Now hear me out, there are some apps that are more or less just study guides but I was thinking of something like Duolingo that could handle math inputs up to like calculus levels. I know this is possible because sites like symbolab, Wolfram and even the testing and homework software the schools use can decipher complex functions and determine if they’re correct.
How come no one has made a gamified math tool for people at the college level? One reason ive heard said is “noone is interested” but… Money is very interesting and I know plenty of college students would be drooling for an app like this.
So I’m just asking you all, what do you think would be the big holdout for you as a developer to not take on a project like this. Why do you think no one’s made it?
I never heard of anybody describing Duolingo and the likes as tools to get people to college levels of foreign languages tbh
They claim to teach college level Spanish and French and have research to back that up, but I’m not sure of its accuracy.
Which is why I’m not doing that, Duolingo teaches elementary to middle school level math, but the concept is there
The more advanced the math, the more steps and effort goes into solving a problem. I think that makes it harder to gamify. You get to the point in calc where a problem might take several pages to do.
What I would really like is daily problem/brain teaser type things. The ones I see online are either extremely easy or intentionally written in a confusing way to get engagement.
I haven’t tried Brilliant so I don’t know how good it is but that claims to do what you want.
I don’t think there’s as much money in it as you think there is. The students who struggle with math aren’t going to look for that type of resource - they just try to struggle through. The students who are interested already know about resources like Organic Chemistry Tutor and Paul’s Notes.
If an interested dev does stumble on this thread, I do frequently help students with math and would love to consult for money lol
True but you forget, we all learn in different ways, I’ve found the organic chem teacher and honestly, I can’t focus on videos, my brain simply does not work that way, I learn mostly by doing
This is so true of many people.
I was a professional game developer for two decades. I was never formally trained, I am completely self-taught.
I must break things apart and build them up from the individual molecules, in order for me to understand things.
When I learned trigonometry in school, or should I say when they attempted to teach it to me, it flew over my head like a flock of birds. I could understand none of it nor could I understand any of the reasons.
When I started to develop an obsessive passion for programming when I was around 14, and I needed to figure out how to shoot a bullet out of a cannon at a certain angle and break down the components of motion into x and Y… I felt like I invented trigonometry myself in about 3 hours.
People are weird and everybody approaches things differently. I could see myself beginning to Intuit calculus concepts with a game, but at the same time I think it’s such a specialty ask that it’s not realistic.
As you watch the videos, you can follow along on paper. Pause the videos to try to figure out what to do.
I’ve also found that using a mix of colors works really well as you are working problems. If you are learning composition of functions, try putting each function as a different color. Or if you are in calc and doing integration by parts, again color code each function.
Another tool is to do T chart notes. Write the math step on the left hand side, and the explanation for each step on the right. Think about why you are doing each step.
Gamifying stuff seems very appealing, but Duolingo I don’t think has shown itself as being effective long term.
Gonna stop you right there boss, I have been on this earth 30 years. Trust every method of trying to follow along, that I have tried.
And I think people are getting too hung up on Duolingo, that’s just the closest thing I can compare to.
what I personally need is repetition. And nothing has been more effective that whoever coded the algebraic problems in blackboard. It pulls up a generated problem from a set or concept, I work it out on paper and input it into the input, which uses either math text or latex. Its fantastic. Except you can’t pull up problems on demand and it’s not in a mobile format so it’s a bit of work getting in practice on the go.
What topic are you trying to learn right now?
Brilliant has a bunch of math courses, up into calculus and other high-level math. It also has some gamification with points and daily streaks for completing lessons
Duolingo has done math. I don’t know how good it is, but it’s there.
Its very simple math, it’s good for kids that’s about it
they should make number munchers but for algebra
Now that’s a name I haven’t heard since the 80s.
There are only about a bazillion of them.
Which ones?
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=calculus+learning+app
As we used to say, lmgtfy.
If you don’t know just say that, I’ve actually gone through the various android app stores and searched, and as we sometime still say ityfos
Clicking that link finds tons of apps. Whether any are good, I don’t know. But I do know that those apps exist, which is what you asked. It could be that there are no good apps. I don’t know even in principle what such an app could do that was useful.
By contrast, I’ve heard lots of good things about Khan Academy videos. You might try a few of those instead of an app. Ideally, work with a human tutor as well. I’ve tutored calculus, everyone has their own stumbling blocks, and it’s best to work with someone who can see where you’re hitting trouble and help you get through it.
