Australia, the US, UK Singapore and Hong Kong. There are also more than 7000 lessons, step-by-step hints for every line of working, and hundreds of interactive applets. The company’s in-house team of teachers and mathematicians has developed all content on Mathspace.

Inside Small Business