Designing the Most Effective Way to Learn Mathematics with Aditya Nagrath
In this episode, Maria talks with Aditya Nagrath, cofounder and chancellor of Elephant Learning. Aditya graduated with a dual major in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Denver, Colorado. While working full time as a software developer, he completed his PhD in Mathematics and Computer Science and founded Elephant Head Software.
In 2016, Aditya co-founded Elephant Learning to bring transformational change to America's education system. Elephant Learning is an automated math academy that guarantees children learn one year of math in three months. All it takes is thirty minutes of math a week on the Elephant Learning app. They use algorithms to detect what a child does and does not understand. Children receive activities proven to teach math concepts faster, more efficiently, and with better results.
Parents receive real-time reports on their child’s progress, plus handy advice and coaching to take the concepts their child is learning outside of the app and apply them to real life. Teachers get free access to a dashboard developed by Elephant Learning to monitor their students' progress. They can easily identify the support each of their students needs to continue to advance in their math class. Teachers also have access to learning material to help them become more proficient in their teaching.
Maria and Aditya discuss how students become lifelong learners confident in their math abilities, free from math-related anxiety, and capable of thriving in a STEM-centric future. They also unpack how math proficiency helps students perform better in problem-solving and build a growth mindset to thrive in life and work. This is an insightful conversation with a visionary leader on a mission to change how the world teaches math.
Where to find more about Aditya Nagrath and Elephant Learning:
Mentioned in this episode:
Montessori Education and Maria Montessori
Listen to this episode and explore:
Learning computer programming and studying computer science and mathematics (4:35)
Co-founding Elephant Learning in 2016 to solve America’s Math problem (6:20)
How Elephant Learning is teaching their students the Math language (8:20)
Placing students at the right level and adapting to their progress (11:20)
The report and feedback parents receive to assess and discuss their children’ progress (14:40)
What feedback children receive and what they love about Elephant Learning (17:00)
How they create results without overwhelming the students (18:50)
The development of the Elephant Learning App and the touch-screen experience (21:05)
The critical role of math in a STEM-centric and technology-empowered future of education and work (22:05)
How Elephant Learning helps students use math as a problem-solving tool (24:00)
The success stories of students with ADHD, dyslexia, autism and other learning impairments (25:50)
How struggling students overcome their math anxiety and become confident learners (27:30)
How teachers use the Elephant Learning dashboard in their classrooms to quickly identify the students who need one-to-one help (29:50)
Offering teachers free training material and resources for each math subject at the right level and the right time (32:20)
The overwhelmingly positive response of teachers at the early stage of Elephant Learning (33:00)
Supporting teachers’ classroom fund and offering tuition scholarships to those in need (34:50)
The implications of the pandemic on Elephant Learning and the Covid gap for so many students (37:15)
Continue to fulfil Elephant Learning’s vision and creating a new video-based algebra curriculum (40:15)
"What would our society look like if we could create politicians and entrepreneurs who could understand math and develop critical mental models and problem-solving skills?" (41:35)
Maria and Aditya share their thoughts on developing a growth mindset, accepting our frustrations and overcoming fear (43:35)
The depth of the research and thought that goes into the design of Elephant Learning (46:40)
How Aditya speaks to parents who are afraid their child is not smart enough to learn math (48:05)
What Aditya wants to leave his mark on within her lifetime (50:40)
Production team:
Host & Producer: Maria Xenidou
Introduction Voice: David Bourne
Contact us:
impactlearningpodcast(at)gmail.com
Music credits:
Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals
Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks
