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Mohamad Jebara: This company pays kids to do their math homework
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Mohamad Jebara loves mathematics -- but he's concerned that too many students grow up thinking that this beautiful, rewarding subject is difficult and boring. His company is experimenting with a bold idea: paying students for completing weekly math homework. He explores the ethics of this model and how it's helping students -- and why learning math is crucial in the era of fake news.
Mohamad Jebara - Education entrepreneur
Mohamad Jebara is the founder and CEO of Mathspace, an education technology product that provides students with guided feedback through the mathematics curriculum. Full bio
Mohamad Jebara is the founder and CEO of Mathspace, an education technology product that provides students with guided feedback through the mathematics curriculum. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
For as long as I remember,
I've loved mathematics.
I've loved mathematics.
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Actually, it's not 100 percent true.
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I've loved mathematics for all
but a two-week period
but a two-week period
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in senior high school.
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(Laughter)
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I was top of my class,
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and we were about to start
the Extension Maths course.
the Extension Maths course.
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I was really excited
about this brand new topic coming up,
about this brand new topic coming up,
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complex numbers.
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I like complex.
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My teacher was priming us for the concepts
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with some questions about square roots.
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Square of nine -- three;
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square of 256 -- sixteen.
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Too easy.
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Then she asked the trick question:
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What about the square root
of negative one?
of negative one?
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Of course, we were all over it --
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"Come on, Miss!
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We all know you can't take
the square root of a negative."
the square root of a negative."
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"That's true in the real world," she said.
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01:02
"But in the complex world,
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the square root of negative one
is the imaginary number i."
is the imaginary number i."
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01:09
(Laughter)
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01:12
That day,
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my entire mathematical world
came crashing down on me.
came crashing down on me.
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01:16
(Laughter)
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"Imaginary numbers?
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Seriously?
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But mathematics is a source of truth,
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please don't go abstract on me.
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I would have studied art
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if I wanted to play
with imaginary numbers."
with imaginary numbers."
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01:29
(Laughter)
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"This is Extension Maths,
let's get back with our program!"
let's get back with our program!"
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She didn't,
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and over the next couple of weeks,
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I reluctantly performed
meaningless calculations,
meaningless calculations,
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(Laughter)
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finding imaginary solutions
to quadratic equations.
to quadratic equations.
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(Laughter)
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But then something amazing happened.
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We began finding elegant solutions
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to real-world problems
we previously had no answers to,
we previously had no answers to,
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starting with the complex world
of imaginary numbers.
of imaginary numbers.
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So some mathematician 500 years ago
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decides to have some fun
and make up these imaginary numbers,
and make up these imaginary numbers,
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and because of that we can now
derive these amazing identities
derive these amazing identities
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with applications in the real world,
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in fields like electrical engineering.
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Wow!
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I gained a whole new level
of appreciation for mathematics.
of appreciation for mathematics.
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And after my brief mistrust,
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I was now in love
with the subject more than ever.
with the subject more than ever.
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Francis Su, the mathematician,
sums it up beautifully when he says,
sums it up beautifully when he says,
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"We study mathematics
for play, for beauty,
for play, for beauty,
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for truth,
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for justice and for love."
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But if you ask a student today,
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you'll probably hear a different story.
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You might hear "difficult" and "boring."
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And they might be right about difficult.
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But it's certainly not boring.
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In fact, I'd say being difficult to master
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is part of what makes it beautiful.
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Because nothing worth doing is easy.
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So we need students to stick around
long enough through the difficult parts
long enough through the difficult parts
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to appreciate the beauty
when it all ties together.
when it all ties together.
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Much like I did for that brief
couple of weeks in high school.
couple of weeks in high school.
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Unfortunately, our school systems --
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we move students through mathematics
in a lockstep process.
in a lockstep process.
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So those who fall a little behind
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find it near impossible to ever catch up
and appreciate that beauty.
and appreciate that beauty.
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But why is this a problem?
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Why should we care?
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Well today, more than ever,
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our world needs every citizen
to be skilled in mathematics.
to be skilled in mathematics.
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With the advent of artificial
intelligence and automation,
intelligence and automation,
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many of the jobs we see today
will either not exist
will either not exist
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or be transformed
to require less routine work
to require less routine work
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and more analysis
and application of expertise.
and application of expertise.
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But we're not producing
the extra mathematics students
the extra mathematics students
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to fill these new roles.
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This graph shows the number of students
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taking Standard Mathematics
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and Advanced Mathematics
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over a period of 20 years in Australia.
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It's clear that while we have demand
for mathematics skills rapidly increasing,
for mathematics skills rapidly increasing,
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supply is in steady decline.
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To put things in perspective,
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half of the students
completing high school today in Australia
completing high school today in Australia
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are not prepared
to understand any argument
to understand any argument
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about rates of change in data.
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In this digital age
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where fake news can influence
election results,
election results,
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this is very concerning.
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Let me give you a concrete example.
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Let's take a closer look at that graph.
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Can everyone see what I've done there
to stress my point?
to stress my point?
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If you can't, let me show you now,
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with the vertical axis
starting at zero, where it should be.
starting at zero, where it should be.
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There, you see it now, right?
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It's the exact same data
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but I've manipulated the representation
to influence you.
to influence you.
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And that's cool, that's my job up here.
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(Laughter)
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But in all seriousness,
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unless we do something
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to drastically improve
student engagement with mathematics,
student engagement with mathematics,
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we'll not only have
a huge skills shortage crisis
a huge skills shortage crisis
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but a fickle population,
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easily manipulated
by whoever can get the most air time.
by whoever can get the most air time.
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So what's the solution?
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There are a lot of things we have to do.
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We need curriculum reform.
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We need our best and brightest
encouraged to become teachers.
encouraged to become teachers.
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We need to put an end to high-stakes tests
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and instead follow a mastery-based
learning approach.
learning approach.
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But all these things take time.
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And I'm impatient.
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See, I've been thinking about this
for eight years now.
for eight years now.
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Ever since I left my job
as a derivative trader
as a derivative trader
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to build a web application
to help students learn mathematics.
to help students learn mathematics.
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Today, our app is used
by schools across the globe.
by schools across the globe.
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And we're seeing big improvements
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for students who use
the program regularly.
the program regularly.
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But here's the thing --
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we're only seeing it for students
who use the program regularly.
who use the program regularly.
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And most of them don't.
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So after years of developing
and refining the application,
and refining the application,
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our biggest challenge
was not so much product related,
was not so much product related,
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our biggest challenge
was motivating students
was motivating students
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to want to work
on their gaps in understanding.
on their gaps in understanding.
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You can imagine
in today's attention economy,
in today's attention economy,
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we're competing against Facebook,
Snapchat and PlayStation
Snapchat and PlayStation
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to try and get these students' time.
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So we went back to the drawing board
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and started to think about
how we could make it worthwhile
how we could make it worthwhile
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for students to spend
some of their "attention budget"
some of their "attention budget"
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on their education.
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We tinkered with gamification elements
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like points, badges and avatars,
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and we'd see a temporary
spike in engagement
spike in engagement
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but things would go back to normal
as soon as the novelty wore off.
as soon as the novelty wore off.
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Then one day, my cofounder, Alvin,
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came across a study of students in Chicago
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led by the behavioral
economist, Steven Levitt,
economist, Steven Levitt,
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where they paid students
who improved on their test scores.
who improved on their test scores.
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He started telling me
about some of the things they tested for
about some of the things they tested for
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and the interesting findings they had.
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For instance, they found
that incentivizing students for inputs,
that incentivizing students for inputs,
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like effort,
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worked a lot better
than incentivizing for outputs,
than incentivizing for outputs,
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like test scores.
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They found that for younger students,
you could win them over with a trophy
you could win them over with a trophy
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but for older students,
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you really needed cash.
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(Laughter)
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And the amount of cash mattered --
10 dollars was good,
10 dollars was good,
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20 dollars -- even better.
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But perhaps most importantly,
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they found that the rewards
had to be instant
had to be instant
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rather than promised at a later date.
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They went as far as to give
the students 20 dollars and say,
the students 20 dollars and say,
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"Touch it, feel it, smell it --"
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(Sniffing)
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"It's all yours.
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But if you fail,
I'm going to take it back."
I'm going to take it back."
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And that worked really well.
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I immediately got excited
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about the possibilities
of implementing this in our program.
of implementing this in our program.
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But once the excitement settled down,
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there were a few concerns
that crept in our minds.
that crept in our minds.
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Firstly,
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was this ethical?
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(Laughter)
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Secondly, how would we fund this thing?
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(Laughter)
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And finally,
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would the results be sustained
if the students were no longer paid?
if the students were no longer paid?
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Now, let's look at the ethical part first.
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I'm a bit of a mathematical purist.
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So I'd be one of the first people to say
that we should study mathematics
that we should study mathematics
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for the sake of mathematics.
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Remember -- for play, for beauty,
for truth, for justice and for love!
for truth, for justice and for love!
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Not for money!
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(Laughter)
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As I struggled with this,
I came to see that,
I came to see that,
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while it's a way I look
at mathematics now,
at mathematics now,
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it's only because I studied it
long enough to appreciate it.
long enough to appreciate it.
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It's very difficult to tell a student
struggling with mathematics today
struggling with mathematics today
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to work hard for a payoff
in the distant future.
in the distant future.
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And it's not so much bribery
that's at work here,
that's at work here,
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because I could bribe students
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by telling them about my big bonuses
in my derivative trading days
in my derivative trading days
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as a reward for doing well at maths.
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But it doesn't pay off
for a very long time.
for a very long time.
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So it's practically naught.
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Behavioral economists
call this hyperbolic discounting.
call this hyperbolic discounting.
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And Levitt goes as far as to say
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that all motivating power vanishes
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when rewards are handed out with a delay.
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So, from a purely economic point of view:
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if we don't use immediate incentives,
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we are underinvesting in student outcomes.
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I took heart from that,
and came to see that as a society,
and came to see that as a society,
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we're actually quite used
to financial incentives.
to financial incentives.
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Whether it be by the government,
by employers or at home.
by employers or at home.
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For instance, many parents
would pay their children
would pay their children
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an allowance or pocket money
for doing chores in the house.
for doing chores in the house.
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So it wasn't really
all that controversial.
all that controversial.
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As I thought about that,
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it started to answer that second question
of how we were going to fund this.
of how we were going to fund this.
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Naturally, parents are the most invested
in their children's education.
in their children's education.
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So, let's charge them
a weekly subscription fee
a weekly subscription fee
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to use our program,
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but --
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if the students complete
their weekly maths goal,
their weekly maths goal,
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we'll refund the subscription amount
directly into the child's bank account.
directly into the child's bank account.
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We chose three exercises completed
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over a one week period
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for a 10 dollar reward.
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That way we're incentivizing effort
rather than performance
rather than performance
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over a short enough period
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and with a substantial enough payout
for the students to care.
for the students to care.
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Now, I remember when I first told
my wife about this new business model.
my wife about this new business model.
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If she had any doubt left
that I've gone completely mad,
that I've gone completely mad,
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that pretty much confirmed it for her.
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She said to me, "Mo ...
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you realize that if everybody
does their homework, which you want,
does their homework, which you want,
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you're not going to make any revenue,
which you don't want.
which you don't want.
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Great business model."
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(Laughter)
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I say it's more like
an antibusiness model,
an antibusiness model,
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it's free if you use it,
but you pay if you don't.
but you pay if you don't.
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Now, I knew from experience
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that not everybody in the country
was going to jump on
was going to jump on
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and do their maths homework every week.
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And if they did,
sure we'd go bust pretty quickly,
sure we'd go bust pretty quickly,
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but hey, we would have solved
the country's maths skills crisis.
the country's maths skills crisis.
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(Laughter)
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As a company, we've always run
a double bottom line,
a double bottom line,
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looking to both make
a return for investors
a return for investors
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as well as improve student outcomes.
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We know that our path
to long-term profitability
to long-term profitability
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is through improving student outcomes.
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So our dual objectives
should never be at odds.
should never be at odds.
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So we're always looking
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to make our product decisions
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around helping students reach
their weekly maths goal,
their weekly maths goal,
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effectively ensuring that they get paid
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and not us.
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Now you must be wondering:
How is this crazy business model going?
How is this crazy business model going?
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You'll be glad to know
we're still in business.
we're still in business.
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We've been testing this now
for the last five months
for the last five months
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on just our personal
home users in Australia
home users in Australia
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before we think about
rolling it out to schools.
rolling it out to schools.
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And here are the early results.
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The green represents students
who are completing their weekly maths goal
who are completing their weekly maths goal
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and the red those who aren't.
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You can see a lot more
completing their homework than not.
completing their homework than not.
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In fact, as our user base has grown,
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we found the percentage
to be pretty steady, at around 75 percent.
to be pretty steady, at around 75 percent.
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So on average, we receive
our weekly subscription fee
our weekly subscription fee
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once every four weeks,
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and the other three weeks,
we're rewarding the students.
we're rewarding the students.
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Now of course we're leaving
some money on the table here,
some money on the table here,
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but guess what?
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It turns out these students
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are 70 percent more engaged
than students not on the reward program.
than students not on the reward program.
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Check.
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From a business perspective,
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they are less likely to churn
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and more likely to refer friends,
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so we're hoping to trade off
a lower revenue per user
a lower revenue per user
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for a bigger and more engaged user base.
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Check and check.
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Now for that final question.
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Would they keep coming back
if they were no longer paid?
if they were no longer paid?
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Mathematics is so much more
than just a subject you study at school.
than just a subject you study at school.
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It's a human endeavor.
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It's what helps us to understand
the world around us.
the world around us.
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And the more you know,
the more you want to know.
the more you want to know.
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So yes, we've triggered initial engagement
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with a financial reward.
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But in the long run,
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the money won't matter anymore.
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Because in the long run,
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the wonder of mathematics
will be the incentive
will be the incentive
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and understanding it
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will be the reward.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mohamad Jebara - Education entrepreneurMohamad Jebara is the founder and CEO of Mathspace, an education technology product that provides students with guided feedback through the mathematics curriculum.
Why you should listen
Mohamad Jebara began his career as a derivatives trader where he became the youngest senior partner at a leading international firm after just four years. Yet he found himself eager to build value of a different kind -- so he quit to become a mathematics teacher. Mathspace is his effort to extend his enthusiasm for numbers to as many classrooms as possible.
Mohamad Jebara | Speaker | TED.com